USA > Louisiana > The province and the states, a history of the province of Louisiana under France and Spain, and of the territories and states of the United States formed therefrom, Vol. II > Part 44
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48
.
437
TERRITORIAL AND STATE BOUNDARIES.
Texas claimed and took possession of a tract of country embracing more than one million of acres, which was in dispute between that state and the United States. It lies between the two upper and main forks of Red river, with the town of Mangum near the center. In 1882 Senator Maxey, of Texas, introduced a bill in congress providing for the appointment of a commission to consider the unsettled boundary question between his state and the government. The bill passed the senate, but a similar bill in the house was reported on adversely, and a joint commission was provided for to locate the true boundary in accordance with the treaty of 1819 between Spain and the United States. The objection to the house bill was that it claimed the territory in dis- pute as belonging to Texas. It defined the following boundaries between Texas and Indian Territory: "Beginning at the south- cast corner of said Indian Territory in the middle of Red river ; thence up said river to the junction of the Prairie Dog Town and North Forks of said river; thence up the middle of said North Fork to the one hundredth meridian west from Greenwich . (twenty-third west from Washington) ; thence crossing said North Fork by a line due north to the northeast corner of said State of Texas as now established." The commissioners were unable to settle the true boundary, and the question was deterin- ined by suit brought in the supreme court of the United States for that purpose. The court held that the intention of Spain and the United States in the convention of 1819 in regard to the b. undary must control, and that Melish's map referred to'in the treaty must be considered a part of the agreement. But when the emire instrument (the treaty) was considered as a whole. it was shown to have been the evident intention to have one usione and . :- veyors at a later date fix and mark the one hundredth metich.a west from Greenwich, and not to be guided and governed by the one hundredth meridian as laid down on Melish's map, which was located many miles to the eastward of the true one hundredth meridian west from Greenwich. It was shown to have been the intention that the astronomical one hundredth meridian and not the Melish one hundredth meridian should be the boundary line. It was also shown that the North Fork relied on by Texas to meet the conditions of the boundary description, was not the main nor the larger fork; that the main branch was Prairie Dog Town river; "that the act of Congress of Felnmary af. 1879, creating the northern judicial district of Texas, was to be construed as placing Greer county in that district for judicial purposes only, and not as coding to Texas the territory endhaced in that counts ;" and that "the territory cast of the one hundredthe meridian of
-
438
THE PROVINCE AND THE STATES.
west longitude, west and south of the river now known as the North Fork of Red river, and north of a line following westward, as prescribed by the treaty of ist9 between the United States and Spain, the course and along the south bank, both of Red river and the river now known as Prairie Dog Town Fort, or Salt Fork of Red river until such line meets the one hundredth meri- dian of west longitude -- which territory is sometimes called Greer county-constitutes no part of the territory properly included within or rightfully belonging to Texas at the time of the admis- sion of that State into the Union, and is not within the limits nor under the jurisdiction of that State, but is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States of America." This settled the long disputed question. In May, 1896, this tract of country was made Greer county, of Oklahoma, with Mangum as the county seat. The case was argued in the supreme court in October, 1895, and decided March 16, 1896.
The act of June 5, 1858, anthorized the president to have sur; veyed and marked the boundary lines between the United States and Texas, and the sum of eighty thousand dollars was appro- priated to defray the expense. The line to be surveyed was as follows: "Beginning at the point where the one hundred degree of longitude west from Greenwich crosses Red river, and running thence north to the point where said one hundred degree of longi- tude intersects the parallel of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north latitude; and thence west with the said parallel of thirty- six degrees thirty minutes north latitude to the point where it intersects the one hundred and third degree of longitude west from Greenwich ; and then e barth with the said was hin hed and third degree of longited to the thing se vad padid of north latitude: and thence west with the said thirty-second degree of north latitude to the Rio Grande." On June 2, 1856, President Pierce issued his proclamation defining the boundary between the United States and Mexico to be as follows: Up the Rio Grande to the parallel of thirty-one degrees forty seven minutes north lati- tude; thence due west one hundred miles; thence south to the parallel of thirty-one degrees and twenty minutes north latitude ; thence west to the one hundred and eleventh merid'an west from Greenwich ; thence to the western coast. The act of July 8, 1856, authorized the president to have surveyed the southern boundary of Kansas from the Missoni to the New Mexico lines, and the sum of thirty five thousand four hundred dollars was appropriated for the necessary expenses by the act of August 16, 1856. Under date of February 2. 1848, Mexico ceded California to the United States an acquisition second in importance only to the Louisiana
439
TERRITORIAL AND STATE BOUNDARIES.
purchase itself. The State of Texas, having agreed to the condi- tions imposed by congress before its admission to the Union, was declared by act of December 29, 1845, to be one of the United States of America. The proclamation of the president of Decem- ber 13, 1850, declared that as Texas by an act of November 25, 1850, had accepted the boundaries defined by the United States in the act of September 9. 1850, such boundary was in full force and effect thereafter. By the act of September 30, 1850, the sum, of six hundred dollars was appropriated to defray the expense of running the boundary line between Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The famous fight in congress over the admission of Missouri into the Union, was only less momentons than the rebellion itself which occurred forty years later. But that discussion, which was based upon slavery, has no place in this chapter. It is only necessary to notice the question of limits, and the proceedings leading up to their selection and settlement. On December 22, 1819, a bill was introduced in the senate, granting to the citizens of Maine the right to form a state government. On December 29, Senator Smith, of South Carolina, presented a lengthy memo- rial (really the second thus presented) from the inhabitants of Missouri Territory praying for admission into the Union. In previous ominous proceedings, it had become manifest to all, that slavery in Missouri, when that territory should apply im admis- sion into the Union, would be opposed by many of the northern senators. It was therefore determined by the senators from the south to make the admission of Maine contingent upon the ados- sion of Missouri with the institution of Avery ggmed: cal accordingly, on January 3, 1920, Sonder Kadlom, of Virgins. when the Maine bill again came up for consideration, moved a postponement of the bill, and gave notice that later he should introduce the following motion : "That the bill entitled, '\ bill declaring the consent of Congress to the admission of the State of Maine into the Union,' be committed to the committee on the Judiciary, with instructions so to amend it as to authorize the people of Missouri to establish a State Government and to admit such State into the Union upon an equal footing with the original States in all respects whatever." This motion precipitated the discussion which resulted in the "Missouri Compromise."
The boundaries mentioned in the memorial of 1819 were as fol- lows: "Beginning at a point in the middle on the main channel of the Merapi river at the thirtywith degree of north lidt- tude, and mining thener in a direct line to the month of the Big Black river (a branch of White river) ; thence up the man
-
:
4-10
THE PROVINCE AND THE STATES.
branch of White river in the middle of the main channel thereof to where the parallel of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude crosses the same; thence with that parallel of lati- tude due west to a point from which a due north line will cross the Missouri river at the month of Wolf river ;+ thence due north to a point due west of the month of Rock river ; thence due cast to the middle of the main channel of the river Mississippi opposite the month of Rock river, and thence down the river Mississippi in the middle of the main channel thereof to the place of begin- ning." As will be noticed, the memorial asked for a much larger tract of country than was finally embraced within the state limits. Had the request of the petitioners been granted, they would have received three tiers of counties along the southern boundary of lowa and a strip more than a county wide along the eastern side of Kansas. During the long discussion which followed, over the admission of Missouri, the limits mentioned in the memorial were considerably cut down. Mr. Burrill, of Rhode Island, in a speech on the hill said that the allegation contained in the memo- rial that the territory contained a population of one hundred thousand persons was written (in 1818) before the Territory of Arkansas had been set off from Missouri Territory, and he desired to know the actual population within the proposed limits. He said, "And with respect to the boundaries of the new State (Missouri) I am desirous of more definite information. Certain limits are indeed proposed by the committee in their report, but by a certain bill which has been laid on our desks by mistake. it appears that certain other boundaries have been thought of ; and I wish to know the can e of the variation in the fun lans. Who was it that marked out the jamance destruct of country pro- posed to be included in the new State? Who has given these metes and bounds? I do not know, and I question whether even the committee which reported it can inform the Senate. These boundaries are not described and marked out in the document on which the bill was professedly founded. The boundaries pro- posed in the amendmentf before the Senate, I believe, embrace a less extent of territory than those proposed in the memorial, but enough has been said to show that the Senate is without the necessary information to enable them to act understandingly." In referring to the Missouri compromise many years afterward,
. Wolf siver nies in Brown County, Kansas, and flows northeasterly through Doniphan county into The Ma- sont mvc1.
The ball before the seite at this time was one that had been considered in Ible, but had been amended in several msportint particulars, among which wa . a decided eustatment of the hunts asked for.
-
-
TERRITORIAL AND STATE BOUNDARIES.
Mr. Benton said in the United States senate that the hill had all the weight and sanctity of an amendment to the constitution. There is no doubt that had not both factions-slavery and anti- slavery -- yielded a portion of what they wanted at this time, the southern states would have withdrawn from the Union. It was a sacred compromise, rigidly adhered to for the sake of the Union for many years, but was finally repealed by the Kansas- Nebraska bill. By act approved May 26, 1824, congress appropriated the sum of one thousand five hundred dollars to complete the payment for surveying the south boundary of Missouri and its west bound- ary south of the Missouri river.
The boundaries of the State of Missouri finally agreed upon were as follows: "Beginning in the middle of the Mississippi river on the parallel of thirty-six degrees of north latitude : thence west along that parallel of latitude to the St. Francois river; thence up and following the course of that river in the middle of the main channel thereof to the parallel of latitude of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes; thence west along the same to a point where the said parallel is intersected by a meridian line passing through the middle of the mouth of the Kansas river where the same empties into the Missouri river ; thence from the point afore- said north along the said meridian line to the intersection of the parallel of latitude which passes through the rapids of the river Des Moines, making the said line to correspond with the Indian boundary line; thence east from the point of intersection last aforesaid along the said parallel of latitude to the middle of the channel of the main fork of the said river Des Moines; thence down and along the middle of the main chanel of the said that Des Moines to the mouth of the same where it empres into the Mississippi river; thence due cast to the middle of the main cha- nel of the Mississippi river ; thence down and following the course of the Mississippi river in the middle of the main channel thereof to the place of beginning." The admission of the state was coll- ditioned upon the ratification of these boundaries. The act finther provided that slavery, except in the State of Missouri, should be forever prohibited in all territory north of the parallel of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north latitude in territory that had been ceded to the United States by France.
Soon after Missouri was admitted into the Union, the project of attaching what afterward became known as the "Platte Purchase" to that stade was persistently urged by the citizens. But it was many you. de fore the Indian title could be extinguished ; and. in the meantime, congress, having been petitioned to that sheel several times, passed the following enactment June 7, 18:30:
ยท
.
442
THE PROVINCE AND THE ST.ITES.
"Be it enacted, etc., That when the Indian title to all the lands lying between the State of Missouri and the Missouri river shall be extinguished, the jurisdiction over said land shall be hereby ceded to the State of Missouri, and the western boundary of said State shall be then extended to the Missouri river, reserving to the United States the original right of soil in said lands and of dispos- ing of the same: Provided, That this act shall not take effect until the President shall by proclamation declare that the Indian title to said lands has been extinguished ; nor shall it take effect until the State of Missouri shall have assented to the provisions of this act."
Provision was made for the survey of the boundary line between Missouri and Iowa Territory by the congressional act of June 17, 18.14. It was stipulated that each should appoint a commissioner, and they too should select a third, who must not be a resident of either state of territory. The line which they should mark out and establish must be conclusive, but it was further conditioned that the act should not go into effect until Missouri should have assented to the same.
By treaty with the Osage Indians in 1808, the United States secured the greater part of what is now the State of Missouri north of the Missouri river. But the War of 1812 delayed the survey of this tract. In 1815 the treaty was renewed and con- firmed, and John C. Sullivan was sent to survey, define and mark the boundaries of the purchase. He started in the middle of the Missouri river at the mouth of the Kansas river and ran due north one hundred miles. There he planted a post. He then ran an east line to the Des Moines river de Just as he thought, but through some nastake, a little mouth of cast, thus throwing the eastern extremity of the line too far to the north. When the people of Missouri applied first in 1818 for admission into the Union, they spoke for the following boundaries: "The bound- aries which they solicit for the future State, they believe to be the most reasonable and proper that can be devised. The south- ern limits will be an extension of the line that divides Virginia and North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky. 'The northern will correspond nearly with the north limits of the Territory of Hli- nois, and with the Indian boundary line near the mouth of the river Des Moines. A front of three and a half degrees upon the Mississippi will be left to the south, to form the Territory of Arkansas, with the river Arkansas traversing its center. A front of three and a half degrees more, upon a nadium depth of two hundred miles, with the Missomi user in the center, will form the State of Missomi. Another front of equal extent, embracing;
-
4443
TERRITORIAL AND STATE BOUNDARIES.
the great river St. Pierre, will remain above to form another state at some future day. The boundaries as solicited will include all the country to the north and west to which the Indian title has been extinguished. They will include the body of the popula- tion." As will be observed, they mentioned for their northern boundary a line corresponding with "the Indian boundary line near the mouth of the river Des Moines," evidently meaning the line run by Mr. Sullivan. Before the Territory of lowa was formed, or as early as 1837, the contest over the northern bound- ary of Missouri originated between the government of the United States and the State of Missouri. As early as 1831, Missouri had petitioned (as shown above) for the tract of country which became known as the "Platte Purchase." As soon as the Indian title thereto was extinguished, the president by proclamation March 28, 1837, declared that tract to be a part of the State of Missouri.
When Iowa was admitted into the Union in 18.46, she began immediately to make her surveys based upon the northern bound- ary of Missouri, which was the southern boundary of lowa. Immediately, Iowa and Missouri came in conflict. When the latter had been admitted in 1821, her northern boundary was spoken of as passing "through the rapids of the river Des Moines. making the same line to correspond with the lilian boundary line." It was over this description that the difficulty arose, or rather continued, because the same dispute had originated between the government and the State of Missouri, and lowa merely stepped into the shoes of the government so far as this con- tention was concerned. Missouri maintained that the me ! spoken of were in the Des Moines tiver at the big Bend, a ..! therefore that her northern boundary should be about ten mile farther to the north than the Sullivan line. Towa maintained that the Sullivan line was the correct one, if it had been run correctly by Mr. Sullivan. She asked to have that correction made ; that is, while the northwestern point of the line as run by Mr. Sulli- van should remain the same, the line should be about two miles farther to the south at its eastern extremity than the Sullivan line, thus giving to Iowa a triangular strip two miles wide at the eastern end and tapering to a point at the northwestern corner of Missouri. As lowa and Missouri were unable to settle the dis- pute, they agreed to refer it, as previously stated, to the supreme court of the United States: Whereupon Missouri filed her bill against lowa, claiming a strip about ten miles wide along the northern border, and lowa filed a cros bill claiming the triangular strip aforementioned. In the examination of witnesses, they
.
4.14
THE PROVINCE AND THE ST. TILS.
were about equally divided as to what were "the rapids of the river Des Moines." Several maintained that the rapids meant were in the Mississippi near, and just above, the mouth of the river Des Moines. Others declared that there were several rapids in the river Des Moines which answered the description. How- ever, the result showed that there were no rapids strictly so called in the Des Moines proper, but only several small ripples which could not have been meant. As the contention of Missouri was based almost wholly on this point, her claims thus fell to the ground. It was shown that more than fifteen Indian treaties previously made had referred to the Sullivan line as the correct boundary of Missouri on the north, and that in none had that state objected to them on that score. In the formation of her own land districts she had recognized that line as her northern boundary. It was shown, also, that when the Territory of lowa was formed in 1838, the Sullivan line had been laid down as her southern boundary without protest from either lowa or Alis. somri. Again, when the State of lowa was created, that line had been set down as her southern boundary, again without protest from either lowa or Missouri. During the territorial government of lowa, a period of nearly ten years, counties had been laid off with that line as a base. In 1836, Missouri had ordered a sur- vey made of her northern boundary, and a line called "Brown line" about ten miles north of the Sullivan line had been in, and during the territorial period of lowa this strip was in ' s- pute. The Brown line ran to the rapids in the river Des Moines at the big bend. The final decree of the supreme court was to the effect that as the contention of Missouri was based upon the term "rapids of the Des Moines river," and as there were no such rapids properly speaking, her claim to the Brown line could not be maintained ; and that as both the United States government and the Territory of lowa had recognized the Sullivan line from 1820 to 1816 in numerous treaties and otherwise, the latter was estopped from claiming the triangular strip to the southward of the Sullivan line. The latter line was, therefore, confirmed and ordered re-surveyed; particularly was it ordered to relocate and re-mark the northwestern corner, from which the commissioners . were also to run a line due west to the Missouri tiver to fix the northern boundary of the Platte purchase. Joseph C. Brown and Henry B. Hendershot were appointed commissioners on behalf of Missouri and low respectively, but the former dying, Robert W. Will was appointed in his place. This ended the contin- voss. In the supreme court, the case was entitled "Missouri . lowa," and may be found in 7 Howard, (ii), The resurvey of
-1-15
TERRITORIAL .IND STATE BOUNDARIES.
the Sullivan line and the survey of the line from the northwest corner of Missouri, as established by Mr. Sullivan, to the Mis- souri river, cost the sum of eleven thousand and forty two dol- lars and sixty eight cont ..
At the time Missouri was admitted to the Union, the future as to railroads was, of course, unknown. It was thought that the prosperity of commerce in the "sovereign states" west of the Mis- sissippi would have to depend upon the rivers traversing them. Thus in the memorial of the people of Missouri, Arkansas was to be traversed by the river Arkansas, Missouri by the Missouri, and one state north of the latter by the river St. Pierre. But coll- gress did not wholly agree to this division, and accordingly placed the northern boundary of Missouri far enough south to provide for the formation of two states above the latter .: lowa traversed by the Des Moines river, and Minnesota by the St. Peter's and the upper Mississippi rivers. Thus the prime consideration in the formation of these states was the advantages. afforded by the Mississippi on the east and the large river that should traverse each. After the formation of the State of Mis- souri, all the country west of the Mississippi river and north of that state continued to be called Missouri Territory until 1834, when it was attached to Michigan Territory. There seems to have been no formal act of congress applying the name "Mis- souri Territory" to this tract of country during that period. It simply was referred to as such. The western boundaries were indefinite, but the northern line was the demarcation between the United States and Canada.
By act approved June 2: 1834. all that tra toi company bem il on the east by the Mississippi river, south by Mister and b. .. line drawn due west from the northwest comer of Missouri, southwest and west by the Missouri river and White Earth river, and on the north by the northern boundary of the United States, was attached for executive purposes to Michigan Territory. On this tract of territory it was estimated that at the time there were from five thousand to eight thousand people. It embraced all of Jowa and part of North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota. All this tract was practically without government, having been previously left to shift for itself. It is said that in this tract as late as 1820 might have been seen a justice of the price holding a commission signed by the sovereign of France of Spain.
Hy act approved Mail 20, 18.30. congress provided for the for- mation of Wisconsin Territory: "That from and after the third day of July nost the country included within the following; boundaries shall constitute a separate territory, for the purposes
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.