[1 I Take Pleasure In Inserting Here A Note Which I Have Had The Honor
To Receive From Captain Pope, Of The Corps Of Topographical Engineers
I Have Before Had Occasion To Quote From The Able And Instructive
Report Of His Exploration Of Minnesota.
WASHINGTON, D. C. Dec.
10, 1856.
DEAR SIR: Your note of the 6th instant is before me; and I will
premise my reply by saying that the suggestions I shall offer to your
inquiries are based upon my knowledge of the condition of the
territory in 1849, which circumstances beyond my acquaintance may have
materially modified since.
The important points to be secured for the new state to be erected in
the territory of Minnesota, seem to be: first a harbor on Lake
Superior, easily accessible from the West; second, the whole course of
the Mississippi to the Iowa line; and, third, the head of navigation
of the Red River of the North. It is unnecessary to point out the
advantages of securing these features to the new state; and to do so
without enclosing too many square miles of territory, I would suggest
the following boundaries, viz.:
Commencing on the 49th parallel of latitude, where it is intersected
by the Red River of the North, to follow the line of deepest water of
that river to the mouth of the Bois des Sioux (or Sioux Wood) River;
thence up the middle of that stream to the south-west point of Lake
Traverse; thence following a due south line to the northern boundary
of the state of Iowa (43 degrees 30' north latitude); thence along
this boundary line to the Mississippi River; thence up the middle of
the Mississippi River to the mouth of the St. Croix River; thence
along the western boundary line of the state of Wisconsin to its
intersection with the St. Louis River; thence down the middle of that
river to Lake Superior; thence following the coast of the lake to its
intersection with the boundary line between the United States and the
British possessions, and following this boundary to the place of
beginning.
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