ILLUSTRATIONS. Page. PLATE I, II. Boundary between New York and Canada in St. Lawrence 14 III. Boundary between New York and Canada in Niagara 14 IV. Boundary between United States and Canada in St. Clair V, VI. Boundary between Michigan and Canada through St. Marys VII. [Maine, showing British and United States claims. VIII-XII. Boundary between Maine and Canada XIII. Boundary between Maine, New Hampshire, and Canada. XVII, XVIII. Boundary between Vermont and New York... XIX. Boundary between Massachusetts and Rhode Island... Historical diagram of Virginia.. XXIV. Northeast boundary of New Jersey XXV. Western and southern boundary of New York. XXXIII. Boundary between Virginia, Tennessee, and North Caro- XXXIV-XXXVI. Boundary between North Carolina and Tennessee Historical diagram of Mississippi XXXVIII. Historical diagram of Louisiana Historical diagram of Texas.. XXXIX. (Historical diagram of Arkansas Historical diagram of Ohio..... XL-XLII. Boundary between Kentucky and Tennessee XLIII. Historical diagram of Indiana.. 110 112 114 118 118 120 122 124 126 Page. PLATE XLIX. (Historical diagram of North Dakota and South Dakota.. 128 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, D. C., April 14, 1900. SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith a sketch of the boundaries of the United States, the several States, and the Territories, as defined by treaty, charter, or statute. Besides giving the present status of these boundaries I have endeavored to present an outline of the history of all important changes of territory, with the laws appertaining thereto. The work constitutes a revised and enlarged edition of Bulletin No. 13, published in 1885. BOUNDARIES OF THE UNITED STATES AND OF THE SEVERAL STATES AND TERRITORIES, WITH AN OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF ALL IMPORTANT CHANGES OF TERRITORY. By HENRY GANNETT. CHAPTER I. BOUNDARIES OF THE UNITED STATES, AND ADDITIONS TO ITS TERRITORY. BOUNDARIES OF THE UNITED STATES. PROVISIONAL TREATY WITH GREAT BRITAIN. The original limits of the United States were first definitely laid down in the provisional treaty made with Great Britain in 1782. The second article of that treaty defines its boundaries as follows: From the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, viz, that angle which is formed by a line drawn due north from the source of St. Croix river to the highlands; along the Highlands which divide those rivers that empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence, from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to the northwesternmost head of Connecticut River; thence down along the middle of that river to the forty-fifth degree of north latitude; from thence, by a line due west on said latitude until it strikes the river Iroquois or Cataraquy (St. Lawrence); thence along the middle of said river into Lake Ontario, through the middle of said lake until it strikes the communication by water between that lake and Lake Erie; thence along the middle of said communication into Lake Erie, through the middle of said lake until it arrives at the water communication between that lake and Lake Huron; thence along the middle of said water communication into the Lake Huron; thence through the middle of said lake to the water communication between that lake and Lake Superior; thence through Lake Superior northward of the Isles Royal and Phelippeaux to the Long Lake; thence through the middle of said Long Lake, and the water communication between it and the Lake of the Woods, to the said Lake of the Woods; thence through the said lake to the most northwestern point thereof, and from thence on a due west course to the river Mississippi; thence by a line to be drawn along the middle of the said river Mississippi until it shall intersect the northernmost part of the thirty-first degree of north latitude. South by a line to be drawn due east from the determination of the line last mentioned, in the latitude of thirty-one degrees north of the Equator, to the middle of the river Apalachicola or Catahouche; thence along the middle thereof to its junction with the Flint River; thence strait 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 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 to the aforesaid highlands which divide the rivers that fall into the Atlantic Ocean from those which fall into the river St. Lawrence; comprehending 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 the said province of Nova Scotia. |