ÆäÀÌÁö À̹ÌÁö
PDF
ePub

of November, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-four, it was agreed that the contracting parties would, from time to time, readily treat of and concerning such further articles as might be proposed; that they would sincerely endeavour so to form such articles as that they might conduce to mutual convenience and tend to promote mutual satisfaction and friendship; and that such articles, after having been duly ratified, should be added to and make a part of that treaty: And whereas difficulties have arisen with respect to the execution of so much of the fifth article of the said treaty as requires that the Commissioners appointed under the same should in their description particularize the latitude and longitude of the source of the river which may be found to be the one truly intended in the treaty of peace between His Britannic Majesty and the United States, under the name of the river St. Croix, by reason whereof it is expedient that the said Commissioners should be released from the obligation of conforming to the provisions of the said article in this respect. The undersigned being respectively named by His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America their Plenipotentiaries for the purpose of treating of and concluding such articles as may be proper to be added to the said treaty, in conformity to the above-mentioned stipulation, and having communicated to each other their respective full powers, have agreed and concluded, and do hereby declare in the name of His Britannic Majesty and of the United States of America, that the Commissioners appointed under the fifth article of the above-mentioned treaty shall not be obliged to particularize, in their description, the latitude and longitude of the source of the river which may be found to be the one truly intended in the aforesaid treaty of peace under the name of the river St. Croix, but they shall be at liberty to describe the said river, in such other manner as they may judge expedient, which description shall be considered as a complete execution of the duty required of the said Commissioners in this respect by the article aforesaid. And to the end that no uncertainty may hereafter exist on this subject, it is further agreed, That as soon as may be after the decision of the said Commissioners, measures shall be concerted between the Government of the United States and His Britannic Majesty's Governors or Lieutenant Governors in America, in order to erect and keep in repair a suitable monument at the place ascertained and described to be the source of the said river St. Croix, which measures shall immediately thereupon, and as often afterwards as may be requisite, be duly executed on both sides with punctuality and good faith.

This explanatory article, when the same shall have been ratified by His Majesty and by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of their Senate, and the respective ratifications mutually exchanged, shall be added to and make a part of the treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation between His Majesty and the United States, signed at London on the nineteenth day of November, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-four, and shall be permanently binding upon His Majesty and the United States.

In witness whereof we, the said undersigned Plenipotentiaries of His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, have signed this present article, and have caused to be affixed thereto the seal of our arms.

Done at London this fifteenth day of March, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight. [SEAL.] GRENVILLE. [SEAL.] RUFUS KING.

The commissioners gave their decision on October 25, 1798, which was as follows:

DECLARATION OF THE COMMISSIONERS UNDER THE FIFTH ARTICLE OF THE TREATY

OF 1794

"Declaration of the Commissioners under the Fifth Article of the Treaty of 1794, between the United States and Great Britain, respecting the true River St. Croix, by Thomas Barclay, David Howell and Egbert Benson, Commissioners appointed in pursuance of the 5th Article of the Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, finally to decide the question, 'What River was truly intended under the name of the River Saint Croix mentioned in the treaty of Peace between His Majesty and the United States, forming a part of the boundary therein described.'

"We, the said Commissioners, having been sworn impartially to examine and decide the said question, according to such evidence as should respectively be laid before us, on the part of the British Government, and of the United States,' and having heard the evidence which hath been laid before us, by the Agent of His Majesty, and the Agent of the United States, respectively appointed and authorized to manage the business on behalf of the respective Governments, have decided, and hereby do decide, the River, hereinafter particularly

described and mentioned, to be the River truly intended under the name of the River Saint Croix, in the said Treaty of Peace, and forming a part of the boundary therein described; that is to say, the mouth of the said river is in Passamaquoddy Bay, at a point of land called Joe's Point, about one mile northward from the northern part of Saint Andrew's Island, and in the latitude of forty-five degrees five minutes and five seconds north, and in the longitude of sixty-seven degrees twelve minutes and thirty seconds west, from the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, in Great Britain, and three degrees fifty-four minutes and fifteen seconds east from Harvard College, in the University of Cambridge, in the State of Massachusetts, and the course of the said river up from its said mouth, is northerly to a point of land called the Devil's Head, then turning the said point, is westerly to where it divides into two streams, the one coming from the westward, and the other coming from the northward, having the Indian name of Chiputnaticook or Chibuitcook, as the same may be variously spelt, then up the said stream, so coming from the northward to its source, which is at a stake near a Yellow Birch Tree, hooped with iron, and marked S. T. and J. H. 1797, by Samuel Titcomb and John Harris, the Surveyors employed to survey the above mentioned stream, coming from the northward. And the said River is designated on the Map hereunto annexed, and hereby referred to as farther descriptive of it, by the letters A B C D E F G H I K and L, the letter A being at its said mouth, and the letter L being at its said source; and the course and distance of the said source from the Island, at the confluence of the above-mentioned two streams, is, as laid down on the said map, north five degrees and about fifteen minutes west, by the magnet, about forty-eight miles and one quarter.

"In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and seals, at Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, the twenty-fifth day of October, in the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight.

"Witness, ED. WINSLOW,

"Secretary to the Commissioners.'

[ocr errors]

(L. S.) "(L. S.)

[blocks in formation]

THOMAS BARCLAY,
DAVID HOWELL,
EGBERT BENSON.

An attempt was made to settle the ownership of the Passamaquoddy Islands by a convention concluded in 1803, but this convention was not ratified. A similar convention negotiated in 1807 met with a like fate, and nothing was accomplished until the treaty of Ghent was signed in which provision for the appointment of a commission to decide the ownership of the islands was included.

The text of Article IV of the treaty of Ghent follows:

TREATY OF PEACE AND AMITY (TREATY OF GHENT)

(Concluded at Ghent, December 24, 1814; ratifications exchanged February 17, 1815)

[blocks in formation]

Whereas it was stipulated by the second article in the treaty of peace of one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, that the boundary of the United States should comprehend all islands within twenty leagues of any part of the shores of the United States, and lying between lines to be drawn due east from the points where the aforesaid boundaries, between Nova Scotia on the one part, and East Florida on the other, shall respectively touch the Bay of Fundy and the Atlantic Ocean, excepting such islands as now are, or heretofore have been, within the limits of Nova Scotia; and whereas the several islands in the Bay of Passamaquoddy, which is part of the Bay of Fundy, and the Island of Grand Menan, in the said Bay of Fundy, are claimed by the United States as being comprehended within their aforesaid boundaries, which said islands are claimed as belonging to His Britannic Majesty, as having been, at the time of and previous to the aforesaid treaty of one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, within the limits of the Province of Nova Scotia; In order, therefore, finally to decide upon these claims, it is agreed that they shall be referred to two Commissioners to be appointed in the following manner, viz: One Commissioner

2 This is "Ive's Point" in some of the copies of the award, but in the original it is properly given as Joe's Point.

shall be appointed by His Britannic Majesty, and one by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof; and the said two Commissioners so appointed shall be sworn impartially to examine and decide upon the said claims according to such evidence as shall be laid before them on the part of His Britannic Majesty and of the United States respectively. The said Commissioners shall meet at St. Andrews, in the Province of New Brunswick, and shall have power to adjourn to such other place or places as they shall think fit. The said Commissioners shall, by a declaration or report under their hands and seals, decide to which of the two contracting parties the several islands aforesaid do respectively belong, in conformity with the true intent of the said treaty of peace of one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three. And if the said Commissioners shall agree in their decision, both parties shall consider such decision as final and conclusive. It is further agreed that, in event of the two Commissioners differing upon all or any of the matters so referred to them, or in the event of both or either of the said Commissioners refusing, or declining, or wilfully omitting to act as such, they shall make, jointly or separately, a report or reports, as well to the Government of His Britannic Majesty as to that of the United States, stating in detail the points on which they differ, and the grounds upon which their respective opinions have been formed, or the grounds upon which they, or either of them, have so refused, declined, or omitted to act. And His Britannic Majesty and the Government of the United States hereby agree to refer the report or reports of the said Commissioners to some friendly sovereign or State, to be then named for that purpose, and who shall be requested to decide on the differences which may be stated in the said report or reports, or upon the report of one Commissioner, together with the grounds upon which the other Commissioner shall have refused, declined or omitted to act, as the case may be. And if the Commissioner so refusing, declining or omitting to act, shall also wilfully omit to state the grounds upon which he has so done, in such manner that the said statement may be referred to such friendly sovereign or State, together with the report of such other Commissioner, then such sovereign or State shall decide ex parte upon the said report alone. And His Britannic Majesty and the Government of the United States engage to consider the decision of such friendly sovereign or State to be final and conclusive on all the matters so referred.

On November 24, 1817, the commissioners gave their decision, which was as follows:

DECISION OF THE COMMISSIONERS UNDER THE FOURTH ARTICLE OF THE TREATY OF GHENT. NOVEMBER 24, 1817

"By Thomas Barclay and John Holmes, Esquires, Commissioners, appointed by virtue of the fourth article of the treaty of peace and amity between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, concluded at Ghent on the twenty-fourth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and fourteen to decide to which of the two contracting parties to the said treaty the several Islands in the Bay of Passamaquoddy, which is part of the Bay of Fundy, and the Island of Grand Menan, in the said Bay of Fundy, do respectively belong, in conformity with the true intent of the second article of the treaty of peace of one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, between His said Britannic Majesty and the aforesaid United States of America.

"We, the said Thomas Barclay and John Holmes, Commissioners as aforesaid, having been duly sworn impartially to examine and decide upon the said claims according to such evidence as should be laid before us on the part of His Britannic Majesty and the United States, respectively, have decided, and do decide, that Moose Island, Dudley Island, and Frederick Island, in the Bay of Passamaquoddy, which is part of the Bay of Fundy, do, and each of them does, belong to the United States of America; and we have also decided, and do decide, that all the other islands, and each and every [one] of them, in the said Bay of Passamaquoddy, which is part of the Bay of Fundy, and the Island of Grand Menan, in the said Bay of Fundy, do belong to His said Britannic Majesty, in conformity with the true intent of the said second article of said treaty of one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three.

"In faith and testimony whereof we have set our hands and affixed our seals, at the city of New York, in the State of New York, in the United States of America, this twenty-fourth day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventeen.'

[SEAL] [SEAL]

"Witness:

"JAMES T. AUSTIN, Agt. U. S. A.

"ANTH. BARCLAY. Sec'y."

"JOHN HOLMES.

"THO. BARCLAY.

While this decision presumably settled the ownership of the islands of Passamaquoddy Bay, it made no reference as to where the boundary lay in the channels which separate the islands from each other and from the mainland. Disputes having occurred over the right of fishing in boundary waters, a convention was concluded in 1892 which provided for the appointment of a commission "to determine upon a method of more accurately marking the boundary line between the two countries in the waters of Passamaquoddy Bay."

The text of Article II of the convention of 1892 follows:

CONVENTION OF 1892, RESPECTING THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN THE DOMINION OF CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES

(Concluded July 22, 1892; ratifications exchanged August 23, 1892)

ARTICLE II

The High Contracting Parties agree that the Governments of the United States and of Her Britannic Majesty in behalf of the Dominion of Canada shall, with as little delay as possible, appoint two Commissioners, one to be named by each party, to determine upon a method of more accurately marking the boundary line between the two countries in the waters of Passamaquoddy Bay in front of and adjacent to Eastport, in the State of Maine, and to place buoys or fix such other boundary marks as they may determine to be necessary.

Each Government shall pay the expenses of its own Commissioner, and cost of marking the boundary in such manner as shall be determined upon shall be defrayed by the High Contracting Parties in equal moieties.

Although the commissioners appointed were able to agree upon the location of the boundary through the greater part of the boundary channels, there were sections regarding which they could not agree and as a consequence they made no formal decisions nor did they present any joint report, but each commissioner made a separate report to his own Government. The matter then remained in abeyance until the ratification of the treaty of 1908. Article I of this treaty provided for the appointment of commissioners to define the boundary in Passamaquoddy Bay, following the line of the former commissioners where they had been able to agree upon one, and for the settlement by agreement or arbitration of the remainder of the line. Article II of the same treaty provided for the determination of the boundary in the St. Croix River.

APPENDIX III

ELEVATIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS OF BENCH MARKS

Under this heading are given the elevations and descriptions of all permanent second-order-level bench marks established during the survey of the boundary from the source of the St. Croix River to the Atlantic Ocean. Included in this list are several bench marks, established by other bureaus, which were used for vertical control of the topographic surveys along the boundary. The elevations are given in feet and are referred to mean sea-level datum. (See footnote, p. 168.)

Initial monument, Aroostook County, Maine; York County, New Brunswick; at the source of the St. Croix River; bronze disk set in the north side of the top of the concrete base, 6 inches from the cast-iron post--

The Thoroughfare, Aroostook County, Me.; at the western end of The Thoroughfare bridge at the north end of Grand Lake, 4.8 meters from the southwest corner of the Watson warehouse and 15 meters from the approach to the bridge; bronze disk set in a drill hole and inclosed within a triangle cut in the top of a granite bowlder whose exposed dimensions are about 1.1 by 1.4 meters in cross section and 0.7 meter high______

Butterfield Landing, Aroostook County, Me.; about 4 miles north of Danforth, Me., 20 meters to the right of the road, approaching Butterfield Landing, and 30 meters from the shore of Grand Lake; bronze disk marked "U. S. & C. B. Survey B. M. 437," set in a large dome-shaped bowlder about 0.7 meter in diameter and projecting about 0.3 meter above the surface of the ground___.

Elevation (feet)

540.39

440. 00

436. 92

Forest City, Washington County, Me., 4 miles south of; on the east side of the road connecting Forest
City and Forest Station, Me., and about 50 meters northeast of the east end of the bridge that crosses
the southern arm of Grand Lake; bronze disk marked “U. S. & C. B. Survey," set in a large bowlder......... 441. 84
Forest City, Washington County, Me., 421⁄2 miles southeast of; on the west shore of Spruce Mountain
Cove, an arm of Spednik Lake; 30 meters southeast of a logging road that runs west to the south
end of Grand Lake and to the main road between Forest Station and Forest City, Me.; bronze disk
marked "U. S. & C. B. Survey," set in a dome-shaped bowlder about 0.7 meter high the base of
which is about 1 meter in diameter..

Vanceboro, Washington County, Me.; bronze bench-mark disk on the west abutment of the Canadian
Pacific Railway bridge over the St. Croix River; on the south side of the tracks; United States
Coast and Geodetic Survey B. M. No. V 3- ----

386. 02

391. 59

Vanceboro, Washington County, Me.; "West Abutment" triangulation station; bronze triangulation disk on the west abutment of the Canadian Pacific Railway bridge over the St. Croix River; on the north side of the tracks; United States Coast and Geodetic Survey B. M. No. W 3--

St. Croix, York County, New Brunswick; copper bolt in the vertical face of the third course of masonry below the top of the east abutment of the Canadian Pacific Railway bridge over the St. Croix River; on the south side of the tracks; Geodetic Survey of Canada B. M. No. 13-B..

391. 56

St. Croix, York County, New Brunswick; 100 meters east of the Canadian Pacific Railway bridge over the St. Croix River; copper bolt in the face of the east abutment wall of the subway under the railroad, in the sixth course of masonry below the bridge seat and in the second stone from the north end; Geodetic Survey of Canada B. M. No. 12-B...

388. 42

382. 64

Reference monument 138, 7 meters west of; Washington County, Me.; about 31⁄2 miles south of Vanceboro; bronze disk marked "U. S. & C. B. Survey B. M. 347," set in a rock in the woods about 18 meters from the bank of the St. Croix River and about 52 meters south of the meadow--------- 347. 43 Reference monument 146, 1.22 meters southwest of; Washington County, Me.; about 4 miles south of Vanceboro; about 2 meters from the bank of the St. Croix River near the middle of Little Falls; bronze disk marked "U. S. & C. B. Survey B. M. 329," set in the rock in which reference monument 146 is set..

329. 12

« ÀÌÀü°è¼Ó »