TABLE 1.-Conversion of feet to metres
[From Department of the Army Technical Manual TM 5–236; 1 square mile equals 2.590 square kilometres; 1 acre equals 0.407 hectares]

40 1 2 3 4

64.374
65.983
67.593
69.202
70.811

90

1 2 3 4

10

the Canadian boundary and was adopted in marking

the Massachusetts-Rhode Island line. BOUNDARIES OF THE

The boundary marks should be protected by law and UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

should be inspected frequently and repaired whenever necessary. Some States provide for such attentionNew York at 3-year intervals, Pennsylvania and Mass

achusetts at 5-year intervals.18 inadequately marked, by blazes on trees or by stones

A U.S. statute, approved March 4, 1909, makes it a so small that they could be easily carried off. Hundreds

misdemeanor to molest any monument or witness tree of thousands of dollars spent in litigation and in the

on a Government survey. It provides as follows: resurvey of old lines would have been saved had the

Whoever shall willfully destroy, deface, change, or remove to lines been properly marked when first run. Many lines

another place any section corner, quarter-section corner, or meanderhave marks at intervals of 1 mile. A better rule to post, on any Government line of survey, or shall willfully cut down follow is to place the marks in such a way that from

any witness tree or any tree blazed to mark the line of a Govern

ment survey, or shall willfully, deface, change, or remove any monuany one of them two others may be seen; therefore,

ment or bench mark of any Government survey, shall be fined not all obstructing trees and brush should be cleared away.

more than two hundred and fifty dollars, or imprisoned not more Marks should also be placed at road crossings and than six months, or both (Crim. Code, sec. 57; 35 Stat. L. 1099]. other important points.

The necessity for preserving boundary marks was A State-line mark should project not less than 3 feet recognized by Moses, who wrote (Deuteronomy xix, 14): above ground (4 feet is better) and should be so firmly "Thou shalt not not remove thy neighbor's landmark." set that it cannot be easily overturned nor disturbed by Many references to court decisions regarding boundfrost. These conditions are most easily met by con- aries can be found in the following publications: structing monuments of concrete or of metal posts set Clark, F. E., 1922, A treatise on the law of surveying and boundon concrete bases. Each monument should have the

aries: Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merril Co., chap. 21.

Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Co., 1928, Digest of U.S. Supreme State names on opposite sides; it should bear also the

Court reports, Boundaries: Rochester, N.Y., v. 3, p. 1339–1357. year of survey, an identifying number, and, if prac

Mack, William, 1910, Cyclopedia of law and procedure: New York, ticable, a reference to the treaty or act in accordance

American Law Book Co., v. 36, p. 842. with which the line was run. The following specifica- Mack, William, 1910. Cyclopedia of law and procedure: New York, tions were prepared for the monuments on the New

American Law Book Co., v. 36, p. 842. York-Connecticut boundary, survey of 1909-10, and

McKinley, W. M., and Rich, B. A., Ruling case law, 1914, Bound

aries, v. 4, p. 77–132; 1916, States, v. 25. p. 373–376. are quoted as affording examples of adequate marks:

Michie, T. J., 1909. The encyclopedia of Supreme Court reports: The monuments are to be of good-quality light-colored granite, free

Charlottesville, Va., v. 3, p. 494-507. from seams or other defects, straight and of full size throughout, not

Moore, J. B., 1906, A digest of international law: 56th Cong., 2d less than 9 nor more than 10 feet in length, 12 inches square 4 feet

sess., H. Doc. 551, v. 1, p. 272, 273, 618, 619, 747. down from the top, tapering from 12 inches square to not over 15

Skelton, R. H., 1930, The legal elements of boundaries and adjacent inches square in the next 1 1/2 feet and not less than 12 inches nor

properties: Indianapolis. more than 20 inches on any face the rest of the distance. The top and

Taylor, R. H., 1874, A treatise on the law of boundaries and fences: the four sides of each monument for a distance of 4 feet from the top

Albany, William Gould & Son. are to be cut smooth at right angles with each other and finished with 6-cut work. The tapering portion to be pointed to a smooth even surface to conform to the dimensions given. The remaining portions BOUNDARIES OF THE UNITED STATES to be left as split, but full size. not less than 12 inches square throughout, the bottom to be not less than 12 inches square and substantially at right angles to the sides, and every point of the lower

PROVISIONAL TREATY 5 feet of the stone must lie outside the planes of the smooth-cut por

WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 1782 tion. On one side will be cut the letters "N. Y."; on the opposite side will be cut the letters "CONN." On the third side will be cut the The original limits of the United States were first figures "1909." Additional similar letters shall be cut as may be definitely described in the provisional treaty concluded ordered. The letters "N. Y." and "CONN." are to be 5 inches

with Great Britain November 30, 1782. The second high; the figures to be 4 inches high. All letters to be cut with V-shaped indentations at least 13 inch deep.

article of that treaty defines them as follows (see fig. 3)19 These monuments were set in concrete bases 4 feet

(Malloy, 1910, v. 1, 581): square and 5 feet deep.

18 See New York laws for 1887, chap. 421, and for 1892, chap. 678; PennThe most recent practice in marking curved or

ΟΙ sylvania act approved May 4, 1889; and Massachusetts Revised Laws,

chap. 1, sec. 4. crooked boundaries is to make them a series of con

12

TREATY OF LONDON, 1794

The fourth article of the treaty of London, signed BOUNDARIES OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

November 19, 1794, provided that

Whereas it is uncertain whether the river Mississippi extends so far to the northward as to be intersected by a line to be drawn due west from the Lake of the Woods, in the manner mentioned in the

treaty of peace between His Majesty and the United States: ARTICLE II. From the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, viz, that the two parties will proceed, by amicable negotiations, to regulate angle which is formed by a line drawn due north from the source the boundary line in that quarter. of St. Croix River to the highlands; along the highlands which divide This matter was not settled, however, until 1818. those rivers that empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence, from

The fifth article of the same treaty makes provision those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to the northwesternmost

for settling another doubtful point, as follows: head of Connecticut River; thence down along the middle of that

Whereas doubts have arisen what river was truly intended under river to the 45th degree of north latitude; from thence by a line due west on said latitude until it strikes the river Iroquois or Catara

the name of the river St. Croix, mentioned in the said treaty of quy (St. Lawrence); thence along the middle of said river into Lake

peace, and forming a part of the boundary therein described; that

question shall be referred to the final decision of commissions to be Ontario, through the middle of said lake until it strikes the communication by water between that lake and Lake Erie; thence along the

appointed in the following manner, viz, middle of said communication into Lake Erie, through the middle of

Here follow provisions that His Majesty and the said lake until it arrives at the water communication between that

President of the United States should each appoint a lake and Lake Huron; thence along the middle of said water com- commissioner, and that these two commissioners should munication into the Lake Huron; thence through the middle of said

agree on a third, or if they should fail to agree on the lake to the water communication between that lake and Lake Superior;

third, he was to be chosen by lot in their presence. thence through Lake Superior northward of the Isles Royal and

Which was the true St. Croix River had been a matter Phelippeaux, to the Long Lake; thence through the middle of said Long Lake, and the water communication between it and the Lake of controversy between the governments of Massaof the Woods, to the said Lake of the Woods; thence through the chusetts and Nova Scotia since the year 1764. said lake to the most northwestern point thereof, and from thence

The commissioners appointed under the foregoing on a due west course to the river Mississippi; thence by a line to be

provisions decided, on October 25, 1798, that the river drawn along the middle of the said river Mississippi until it shall

called Schoodiac and the northern branch thereof intersect the northernmost part of the 31st degree of north latitude. South, by a line to be drawn due east from the determination

(called Cheputnaticook) is the true River St. Croix, and of the line last mentioned, in the latitude of 31 degrees north of the that its source is at the northernmost headspring of equator, to the middle of the river Apalachicola or Catahouche; thence the northern branch aforesaid (Gallatin, 1840, p. 5). A along the middle thereof to its junction with the Flint River; thence

monument was erected at that spot under the direction straight to the head of St. Mary's River; and thence down along the middle of St. Mary's River to the Atlantic Ocean. East, by a line to

of the commissioners. be drawn along the middle of the river St. Croix, from its mouth in the bay of Fundy to its source, and from its source directly north

TREATY OF GHENT, 1814 to the aforesaid highlands which divide the rivers that fall into the Atlantic Ocean from those which fall into the river St. Lawrence;

By the treaty of peace concluded at Ghent December comprehending all islands within twenty leagues of any part of the

24, 1814, it was agreed to provide for a final adjustshores of the United States, and lying between lines to be drawn ment of the boundaries described in the treaty of 1783 due east from the points where the aforesaid boundaries beween that had not yet been determined. The boundaries in Nova Scotia on the one part and East Florida on the other, shall

question embraced certain islands in the Bay of Fundy respectively touch the Bay of Fundy and the Atlantic Ocean; except

and the whole of the boundary line from the source of ing such islands as now are, or heretofore have been, within the limits of the said province of Nova Scotia. (See p. 104 for a separate

the River St. Croix to the most northwestern point of the article attached to this treaty. ]

Lake of the Woods (Malloy, 1913, v. 1, p. 615).

By the fourth article, provision was made for the TREATY WITH GREAT BRITAIN, 1783 appointment of commissioners to settle the title to seyThe definite treaty of peace with Great Britain, con- eral islands in the Passamaquoddy Bay, which is a cluded September 3, 1783, defines the boundaries of part of the Bay of Fundy, and the island of Grand the United States in terms similar to those of the pro- Manan, in the Bay of Fundy. The fifth article made visional treaty.

provision for the appointment of commissioners to settle The northern boundary became at once a fruitful the boundary from the source of the River St. Croix to source of dissension between the two countries. From the Iroquois or Cataraquy (St. Lawrence) River. The the time of the conclusion of peace almost to the present sixth and seventh articles provided for commissioners day the definite location of this line has been the sub- to continue the line to the Lake of the Woods. ject of a series of treaties, commissions, and surveys. It was provided by this treaty that in case any of An outline history of the settlement of this dispute

the boards of commissioners were unable to agree they follows.

should make separately or jointly a report or reports