it struck the Appalachicola River, and turned south again down that river to its junction with the Flint River, from which junction it turned straight east to the St. Mary's River, and along the middle of that river to the Atlantic Ocean.
So far, with the exception of the error of imagining that the source of the Mississippi was as far north as, and to the west of, the Lake of the Woods, there could be little or no trouble about determining the exact boundaries of the United States in 1783. The remainder of the line was from the point of beginning, at the head-waters of the St. Croix River, down that stream to its mouth in the Bay of Fundy. All the islands within twenty leagues of the shores of the United States, and comprehended be tween lines projected due east from the northern and southern boundaries already described, were to belong to the United States, excepting such islands as had previously been within the limits of Nova Scotia.
But the boundaries of the United States not being alone the object of the treaty, it was further agreed that the fishermen of our country should continue to enjoy the right, unmolested, to take fish on the Newfoundland Banks, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, or at any other places in the sea where the people of either country had been accustomed to fish; and to take fish of every kind on such parts of the coast of Newfoundland as British fishermen should use, but not to dry or cure them on the island; and to be allowed to fish in all the bays and creeks of all other parts of the British dominions in America, with the liberty to cure fish in the unsettled bays, harbors, and creeks of Nova Scotia, Magdalen Islands, and Labrador, so long as they should remain unsettled; after which, the privilege should depend upon agreements made with the inhabitants or owners of the ground, which section of the treaty was one of great importance, particularly to the people of New England.
Nearly a dozen of years passed away, and there had been very little more discovered concerning the actual location of our northern line. But meanwhile the commercial marine of the United States was slowly growing in importance. Some small New York and Boston companies were sending vessels to the north-west coast of North America, to Africa, and to China, picking up cargoes in the Pacific to exchange for silks and teas in Canton, etc. One of these adventurous traders, who poked the nose of his vessel into almost every opening north of the forty-sixth parallel, was the first navigator to cross the bar of the Columbia River.
It was not in the nature of the British Government to view these ambitious efforts of the young republic without jealousy, and there arose some commercial questions that required settlement. Accordingly, a treaty was negotiated between John Jay, on the part of the United States, and William Wyndham, on behalf of Great Britain, called A Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, signed at London, November 19, 1794, a part of which referred to our boundary, as follows:
"Article 4. Whereas, it is uncertain whether the River Mississippi extends so far to the northward as to be intersected by a line 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, it is agreed that measures shall be taken in concert between his Majesty's Government in America and the Government of the United States, for making a joint survey of the said river from one degree of latitude be low the Falls of St. Anthony to the principal sources of the said river, and also of the parts adjacent thereto; and that, if on the result of such survey it should appear that the said river would not be intersected by such a line as is above mentioned, the two parties will there upon proceed, by amicable negotiation, to regulate the boundary line in that quarter, as well as all other points to be adjusted between the said parties, according to justice and mutual convenience, and in conformity to the intent of the said treaty.
"Article 5. Whereas, doubts have arisen what river was truly intended under the name of the River St. Croix, mentioned in the said treaty of peace, and forming a part of the boundary therein described, that question shall be referred to the final decision of Commissioners, to be appointed in the following manner, viz.: One Commissioner shall be named by his 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 shall agree on the choice of a third; or, if they cannot so agree, they shall each propose one person, and of the two names so proposed, one shall be drawn by lot in the same presence of the two original Commissioners," etc.
These Commissioners were to be sworn to make an impartial examination and decision of the question, according to the evidence. They were to decide what river was meant by the St. Croix of the treaty, and to append to their declaration the proofs, and give the particulars of latitude and longitude of its mouth and its source; when the decision made by them should be final. The Commissioners were to meet at Halifax, with the power to adjourn to any other place they might prefer; were to employ surveyors and a secretary, and otherwise to be furnished with every means of settling the question of the identity of the St. Croix River.
At the first glance this might seem an easy enough thing to do. But so it did not prove. The more knowledge the interested parties obtained on the subject the more doubtful they were of the point aimed at. Time passed on, and the United States purchased of France, in
