That part of the west boundary between the crest of the Bitterroot Mountains and the Canadian border was surveyed and marked in 1898-99 by the U.S. Geological Survey. (For a detailed report of this work, see Goode, 1900.)

In the attempt to place the boundary on the 39th meridian west of Washington, the surveyor used an astronomic datum, with the initial point at Spokane. He measured a five-mile base line along a tangent of the Northern Pacific Railroad east of the city and then triangulated across the panhandle of Idaho. The position of boundary post 12 of this line has been determined by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey to be lat 48°52′33.48" N., long 116°02′52.99" W., 1927 N.A.D. This position is some 600 feet east of the 39th meridian. (Goode, 1900.)

The remainder of the western boundary was surveyed and marked by stone or 3-inch round iron posts in 1904-6 under the General Land Office. The total measured length of the Idaho-Montana boundary line from the Canadian border to the Wyoming line is about 738 miles, of which the first 70.7 miles is the meridional line, the next 355 miles is along the crest of the Bitterroot Mountains, and the remaining 312 miles along the Continental Divide. The west boundary of the Yellowstone National Park crosses this line about 21 miles west of the Wyoming line.

For reference to the survey of the northern boundary, see pages 30-31.

The survey of the east boundary of Montana on the 27th meridian west of Washington was undertaken in 1885; the initial position had been found by measurement from an astronomic station on the Northern Pacific Railway 6 miles 28.51 chains to the west, where an exchange of time signals had been made by telegraph. From the point thus found a random line was run south to the 45th parallel. The mark at the northeast corner of Wyoming on this parallel, as established in 1880, was reported to be 70.68 chains west of the 27th meridian as fixed by the random line. A point for the intersection of the 45th parallel and the 27th meridian (the southeast corner of Montana) was marked by a stone post. Both these corner marks were replaced in 1904 by 6-foot cut-stone posts. See page 234 for the geographic position of the Wyoming corner.

From the point marked as the southeast corner of Montana, the line was run north to the 49th-parallel boundary, a measured distance of 276 miles 27.80 chains. The Northern Pacific Railway was crossed at 133 miles 63 chains; the Yellowstone River, between mileposts 195 and 196; and the Missouri River, between mileposts 207 and 208. Most of the marks on this line were wooden posts, many of which have since been destroyed. The part from the 193d to the 218th

milepost was retraced in 1901, and the posts were found to be poorly alined, varying as much as 50 minutes to the east or west for a single mile.

The geographic position of the southeast corner of Montana is lat 44°59′53.19" N. and long 104°02′20.83" W. Farther north (at lat 47°12′41.45'' N.) there is an accurately located boundary mark, the longitude of which is 104°02'39.88" W. This mark is an old oak post. (Bowie, 1914, p. 93, 94.) The longitude of the intersection of the east boundary line with the northern boundary of the United States is 104°02′48.13" W. These values are for 1927 N.A.D.

CALIFORNIA

The act of September 9, 1850 (9 Stat. L. 452), admitting California into the Union reads in part as follows:

Whereas the people of California have presented a constitution and asked admission into the Union * * * Be it enacted *** that the State of California shall be one and is hereby declared to be one of the United States of America and admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original states in all respects whatever.

The constitution of California describes the boundaries of the State as follows (Thorpe, 1909, v. 1, p. 405): 60

Commencing at the point of intersection of forty-second degree of north latitude with the one hundred and twentieth degree of longiture west from Greenwich, and running south on the line of said one hundred and twentieth degree of west longitude until it intersects the thirty-ninth degree of north latitude; thence running in a straight line in a southeasterly direction to the river Colorado, at a point where it intersects the thirty-fifth degree of north latitude; thence down the middle of the channel of said river to the boundary line between the United States and Mexico as established by the treaty of May 30, 1848; thence running west and along said boundary line to the Pacific Ocean, and extending therein three English miles; thence running in a northwesterly direction and following the direction of the Pacific coast to the forty-second degree of north latitude; thence on the line of said forty-second degree of north latitude to the place of beginning. Also all the islands, harbors, and bays along and adjacent to the Pacific coast.

California is part of the territory acquired from Mexico by the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, between the United States and Mexico, proclaimed July 4, 1848. From that date until December 20, 1849, when the State constitution was adopted and a governor elected, the future State was governed by the commanding officer of the U.S. military forces, Brigadier General Riley. Thus California never had the status of an organized territory, but was admitted directly into the Union.

For a brief review of the events that resulted in the adoption of the boundaries of California as at present fixed, and of attempts to change them, see Guinn (1905).

To determine the proper position for the northeast corner of California (lat 42° N., long 120° W.), an astronomic station was established at Camp Bidwell, where more than 3,000 measurements of lunar distances were said to have been made for longitude in 1868-69. The position for the corner was computed to be 9 miles 56 chains north and 4 miles 78 chains east from the observatory. From the corner thus found, the line was run west a distance of 212 miles 28 chains to a terminal mark 12 chains from the shore of the Pacific Ocean. The 1927 N.A.D. position of this post is lat 41°59′54.65" N., long 124°12′28.31" W. The mile marks along the line consisted of wooden posts or small stones having "O" cut on the north side, "C" on the south, and the mile number and date on the other sides. This survey was made by D. G. Major, U.S. deputy surveyor and astronomer. The field notes are among the records of the General Land Office and are filed in the U.S. National Archives.

The 120th meridian boundary between California and Nevada north of Lake Tahoe was first surveyed in 1860-63 and a second line was run in 1868. However, the official survey, which still governs, was made by A. W. Von Schmidt, U.S. deputy surveyor, in 1873. Von Schmidt went to Verdi to a station on the Central Pacific Railroad (now part of the Southern Pacific Lines) and established telegraphic communication with San Francisco, where there was an astronomic station. After determining his longitude by difference in time, he measured over to the 120th meridian and started north along it from Crystal Peak. When he reached Smokey Creek, he received instructions that his line must run south from the point established by Major in 1869 as the northeast corner of California, the mileposts to be numbered from that point. He therefore left his line and began a new one running south from Major's monument. Reaching a point opposite the north end of his earlier line, he measured east and found the distance between the two lines to be 3 miles and 24.51 chains. Because he felt certain that his longitude determination on the railroad was much closer than that of the initial point on the Oregon border, he was inclined to accept the former, but hesitated to disregard his orders to begin at the corner set in 1869. In his report, he stated that after considering the fact that it was the intent of Congress that the boundary should be 120° west of Greenwich, he decided to set a new initial point on the 42d parallel.

Von Schmidt computed the convergence of the meridians for the difference in latitude and subtractd this value from the east-west distance between his two lines. He then surveyed east from Major's monument 3 miles 18.73 chains to a point for the northeast corner of California where he set a post 8 feet long and 8 inches square in a mound of stone. A triangulation station of the U.S. Coast and Geo

detic Survey (Nev.-Calif.-Ore. Ecc.) is 117 feet southwest of the post marking the corner. The coordinates of this station are lat 41°59'41.36" N., long 119°59′55.60" W. (1927 N.A.D.). The field notes and the report on this survey are in the U.S. National Archives. From this point Von Schmidt ran the line south, setting mileposts on the boundary. He made a satisfactory closure in the east-west direction with his line north from the railroad and continued to the north shore of Lake Tahoe.

The gap of more than 3 miles between the monuments of Major and Von Schmidt was not monumented. When the fractional township at the northeast corner of the State was surveyed in 1879, the north-south section lines were closed against the line between the two monuments. These closing corners serve to mark the State boundary. The oblique boundary line between California and Nevada, from its northern terminus in Lake Tahoe to its southern terminus on the Colorado River at lat 35° N. was originally surveyed under authority of an act of Congress of 1860. Several surveyors took part in the work of surveying this line, among them Lt. Joseph C. Ives, who made astronomic observations for position at the Colorado River end of the line and on the south shore of Lake Tahoe. For determination of longitude at the Lake Tahoe site, he had the use of a telegraph line to San Francisco.

The first complete running of this boundary was by Von Schmidt in 1873. His mileposts were numbered in continuation of the line from the Oregon border, number 211 being near the southeast corner of the lake. He ran a random line, computing an azimuth to close on the position established by Lieutenant Ives. His closure on this point was 20 chains. He found that the river had changed its bed by a distance of a mile and a half. In reply to his request for instructions from the General Land Office, Von Schmidt was told he should make his own decision as to the intersection of the middle of the channel of the Colorado and the 35th parallel as he saw it at that time, inasmuch as the Ives survey had never been accepted.

Work on a resurvey of this boundary was initiated by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1893 and completed in 1899. No fieldwork was done in 1896 and 1897. In the annual report of this agency for 1900 (Sinclair, 1901), it is stated that corrections to his random. line were distributed by Von Schmidt only along the south one-third of his line. New determinations of latitude and longitude were made for the terminal points on the line. The position of the river channel at the 35th parallel was chosen as a point midway between the cut banks between which the river meandered.

The random line for the new survey was put in by triangulation, beginning at the Lake Tahoe end. The final boundary marks were

offset from this line, by whatever amount the adjustment required. Most of the marks were wooden posts surrounded by a rock cairn 3 to 5 feet high. In a total distance of 405 miles, 137 monuments were set. These monuments, scribed with the letters "C" and "N" on the appropriate sides and the number on the northwest, mark the accepted boundary. Fifty marks of the 1873 survey were recovered. The line surveyed in 1873 crosses the Coast and Geodetic Survey line twice and at one place is over a mile northeast of it.

The principal islands claimed as part of the State of California

are:

Santa Catalina and San Clemente, 20 to 50 miles off the coast, included in Los Angeles County.

San Nicolas, 60 miles from the coast, included in Ventura County. Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel, 20 to 25 miles from the coast, included in Santa Barbara County.

These and many smaller islands passed under the control of the United States in consequence of the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. The question of sovereignty over these islands has been raised several times, the claim being made that as they were not mentioned in the treaty of 1848, Mexico had not given up its title to them; but it is evident from the following references that it was generally understood after the treaty was signed that the islands were a part of the territory ceded to the United States.

A general assertion of jurisdiction of the "islands adjacent to the Pacific coast" was made in the State constitution of 1849, which was formally approved by Congress in 1850.

In an act of Congress approved August 31, 1852 (10 Stat. L. 91), an appropriation was made for subdividing these islands, several of which were mentioned by name, "so that said islands may be readily disposed of under the laws of the United States."

The U.S. Supreme Court at its December term, 1859, decided a case relating to a land grant on the island of Santa Cruz (23 Howard 465), in which the claim was based on a Mexican grant of 1839. The question of jurisdiction of the United States over the island was not brought up, although it must have been considered.

Patents have been issued from time to time by the General Land Office for land on the several islands, and reservations have been made on behalf of the United States for lighthouses.

So far as can be ascertained, no formal adverse claim to these islands has ever been presented by Mexico, and in view of the foregoing facts it is certain that none can now be made with a hope for favorable consideration. (U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1895, p. 106.)