Northwest Boundary Question

The territory bounded north by latitude 54° go’, east by the Rocky Mountains, south by latitude 42°, and west by the Pacific Ocean has been claimed at various times and to various extents by Ru ia, Spain, Great Britain and the United States. The Ru ian claim, which rested mainly upon occupation by fur traders, was settled by a treaty January 11, 1825. Under this treaty the United States were to make no settlements north of latitude 54° 40’, and Ru ia uone south of that latitude. England and Ru ia agreed upon the same terms. The Spanish claims were confined south of latitude 42° by the treaty which ceded Florida in 1819. Great Britain had little or no claim by discovery. The United States’ claim rested upon the voyage of Gray up the Columbia River in 1792 and the explorations of Lewis and Clark through the Rocky Mopntains and through the Oregon country in 1805-06, under the orders of Jefferson. By the treaty of October 20, 1818, the whole territory west of the Rocky Mountains was to be opened to both countries for ten years, and, in 1827 the joint occupation for an indefinite period was agreed upon. Later this produced di atisfaction, and after considerable negotiation, Great Britain was induced in 1846 to accept latitude 49° at the boundary from the Rocky Mountains to the channel between Vancouver's Island and the mainland. 42