the middle of Lake Michigan; thence through the middle of Lake Michigan, to the northern boundary of the State of Indiana, as that line was established by the act of Congress of the nineteenth of April, eighteen hundred and sixteen; thence due east, with the north boundary line of the said State of Indiana, to the northeast corner thereof; and thence, south, with the east boundary line of Indiana to the place of beginning.

The above boundaries remain unchanged.

WISCONSIN.80

Wisconsin was organized as a Territory July 3, 1836, and admitted as a State May 29, 1848.

As originally constituted its area comprised all that part of the former Territory of Michigan which lay outside of the present limits of the State of Michigan. (See fig. 15.) The limits are defined in

the act for its organization as follows: 81

Bounded on the east, by a line drawn from the northeast corner of the State of Illinois, through the middle of Lake Michigan, to a point in the middle of said lake, and opposite the main channel of Green Bay; and through said channel and Green Bay to the mouth of the Menomonie river; thence through the middle of the main channel of said river, to that head of said river nearest to the Lake of the Desert; thence in a direct line to the middle of said lake; thence through the middle of the main channel of the Montreal river, to its mouth; thence with a direct line across Lake Superior to where the territorial line of the United States last touches said lake northwest; thence on the north with the said territorial line to the White-earth river; on the west, by a line from the said boundary line following down the middle of the main channel of White-earth river to the Missouri river, and down the middle of the main channel of the Missouri river to a point due west from the northwest corner of the State of Missouri; and on the south, from said point, due east to the northwest corner of the State of Missouri; and thence with the boundaries of the States of Missouri and Illinois, as already fixed by acts of Congress.

In 1838 all that part of the territory lying west of the Mississippi and a line drawn due north from its source to the international boundary—that is, all that part which was originally comprised in the Louisiana Purchase and the Red River drainage basin south of the fortyninth parallel was organized as the Territory of Iowa. (See Iowa, p. 179.)

When the Territory was organized it was supposed that there was a connected water-boundary line between Michigan and Wisconsin from Green Bay to Lake Superior. Congress in 1838 ordered the running and marking of this boundary, but it was soon discovered that the line could not be run as described, for the head of Montreal River is more than 50 miles from the Lake of the Desert, which was

82

For a general description of the boundaries of Wisconsin and a historical sketch of the acts by which they were fixed see Thwaites, R. G., Coll. of the Wisconsin State Hist. Soc., vol. 11, pp. 451-501, Madison, 1888.

15 Stat. L. 11.

5 Stat. L. 244.

supposed to be its source. It was therefore recommended that the boundary location be changed to the position later described in the Wisconsin enabling act of 1846 83 and in greater detail in the Michigan constitution of 1850, which reads as follows: 84

through Lake Superior to the mouth of the Montreal river; thence through the middle of the main channel of the said river Montreal to the head waters thereof; thence in a direct line to the center of the channel between Middle and South islands in the Lake of the Desert; thence in a direct line to the southern shore of Lake Brule; thence along said southern shore and down the river Brule to the main channel of the Menominee river; thence down the center of the main channel of the same to the center of the most usual ship channel of the Green Bay of Lake Michigan.

The straight parts of the boundary were surveyed and marked, in 1847, from a point where Balsam River and Pine River unite to form the Montreal, thence S. 74° 27′ E. to the Lake of the Desert, a distance of 50 miles 67 chains 6 links. The south part of the line begins at the lower end of Lake Brule and runs N. 59° 38′ W. for 13 miles 37 chains 66 links to an intersection with the former line in the Lake of the Desert.85

On March 3, 1847, a supplementary act for the admission of Wisconsin was passed by Congress, in which the western boundary of the proposed State was changed as follows: 86

That the assent of Congress is hereby given to the change of boundary proposed in the first article of said constitution, to wit: leaving the boundary line prescribed in the act of Congress entitled "An Act to enable the People of Wisconsin Territory to form a Constitution and State Government, and for the Admission of such State into the Union," at the first rapids in the river St. Louis; thence in a direct line southwardly to a point fifteen miles east of the most easterly point of Lake St. Croix; thence due south to the main channel of the Mississippi River or Lake Pepin; thence down the said main channel, as prescribed in said act.

The first constitution submitted under the act of 1846 was rejected by popular vote. A second constitution, dated February 2, 1848, was accepted by a majority vote; in it the boundaries are as described in the enabling act of August 6, 1846. Congress accepted this constitution and by act approved May 29, 1848,87 admitted Wisconsin as a State.

The boundary between this State and Minnesota from St. Louis River to St. Croix River was surveyed and marked in 1852 under the General Land Office.

For the southern boundary see Illinois, page 171.

83 9 Stat. L. 56-57.

84 Thorpe, F. N., op. cit., vol. 4, p. 1945.

85 Consult General Land Office files, Boundaries, No. 39, 1 and 2.

889 Stat. L. 178.

87 9 Stat. L. 233.

628

MISSOURI.

The name of the Territory of Louisiana was changed in 1812 88 to Missouri. At that time the Territory included all the original Louisiana Purchase, except the State of Louisiana. (See Pl. VII.) Missouri was declared a State on August 10, 1821, by presidential proclamation, under authority of the joint resolution of Congress of March 2, 1821,80 with boundaries as defined in the enabling act of March 6, 1820,90 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 and 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 aforesaid 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 channel of the said river Des Moines, to the mouth of the same, where it empties into the Mississippi River; thence due east to the middle of the main channel 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 peculiar jog or "panhandle" at the southeast corner of the State, between Mississippi and St. Francis rivers, is said to be the result of efforts of a prominent property owner who lived south of the parallel of 36° 30′ to have his plantation included in the new State,91

In 1836 the boundaries were extended on the northwest to Missouri River, as described in the following act of the legislature amendatory to the constitution of 1820:92

That the boundary of the State be so altered and extended as to include all that tract of land lying on the north side of the Missouri River and west of the present boundary of this State, so that the same shall be bounded on the south by the middle of the main channel of the Missouri River and on the north by the present northern boundary line of the State, as established by the constitution, when the same is continued in a right line to the west, or to include so much of said tract of land as Congress may assent.

This was ratified by Congress on June 7, 1836, and was declared in effect by presidential proclamation of March 28, 1837. The following is an extract from the act:93

2 Stat. L. 743.

3 Stat. L. 645, 797.

203 Stat. L. 545.

"Violette, E. M., A history of Missouri, p. 111, New York, 1918.

"Thorpe, F. N., op. cit., vol. 4, p. 2170.

5 Stat. L. 34.