1904. Gannett's Boundaries, 58th Congress, 2d Session, H. R. Doc. 678.

In the opinion of that Bureau, Louisiana was originally bounded by the deep water channel, and is the owner of the area in dispute to-day, according to the report and the accompanying sketches.

In 1897, Louisiana requested the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries to make an investigation and report upon certain technical matters in connection with the oyster industry of that State, which investigation was made in February. 1898, by the United States Fish Commission steamer "Fish Hawk." A map was made of the area investigated in St. Bernard parish, and that map is given in the opening statement as Diagram No. 4. Louisiana's ownership was clearly recognized.

The General Land Office of the United States began as early as 1842 a detailed survey of the land forming the disputed area, of which township plats appear in the record. The survey gave the location of Marsh Island, Half Moon or Grand Island, an unnamed island, Petit Pass Island, and Isle à Pitre and the sections and townships comprised in these islands. They were all designated as being in the southeastern land district of Louisiana, east of the Mississippi river.

When, as we have said, Louisiana, in the year 1852, selected these and other lands within her state limits as enuring to her under the Swamp Land Grants, the General Land Office, on May, 6 1852, recognized the correctness of the claim to the lands and approved and patented them to her as a State. Mississippi also applied for the land enuring to her under the provisions of those grants, and received her swamp lands, but the State never selected and never had approved to her, as is shown by the books of the State Land Office of Mississippi, any of the lands in the disputed area of to-day; but it appeared that the State did have in her Land Office books a record of the lands forming St. Joseph's Island, which lay immediately north of the deep water channel, and did not extend south of that channel.

The General Land Office of the United States in all of the maps it has caused to be made of Louisiana and Mississippi has been consistent in its recognition of the ownership by Louisiana of the disputed area. See maps of Louisiana, 1879, 1886, 1887, 1896; and of Mississippi in 1890.

As before stated, in 1839, an engineer and surveyor made a report and sketch of the coast of Mississippi under the authority of that State. This showed the territory lying south of the deep water channel in outline to be a peninsular formation. The report referred to Horn, Petit Bois, Cat and Ship Islands as belonging to Mississippi, all of which are east of the disputed territory; and the territory southwest of the deep water channel, or South Pass, was described as the Louisiana Marshes. The official maps of Mississippi recognized Louisiana's ownership of the disputed territory. The state map of October 26, 1866, which was approved by Governor Humphrey and also by Governor Alcorn, did this; and other maps, as the official map of Mississippi, published under an act of the legislature of that State on March 8, 1882; Rand & McNally's sectional map of Mississippi, compiled from the records of the office of the Surveyor General of the Board of Immigration and Agriculture, Jackson, Mississippi; and the Railroad Commissioners' map of Mississippi gave like recognition. The only exception seems to be a map of the Railroad Commission, issued in 1904, two years after this suit was instituted, wherein on the eighteenmile theory, Mississippi for the first time cartographically extended her claims into the St. Bernard, Louisiana, peninsula.

The record contains much evidence of the exercise by Louisiana of jurisdiction over the territory in dispute, and of the general recognition of it by Mississippi as belonging to Louisiana. Apparently Louisiana had exercised complete dominion over it from 1812 with the acquiescence of Mississippi, unless the fact that the latter made a general reference to islands within six leagues of her shore in her code of 1880 indicated otherwise. But the evidence fails to satisfy us that she attempted any physical possession or control until after 1900. The few in

stances referred to as showing that Mississippi asserted rights in the disputed area are of little weight and require no discussion.

Our conclusion is that complainant is entitled to the relief sought.

Decree accordingly.

LOUISIANA v. MISSISSIPPI.

DECREE. IN EQUITY.

No. 11, Original. Decree entered April 23, 1906.

Defining the boundary line between the States of Louisiana and Mississippi under the opinion in this case. Ante, p. 1.

PER CURIAM: This cause came on to be heard on the pleadings and proofs and was argued by counsel. On consideration thereof it is found by the court that the State of Louisiana, complainant, is entitled to a decree recognizing and declaring the real, certain and true boundary south of the State of Mississippi and north of the southeast portion of the State of Louisiana, and separating the two States in the waters of Lake Borgne and Mississippi Sound, to be, and that it is, the deep water channel sailing line emerging from the most eastern mouth of Pearl river into Lake Borgne and extending through the northeast corner of Lake Borgne, north of Half Moon or Grand Island, thence east and south through Mississippi Sound, through South Pass between Cat Island and Isle à Pitre, to the Gulf of Mexico, as delineated on the following map, made up of the parts of charts Nos. 190 and 191 of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, embracing the particular locality: And it is ordered, adjudged, and decreed accordingly.

It is further ordered, adjudged and decreed that the State of Mississippi, its officers, agents and citizens, be and they are