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of 1850. The result was the passage of the above act of September 9, 1850, c. 49, the provisions of which were promptly accepted by the state of Texas. This legislation of the two governments constituted a convention or contract in respect of all matters embraced by it. The settlement of 1850 fixed the boundary of Texas "on the north" to commence at the point at which the 100th meridian intersects the parallel of 36° 30′ north latitude, and from that point the northern line ran due west to the 103d meridian, thence due south to the 32d degree of north latitude, thence on that parallel to the Rio Bravo del Norte, and thence with the channel of that river to the Gulf of Mexico. Texas, in the same settlement, ceded its claim to territory exterior to the limits and boundaries so established, and relinquished all claims upon the United States for liability for its debts, and for compensation or indemnity for the surrender to the United States of its ships, ports, arsenals, customhouse revenues, arms and munitions of war, and public buildings, with their sites, which became the property of the United States at the time of the admission of the state into the Union. In consideration of that establishment of boundaries, cession of claim to territory, and relinquishment of claims, the United States agreed to pay and has paid to Texas the sum of $10,000,000. 9 Stat. 446.

The words, "the meridian of one hundred degrees west from Greenwich," in the act of 1850, manifestly refer to the true 100th meridian, and not to the 100th meridian as located on the Melish map of 1818. The precise location of that meridian has not been left in doubt by the two governments. The United States has erected a monument at the point where the 100th meridian is intersected by the parallel of 36° 30′ north latitude. This was done many years ago, upon actual survey; and Texas has, by its legislation, often recognized the true 100th meridian to be as located by the United States. Looking at the above map of 1892, it will be seen that the counties of Lipscomb, Hemphill, Wheeler, Collingsworth, and Childress are all immediately west of the 100th meridian. These counties were established in 1876. 3 Sayles' Early Laws Tex. art. 4285. The boundaries of each, as defined in the legislative enactments of Texas, are given in the margin. It will be seen

1 The County of Lipscomb. Beginning at a monument on the intersection of the one hundredth meridian, and the thirty-six and a half (362) degree of latitude, 1,629 feet north of the 1324 mile post on the one hundredth meridian; thence west thirty miles to the thirtieth mile post on the 36% degree of latitude; thence south thirty miles and 1.629 feet; thence east thirty miles to the 1024 mile post; thence north thirty miles and 1,629 feet to the beginning.

The County of Hemphill. Beginning at the northeast corner of Roberts county, and the southeast corner of Ochiltree county and southwest corner of Lipscomb county; thence east

that the eastern boundary of each county is the 100th meridian. By the act creating Lipscomb county, its boundary immediately south of the parallel of 36° 30′ north latitude begins "at a monument on the intersection of the 100th meridian and the thirty-six and a half degrees of latitude." That monument is the one established by the United States after the settlement of 1850. Peculiarly significant is the boundary of Childress county, one of the lines of which runs up Prairie Dog Town river-which river, the United States insists, constitutes the southern boundary of the territory in dispute "to the initial monument on the 100th meridian." The "initial monument" here referred to was erected in 1857 under the authority of the United States to mark the place where, as its representatives then and have ever since claimed, the line, "following the course of the Rio Roxo westward,” crossed the 100th meridian.

It thus appears that the two governments, with knowledge that the treaty of 1819 referred to Melish's map of 1818, have, by official action, declared that the 100th meridian is located on the line that marks the eastern boundaries of the counties of Lipscomb, Hemphill, Wheeler, and Collingsworth, in the state of Texas. Besides, the proof in the cause leaves no room to doubt that the true 100th meridian is, as shown by the above map of 1892, immediately east of those counties. The acts of the two governments and the evidence therefore concur in showing that the 100th meridian is not correctly delineated on the Melish map of 1818. And in the above settlement of a part of the boundary lines between the United States and Texas, the

thirty miles to the southeast corner of Lipscomb county, to the 102d mile post on the one hundredth meridian; thence south thirty miles to the 72d mile post; thence west thirty miles to the southeast corner of Roberts county; then north thirty miles to the place of beginning.

The County of Wheeler. Beginning at the 72d mile post, on the one hundredth meridian, the southeast corner of Hemphill county; thence west thirty miles to the southwest corner of Hemphill county and the southeast corner of Roberts county; thence south thirty miles; thence east thirty miles to the 42d mile post, on the one hundredth meridian; thence north thirty miles to the place of beginning.

The County of Collingsworth. Beginning at the northeast corner of Donley county and southeast corner of Gray county, and southwest corner of Wheeler county; thence east thirty miles to the southeast corner of Wheeler county at the 42d mile post, on the one hundredth meridian; thence south thirty miles; thence west thirty miles to the southeast corner of Donley county; thence north thirty miles to the place of beginning.

The County of Childress. Beginning at the southeast corner of Collingsworth county at the 12th mile post, on the one hundredth meridian; thence west 23 miles; thence south thirty miles; thence east about thirty-five miles, to the new west line of Hardeman county; thence north to Prairie Dog Town river; thence up said river to the initial monument on the one hundredth meridian; thence north to the 12th mile post at the place of beginning. 3 Sayles' Early Laws Tex. art. 4285.

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two governments have accepted the true 100th meridian, and discarded the Melish 100th meridian. Giving effect to the compromise act of 1850, the suggestion that the 100th meridian must be taken, in the present controversy, to be as located on the Melish map of 1818, is wholly inadmissible. It cannot be supposed that the United States would have agreed to pay $10,000,000 to the state of Texas, as provided in the act of 1850, if it had been suggested that any dispute in respect of boundary not covered by that act, and so far as such dispute depended upon degrees of longitude, was to be determined otherwise than by reference to the true 100th meridian. Assuming that the two governments did not intend by the settlement of 1850 to fix the point where the line, "following the course of the Rio Roxo, westward," crossed the 100th meridian, nevertheless it is inconceivable that the two governments intended that in establishing the boundary of Texas "on the north" the 100th meridian mentioned in the enactment of 1850 should be the true 100th meridian, but that the state should be at liberty to insist, in respect of its boundary along Red river, that the 100th meridian be taken to be as delineated on the Melish map, and thereby obtain all the land, within the limits of Indian Territory, between the true 100th meridian and the Melish 100th meridian.

We have said that the treaty itself, upon a reasonable interpretation of its provisions, left it open to the contracting parties, through commissioners and surveyors, to fix the lines with precision, and therefore to show by competent evidence where the true 100th meridian was located. But, if this were not so, we should feel obliged to hold that the convention or contract between the United States and Texas, as embraced in their respective enactments of 1850, together with the subsequent acts of the two governments, require, in the determination of the present controversy, that the 100th meridian mentioned in the treaty of 1819 be taken to be the true 100th meridian, and, consequently, that the line, "following the course of the Rio Roxo westward to the degree of longitude 100 west from London," must go, and was intended to go, to the true or actual 100th meridian, and not stop at the Melish 100th meridian.

So that the real question for solution is whether, as contended by the United States, the line, "following the course of the Rio Roxo westward to the degree of longitude 100 west from London," meets the 100th meridian at the point where Prairie Dog Town Fork of Red river crosses that meridian, or whether, as contended by the state, it goes northwestwardly up the North Fork of Red river, until that river crosses the 100th meridian, many miles due north of the initial monument established by the United States in 1857.

Upon this point the evidence is very volu

minous. Much of it, we feel constrained to say, is of little value, and tends only to confuse the mind in its efforts to ascertain what was within the contemplation of the negotiators of 1819.

It is a matter of regret that the question now presented, involving interests of great magnitude, should not have been determined, in some satisfactory mode, before, or shortly after, Texas was admitted as one of the states of the Union. It has remained unsettled for so long a time that it is not now so easy of solution as it would have been when the facts were fresh in the minds of living witnesses who had more intimate knowledge of the circumstances than any one can now possibly have upon the most thorough investigation.

Before looking at the Melish map of 1818, it will be proper to inquire as to the general course of Red river, so far as any information had been given to the public prior to the making of that map. Probably the most trustworthy publication on the subject is Pike's "Account of Expeditions to the Sources of the Mississippi, and through the Western Parts of Louisiana to the Source of the Arkansaw, Kans, La Platte, and Pierre Juan Rivers, Performed by Order of the Government of the United States during the Years 1805, 1806, and 1807; and a Tour through the Interior Parts of New Spain, when Conducted through These Provinces, by Order of the Captain General, in the Year 1807." This work was copyrighted in 1808, and published at Philadelphia in 1810. It was illustrated by numerous charts, copies of which constitute the two pages following this page,—one of them being "A Chart of the Internal Part of Louisiana;" the other, "A Map of the Internal Provinces of New Spain." Those charts show a large river, called "Red River," extending from a point near Santa Fé, between latitude 37° and 38°, across what is now the state of Texas, passing Natchitoches, La. Both show a chain of mountains *running north and south, marked on one chart as "White, snow-capped mountains, very high."

These are undoubtedly the Snow Mountains referred to in the letter of Mr. Adams to the Spanish minister of October 31, 1818, in which, as we have seen, the former proposed that the line from east to west should follow the course of Red river "to its source, touching the chain of the Snow Mountains, in latitude 37° 25′ north, longitude 106° 15' west, or thereabouts." East of the Snow Mountains, as delineated on these charts, are two prongs or small streams, "Rio Rojo" and "Rio Moro"; the source of the former being northeast, and the latter nearly east, of Santa Fé. The Rio Rojo rises between the 37th and 38th, and the Rio Moro between the 36th and 37th, degrees of latitude, both near the 106th degree of longitude. Between those prongs, on one of the charts, are the words, "Source of Red River of the Mississippi." The prongs or streams Rio Rojo and Rio Moro unite at

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about the 37th degree of latitude, and form one stream, marked on one chart as "Red River," and on the other as "Rio Colorado [Red River] of Natchitoches." The stream

thus formed runs for a short distance eastwardly, then southeastwardly until it reaches a point a little west of the 100th meridian, then eastwardly, then a little northeastwardly, then southeastwardly, passing Natchitoches, to a junction with the Wichita river near the Mississippi river. It should also be stated that on these charts is marked a road or line extending from Tous (which is north of Santa Fé) through a gap of the Snow Mountains, and thence along the north side of Red river. That line is described as "the route pursued by the Spanish cavalry when going out from Santa Fé in search of the American exploring parties commanded by Major Sparks and Captain Pike in the year 1806."

These charts or maps, in connection with the chart of the lower part of Red river, not here reproduced, also show throughout the entire distance from Natchitoches to the source of Red river, near the Snow Mountains, small streams emptying into the main river from the north and northwest, none of which, however, are marked with names; and that north of Red river, as delineated by⭑Pike, and east of the 100th meridian of longitude, is an unnamed stream, not of great length, but having the same general course as the stream now known as the "North Fork of Red River."

That prior to Melish's map of 1818 it was believed that the Red river that passed Natchitoches had its source in the mountains near Santa Fé is manifest from Melish's own publications. In 1816 he published at Philadelphia a small book, with the title, "A Geographical Description of the United States, with the Contiguous British and Spanish Possessions." It accompanied his map of those countries. In that work it appears that he used Humboldt's map of 1804, and Pike's Travels. He said: "The Red river rises in the mountains to the eastward of Santa Fé, between north latitude 37° and 38°, and, pursuing a general southeast course, makes several remarkable bends, as exhibited on the map; but it receives no very considerable streams until it forms a junction with the Wachitta, and its great mass of waters, a few miles before it reaches the Mississippi.” Pages 13, 39. See, also, the third edition of his work, published in 1818 (pages 14, 42).

On Darby's map of the United States, including Louisiana, published in 1818, and prefixed to his "Emigrant's Guide," appears the "Red River of Natchitoches," formed by two prongs, and extending southeastwardly from a point near the intersection of the 107th degree of longitude and the 40th degree of latitude to its junction with waters near the Mississippi. East of the 100th meridian are two unnamed streams coming from the northwest, each much shorter than the main Red river, as delineated on that map. It is stated in this

work that the Red river "rises near Santa Fé in N. lat. 37° 30′, and 29° west of Washington, runs nearly parallel to the Arkansas, joins the Mississippi at 31° N. lat. after a comparative course of 1,100 miles." Page 50.

In view of the facts stated, particularly in view of Melish's knowledge of Pike's publication and the statements in his own work, it cannot be doubted that, when the Melish map of 1818 was published, it was believed that there was a Red river that continued without break from its source, near Santa Fé or the Snow Mountains, until it joined other waters* east and southeast of Natchitoches, near the Mississippi.

Following the course of Red river, as laid down on the Melish map of 1818, it is impessible to doubt that in the mind of Melish the Red river was the stream represented by Pike as having two prongs, Rio Rojo and Rio Moro, near Santa Fé, and as running without break, first easterly, then southeastwardly, then eastwardly for a comparatively short distance, and then southeastwardly to its mouth near the Mississippi river. On the north and east of Red river, as thus marked, there was no stream connected with it that was marked by any name. There was an unnamed stream on the north side of the main river, which emptied into the latter between the 101st and 102d degrees of west longitude as defined on that map. If regard be had alone to the map of 1818, it is more than probable that the river marked on it as having near its source two prongs, Rio Rojo and Rio Moro, and which formed one stream that continued without break southeastwardly, and into which, between the 101st and 102d degrees of longitude, as marked on that map, came from the northwest an unnamed stream, was the river designated on Pike's chart as "Red River," and was the Red river of the treaty of 1819. The suggestion that the river marked on the Melish map as having the two prongs, Rio Rojo and Rio Moro, and running southeastwardly, was the river now known as the "North Fork of the Red River," is without any substantial foundation upon which to rest. If the latter river is delineated at all on the Melish map, it is the unnamed stream that entered the main river from the northwest, between the 101st and 102d meridians as located on that map.

There is a large amount of evidence of a documentary character showing that this interpretation of the Melish map is correct. We have before us "A Map of the United States, with the Contiguous British and Spanish Possessions, Compiled from the Latest and Best Authorities by John Melish." It was copyrighted June 16, 1820, and published at Philadelphia by Finlayson, the successor of Melish. A part of that map is reproduced on the next page. It is spoken of as "Melish's Map of 1823," because that is the year to which it was improved. From that map it appears. that a line up the Rio Roxo, or Red river, from the northeastern corner of Texas to the

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