where Watauga River breaks through it; thence a direct course to the top of the Yellow Mountain, where Bright's road crosses the same; thence along the ridge of said mountain, between the waters of Doe River and the waters of Rock Creek, to the place where the road crosses the Iron Mountain; from thence along the extreme height of said mountain to where Nolichucky River runs through the same; thence to the top of the Bald Mountain; thence along the extreme height of said mountain to the Painted Rock, on French Broad River; thence along the highest ridge of said mountain to the place where it is called the Great Iron or Smoky Mountain; thence along the extreme height of said mountain to the place where it is called Unicoi or Unaka Mountain between the Indian towns of Cowee and Old Chota; thence along the main ridge of the said mountain to the southern boundary of this State, as described in the act of cession of North Carolina to the United States of America.

Commissioners appointed by authority of the Legislature of North Carolina surveyed and marked a part of the Tennessee line in 1799. Beginning at the Virginia line they ran southwestward along the crest of the mountains to the highest pinnacle of the Smoky Mountains beyond the French Broad River, where they stopped. Neither Tennessee nor the United States was represented in this survey. A certified copy of the field notes was given to Tennessee in 1803, but it does not appear that the line as run was ratified by either State. North Carolina was, however, apparently bound by the action of its commissioners.

In 1819 North Carolina authorized the extension of the line of 1799 (Laws of North Carolina for 1819, chap. 11) and in 1820 Tennessee took like action. The line was completed to the Georgia State line, and the extension was formally ratified by both States in 1821. The original map for the 1821 survey of the North Carolina-Tennessee line is said to be in the State archives in Nashville.

In 1885 commissioners were appointed to rerun the part of the line of 1799 from Iron Mountain at Indian Grove Gap to the point where the Jonesboro and Asheville road passes over Bald Mountain. The line was run in 1886, but the commissioners failed to agree on a part of the line about 6 miles long near the Nolichucky River. The North Carolina commissioner followed as closely as possible the survey of 1799, but the Tennessee commissioner insisted on a line about a mile farther east. The report of the North Carolina commissioner is given in full in Document 22 of the North Carolina Legislature, session of 1887. No further action appears to have been taken by either State toward a settlement of this dispute, but in 1915 a suit involving the proper location of the boundary was decided in the Tennessee Supreme Court in favor of the line as marked by the North Carolina commissioner (Thompson, 1916, v. 7, p. 35–66). The commissioners who surveyed the southern part of the west boundary of North Carolina in 1821 depended almost entirely on

blazes on trees for their marks, and, although they did not run out the line as described by statute, the entire line as marked was accepted by the legislatures of the two States.

In recent years many disputes regarding the exact location of parts of the line have arisen, and they were finally taken to the Supreme Court of the United States. Commissioners appointed to re-mark the boundary filed their report October 29, 1915, having remarked the line from the point where it first intersects the Little Tennessee River down the north side of the river about half a mile, thence across the river and up Slickrock Creek to a point near the mouth of Big Stack Gap Branch, thence up a ridge leading to Big Fodderstack Mountain, thence along the main ridge to a place locally known as "County Corners," thence along State Ridge to the Tellico River, thence in a southwesterly course to the top of Jenks Knob. South of this point sufficient marks of the survey of 1821 were known to fix the line as above described.15

The approximate position for the southwest corner of North Carolina and the southeast corner of Tennessee at a point on the Georgia line is lat 34°59′17′′ N., long 84°19′19′′ W.

In 1879 the legislature passed an act to appoint commissioners to make a survey from the northeast corner of Georgia westward. This point of commencement is common to North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

In 1881 the legislature passed another act providing for the appointment of a commissioner, who should act with commissioners from Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, or Tennessee, to rerun and re-mark the boundaries between North Carolina and the other States.

In 1888 a joint commission reran the Byrd line of 1728 between the ocean at Currituck Inlet and the Nottoway (now Blackwater) River, a distance of 591/2 miles,16 28 appropriately marked granite monuments were established, and astronomic determinations of latitude were made for five of them, as follows (the longitudes are approximate):

W.

Monument 2, Knott Island, lat 36°32′59′′ N., long 75°55.7′ W.

Monument 7, Northwest River, lat 36°33'00" N., long 76°11.6' W. Monument 11, Dismal Swamp Canal, lat 36°33′02′′ N., long 76°22.7'

Monument 13, lat 36°33′01′′ N., long 76°33.5′ W.

Monument 28, Nottoway (now Blackwater) River, lat 36°32′36′′ N., long 76°56′ W.

15 See 235 U.S. 3-17 for the decision of the court, which includes a historical description of the line and extracts from the field notes of the 1821 survey; and 240 U.S. 652 for report of commissioners. See Williams (1920) for description of the survey of this line.

16 See North Carolina Pub. Doc. 31, sess. of 1889, for a full report.

SOUTH CAROLINA 17

The territory within the present State of South Carolina was included in the charter of Carolina, which also embraced what is now the State of Georgia. (See North Carolina, p. 151–152.)

The settlement of Carolina under the charter of 1665 had been carried on from two points, and

While there had been no formal division of the domain into distinct territories, these settlements at the two points had at first distinct governments; and the northern portion had gradually acquired the informal designation of North Carolina; the southern that of South Carolina [McCrady, 1899, p. 3].

In 1719 there was a concerted revolt by the southern settlements against the proprietary government of Carolina, but not until 1729 was the separation of the two colonies formally recognized by the Parliament of Great Britain.

For a history of the settlement of the boundary between North Carolina and South Carolina, see North Carolina, pages 152-153.

By the charter of Georgia (1732) the line between South Carolina and Georgia was to be the Savannah River to its head. In 1762, difficulties having arisen concerning the interpretation of the charter, the head of the Savannah, and the title to the lands south of the Altamaha River claimed by South Carolina, Georgia made complaint to the King, who issued a proclamation in 1763 giving the lands between the Altamaha and St. Marys Rivers to Georgia. The question of the boundary on the Savannah, however, remained unsettled until 1787, when a convention between the two States was held at Beaufort, S.C., to determine it, and the line was fixed as at present. (See fig. 15.) The following is an extract from the articles of agreement (1 Stat. L.466):

The most northern branch or stream of the river Savannah from the sea or mouth of such stream to the fork or confluence of the rivers now called Tugaloo and Keowa, and from thence the most northern branch or stream of the said river Tugaloo till it intersects the northern boundary line of South Carolina, if the said branch or stream of Tugaloo extends so far north, reserving all the islands in the said rivers Savannah and Tugaloo to Georgia; but if the head spring or source of any branch or stream of the said river Tugaloo does not extend to the north boundary line of South Carolina, then a west line to the Mississippi, to be drawn from the head spring or source of the said branch or stream of Tugaloo River which extends to the highest northern latitude, shall forever hereafter form the separation, limit, and boundary between the States of South Carolina and Georgia.

In the same year South Carolina ceded to the United States a strip of territory which she claimed, about 12 or 14 miles wide, south of the

17 For copies of laws, reports of commissioners, and references to documents relating to the boundary lines of this State from 1576 to 1815, see Cooper (1836, p. 404–421).

North Carolina line and extending from the source of the Chattooga River to the Mississippi. South Carolina's claim to this narrow strip south of the 35th parallel was based on inadequate geographic information. It was no doubt believed that the source of the "most northern branch or stream of the said river Tugaloo" was some distance south of the North Carolina line, but recent surveys show that the headwaters of the Chattooga, which is a branch of the Tugaloo, are north of the 35th parallel and within the limits of North Carolina. (See U.S. Geol. Survey map of the Cowee quadrangle, N.C.-S.C.) Although South Carolina thus had no right to claim this strip, later disputes regarding it were made impossible by its cession to the United States in 1787 and the cession of the eastern part to Georgia by the United States in 1802. (See p. 160.)

In 1917 the Legislature of Georgia authorized the bringing of suit in the Supreme Court of the United States in order to settle a longstanding dispute between that State and South Carolina regarding their common boundary. The court decision, rendered January 30, 1922, is in part as follows (see 257 U.S. 517 and 259 U.S. 572):

(1) Where there are no islands in the boundary rivers the location of the line between the two States is on the water midway between the main banks of the river when the water is at ordinary stage; (2) where there are islands the line is midway between the Island bank and the South Carolina shore when the water is at ordinary stage; and (3) that islands in the Chattooga River are reserved to Georgia as completely as are those in the Savannah or Tugaloo rivers.

GEORGIA

Georgia was included in the proprietary charter granted to the lords proprietors of Carolina in 1662 and 1663, for which a provincial charter was substituted in 1719.

In 1732 the charter of Georgia as an independent colony was granted by King George II. The following is an extract (Thorpe, 1909, v. 2, p. 771):

all those lands, countrys, and territories, situate, lying and being in that part of South Carolina, in America, which lies from the most northern part of a stream or river there, commonly called the Savannah, all along the sea coast to the southward, unto the most southern stream of a certain other great water or river called the Alatamaha, and westerly from the heads of the said rivers, respectively, in direct lines to the south seas, *** with the islands of the sea, lying opposite to the eastern coast of the said lands, within twenty leagues of the same.

This charter was surrendered in 1752, and a provincial government was established.

In 1763 the territory between the Altamaha and St. Marys Rivers was added to Georgia by royal proclamation. (See South Carolina, p. 158.)

4

4

In the constitution adopted by Georgia in 1798 the boundaries are thus described (see fig. 15) (Thorpe, 1909, v. 2, p. 794):

The limits, boundaries, jurisdictions, and authority of the State of Georgia do, and did, and of right ought to extend from the sea or mouth of the river Savannah, along the northern branch or stream thereof, to the fork or confluence of the rivers now called Tugalo and Keowee, and from thence along the most northern branch or stream of the said river Tugalo, till it intersect the northern boundary line of South Carolina, if the said branch or stream of Tugalo extends so far north, reserving all the islands in the said rivers Savannah and Tugalo to Georgia; but if the head, spring, or source of any branch or stream of the said river Tugalo does not extend to the north boundary line of South Carolina, then a west line to the Mississippi, to be drawn from the head, spring, or source of the said branch or stream of Tugalo River, which extends to the highest northern latitude; thence down the middle of the said river Mississippi until it shall intersect the northernmost part of the thirty-first degree of north latitude, south by a line drawn due east from the termination of the line last mentioned, in the latitude of thirty-one degrees north of the equator. to the middle of the river Apalachicola or Chatahoochee; thence along the middle thereof, to its junction with Flint River; thence straight to the head of Saint Mary's River, and thence, along the middle of Saint Mary's River, to the Atlantic Ocean, and from thence to the mouth or inlet of Savannah River, the place of beginning, including and comprehending all the lands and waters within the said limits, boundaries, and jurisdictional rights; and also all the islands within twenty leagues of the seacoast.

In 1802 articles of agreement were entered into whereby Georgia ceded to the United States the lands west of its present boundaries. and the United States ceded to Georgia the eastern part of the South Carolina cession of 1787. (See South Carolina, p. 158-159.)

The following extracts (Georgia act of Apr. 24, 1802) show the limits of the two cessions:

The State of Georgia cedes to the United States all the right, title, and claim which the said State has to the jurisdiction and soil of the lands situated within the boundaries of the United States, south of the State of Tennessee and west of a line beginning on the western bank of the Chatahouchie River where the same crosses the boundary line between the United States and Spain; running thence up the said River Chatahouchie, and along the western bank thereof to the great bend thereof, next above the place where a certain creek or river, called "Uchee" (being the first considerable stream on the western side, above the Cussetas and Coweta towns), empties into the Chatabouchie River; thence in a direct line to Nickajack, on Tennessee River; thence crossing the said last-mentioned river, and thence running up the said Tennessee River and along the western bank thereof to the southern boundary line of the State of Tennessee.

The United States * cede to the State of Georgia * the lands situated south of the southern boundaries of the States of Tennessee, North and South Carolina, and east of the boundary line herein above described as the eastern boundary of the territory ceded by Georgia to the United States.