terminates, the line of boundary between the territories of the United States and those of Her Britannic Majesty shall be continued westward along the said forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, to the middle of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver's Island; and thence southerly, through the middle of the said channel, and of Fuca Straits, to the Pacific Ocean: Provided, however, That the navigation of the whole of the said channel, and straits south of the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude remain free and open to both parties.' "And whereas it was provided by the XXXIVth Article of the treaty between the United States of America and Great Britain, signed at Washington on the 8th of May, 1871, as follows:

"ARTICLE XXXIV.

"Whereas it was stipulated by Article I of the treaty concluded at Washington on the 15th of June, 1846, between the United States and Her Britannic Majesty, that the line of boundary between the territories of the United States and those of Her Britannic Majesty, from the point on the 49th parallel of north latitude up to which it had already been ascertained, should be continued westward along the said parallel of north latitude to the middle of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver's Island, and thence southerly, through the middle of the said channel and of Fuca Straits, to the Pacific Ocean; and whereas the commissioners appointed by the two high contracting parties to determine that portion of the boundary which runs southerly through the middle of the channel aforesaid were unable to agree upon the same; and whereas the Government of Her Britannic Majesty claims that such boundary-line should, under the terms of the treaty above recited, be run through the Rosario Straits, and the Government of the United States claims that it should be run through the Canal de Haro, it is agreed that the respective claims of the Government of the United States and of the Government of Her Britannic Majesty shall be submitted to the arbitration and award of His Majesty the Emperor of Germany, who, having regard to the above-mentioned article of the said treaty, shall decide thereupon, finally and without appeal, which of those claims is most in accordance with the true interpretation of the treaty of June 15, 1846.'

"And whereas, His Majesty the Emperor of Germany, has, by his award, dated the 21st of October, 1872, decided that Mit der richtigen Auslegung des zwischen den Regierungen Ihrer Britischen Majestät und der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika geschlossenen Vertrages de dato Washington den 15 Juni, 1846, steht der Auspruch der Regierung der Vereinigten Staaten am meisten im Einklange, dass die Grenzlinie zwischen

den Gebieten Ihrer Britischen Majestät und den Vereinigten Staaten durch den Haro-Kanal gezogen werde.'

"The undersigned, Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State of the United States, and the Right Honorable Sir Edward Thornton, one of Her Majesty's Most Honorable Privy Council, Knight Commander of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath, Her Britannic Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States of America, and Rear-Admiral James Charles Prevost, Commissioner of Her Britannic Majesty in respect of the boundary aforesaid, duly authorized by their respective Governments to trace out and mark on charts prepared for that purpose, the line of boundary in conformity with the award of His Majesty, the Emperor of Germany, and to complete the determination of so much of the boundary-line between the territory of the United States and the possessions of Great Britain as was left uncompleted by the commissioners heretofore appointed to carry into effect the first article of the treaty of 15th June, 1846, have met together at Washington, and have traced out and marked the said boundary-line on four charts, severally entitled, 'North America, West Coast, Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the channels between the continent and Vancouver Id, showing the boundary-line between British and American possessions, from the admiralty surveys by Captains H. Kellett, R. N., 1847, and G. H. Richards, R. N., 1858-1862;' and and having on examination agreed that the lines so traced out and marked on the respective charts are identical, they have severally signed the said charts on behalf of their respective Governments, two copies thereof to be retained by the Government of the United States, and two copies thereof to be retained by the Government of Her Britannic Majesty, to serve, with the definition of the boundary-line,' attached hereto, showing the general bearings of the line of boundary as laid down on the charts, as a perpetual record of agreement between the two Governments in the matter of the line of boundary between their respective dominions under the first article of the treaty concluded at Washington on the 15th of June, 1846. "In witness whereof, the undersigned have signed this protocol, and have hereunto affixed their seals.

"Done in duplicate at Washington, this tenth day of March, in the year 1873.

"Definition of the boundary-line.

"The chart upon which the boundary-line between the British and the United States possessions is laid down is entitled North America, West Coast, Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the channels between the continent and Vancouver Id, showing the

boundary-line between British and American possessions, from the admiralty surveys by Captains H. Kellett, R. N., 1847, and G. H. Richards, R. N., 1858-1862.'

"The boundary-line thus laid down on the chart is a black line shaded red on the side of the British possessions, and blue on the side of the possessions of the United States.

"The boundary-line thus defined commences at the point on the 49th paralled of north latitude on the west side of Point Roberts, which is marked by a stone monument, and the line is continued along the said parallel to the middle of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver Island, that is to say, to a point in longitude 123° 19′ 15′′ W., as shown in the said chart. It then proceeds in a direction about S. 50° E. (true) for about fifteen geographical miles, when it curves to the southward, passing equidistant between the west point of Patos Island and the east point of Saturna Island, until the point midway on a line drawn between Turnpoint, on Stewart Island, and Fairfax Point, on Moresby Island, bears S. 68° W., (true) distant ten miles; then on a course S. 78° W., (true) ten miles to the said point midway between Turnpoint, on Stewart Island, and Fairfax Point, on Moresby Island, thence on a course about S. 12° 30' E. (true) for about eight and three-quarter miles to a point due east, one mile from the northernmost Kelp Reef, which reef on the said chart is laid down as in latitude 48° 33' north, and in longitude 123° 15' west; then its direction continues about S. 20° 15′ E., (true,) six and oneeighth miles to a point midway between Sea Bird Point, on Discovery Island, and Pile Point, on San Juan Island; thence in a straight line S. 45° E., (true,) until it touches the north end of the middle bank in between 13 and 18th fathoms of water; from this point the line takes a general S. 28° 30′ W. direction (true) for about ten miles, when it reaches the centre of the fairway of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which, by the chart, is in the latitude of 48° 17′ north and longitude 123° 14' 40" W.

"Thence the line runs in a direction S. 73° W. (true) for twelve miles, to a point on a straight line drawn from the light-house on Race Island to Angelos Point, midway between the same.

"Thence the line runs through the centre of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, first, in a direction N. 80° 30′ W., about 53 miles to a point equidistant on a straight line between Beechey Head, on Vancouver Island, and Tongue Point, on the shore of Washington Territory; second, in a direction N. 76° W., about 13 miles to a point equidistant in a straight line between Sher ringham Point, on Vancouver Island, and Pillar Point on the shore of Washington Territory; third, in a direction N. 68° W., about 303 miles to the Pacific Ocean, at a point equidistant between Bonilla Point, on Vancouver Island, and Tatooch Is land light-house on the American shore, the line between the points being nearly due north and south, (true.)

"The courses and distances as given in the foregoing description are not assumed to be perfectly accurate, but are as nearly so as is supposed to be necessary to a practical definition of the line laid down on the chart and intended to be the boundary-line.

"HAMILTON FISH.

"EDWD. THORNTON.
"JAMES C. PREVOST."

In his annual message of December 2, 1872,

1

Other Boundaries. President Grant, referring to the award of the Emperor of Germany, said: "This award confirms the United States in their claim to the important archipelago of islands lying between the continent and Vancouver's Island, and leaves us, for the first time in the history of the United States as a nation, without a question of disputed boundary between our territory and the possessions of Great Britain on this continent." When this statement was made, the question which has since arisen as to the boundary between Alaska and the British possessions, from the southernmost point of the Prince of Wales Island, in north latitude 54° 40', to the fifty-sixth degree of north latitude, under the treaty between Great Britain and Russia of 1825, had not been raised. Moreover, the boundary between the United States and the British possessions from the northwest angle of the Lake of the Woods to the summit of the Rocky Mountains, though it was clearly defined in the second article of the treaty of October 20, 1818, had not been surveyed and adjusted. By an act of Congress of March 19, 1872, entitled "An act authorizing the survey and marking of the boundary between the territory of the United States and the possessions of Great Britain from the Lake of the Woods to the summit of the Rocky Mountains," the President

1

Annual Message, December 2, 1872. The disagreement of the commissioners in 1857 as to the San Juan water boundary did not prevent the running of the line under the treaty of 1846 from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of Georgia. This line was surveyed and marked by commissioners prior to 1870. On February 24 in that year Mr. Fish, Secretary of State, and Mr. Thornton, British minister, signed a protocol declaring hat seven maps, certified and authenticated under the signatures of Archibald Campbell, Esquire, the commissioner of the United States, and Col. John Summerfield Hawkins, Her Britannic Majesty's commissioner, and on which the boundary in question was traced, were approved, agreed to, and adopted by both governments. (Treaties and conventions of the nited States, 1776-1887, p. 440.)

was authorized to cooperate with the Government of Great Britain in the appointment of a joint commission to determine the boundary between these points. On the part of the United States, Archibald Campbell was appointed commissioner; on the part of Great Britain, Maj. D. R. Cameron; and engineeer officers were detailed for the performance of the work. The labors of the commission were concluded in 1876. The final records and maps were signed in London on the 29th of May in that year, and a protocol was drawn up and signed setting forth the commission's final proceedings. "At the time of the passage of the act of 1872 the boundary from the Atlantic to the northwest angle of the Lake of the Woods, and the land line from the summit of the Rocky Mountains to the Georgian Bay" had "been surveyed and adjusted."

Report of Mr. Fish, Sec. of State, Feb. 23, 1877, S. Ex. Doc. 41, 44 Cong. 2 sess. The statement that the line from the Atlantic to the northwest angle of the Lake of the Woods had been "surveyed and adjusted" was not entirely accurate. Of the line from the Pigeon River to the Lake of the Woods there has been no joint survey. (H. Report 1310, 54 Cong. 1 sess.) "The Canadian government has not waited for a joint survey to inform itself concerning the actual condition of the boundary, but it has quietly sent out a party of surveyors at its own expense to trace the line from Pigeon Point to the Lake of the Woods. The work was ordered by the commissioner on international boundaries, and is in charge of A. J. Brabazon, for the past three years engaged on the Alaskan boundary survey, who is now on the way to Ottawa to report. He is satisfied that the Treaty of Washington is in agreement with the physical features." (Statement of July 27, 1896. See Minnesota's Northern Boundary, by Alexander N. Winchell, Minnesota Historical Society Collections, Vol. VIII. part 2, p. 212.)