Tennessee passed an act establishing "Thompson's line." The details of "Thompson's line" have not been found. In 1837 the line was again run by commissioners from the two States, and ratified by the legis latures. The commissioners' report was as follows, viz:

Commencing at a point on the west bank of the Tennessee River six four-pole chains south, or above the mouth of Yellow Creek, and about three-quarters of a mile north of the line known as "Thompson's line," and twenty-six chains and ten links north of Thompson's line at the basis meridian of the Chickasaw surveys, and terminating at a point on the east bank of the Mississippi River (opposite Cow Island) sixteen chains north of Thompson's line. (See Laws of Tennessee, 1837, p. 27.)

The boundaries were fixed by the act of Congress admitting the State of Mississippi, as follows, viz :

Commencing at the most eastern junction of Fearl River with Lake Borgne, thence up said Pearl River to the thirty-first degree of north latitude, thence west along said degree of latitude to the Mississippi River, thence up the same to the point where the southern boundary of Tennessee strikes the same. (See U. S. Laws, vol. 6, p. 175.)

Mississippi claims to the middle of the Mississippi River, where the river forms her western boundary. (See Rev. Stat., 1857.)

LOUISIANA.

The original territory of Louisiana was acquired from France (see p. 21). In 1804, a portion of this, comprising the area of the present State of Louisiana, with the exception of the southeastern portion immediately adjoining the present State of Florida, was organized into a territory under the name of Orleans, while the balance of the Louisiana purchase retained the name of Louisiana Territory. On April 30, 1812, the Territory of Orleans was admitted as a State under the name of Louisiana, and at the same time the name of the Territory of Louisiana was changed to Missouri Territory. In the same year the limits of the State were enlarged in the southeast to its present boundaries. The following act defines the Territory of Orleans:

All that portion of country ceded by France to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, which lies south of the Mississippi territory, and of an east and west line to commence on the Mississippi River at the thirty-third degree of north latitude, and to extend west to the western boundary of the said cession, shall constitute a Territory of the United States, under the name of the Territory of Orleans. (Eighth Congress, first session.)

The following clause from the act admitting Louisiana defines its original boundaries:

Beginning at the mouth of the river Sabine, thence by a line to be drawn along the middle of said river, including all islands, to the thirty-second degree of latitude; thence due north to the northernmost part of the thirty-third degree of north latitude; thence along the said parallel of latitude to the river Mississippi; thence down

the said river to the river Iberville; and from thence along the middle of the said river and lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain to the Gulf of Mexico; thence, bounded by the said Gulf, to the place of beginning, including all islands within three leagues of the coast. (Twelfth Congress, first session.)

The following is a description of the addition to the State of Louisiana, in terms of the act:

Beginning at the Junction of the Iberville with the river Mississippi, thence along the middle of the Iberville, the river Amite, and of the lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain, to the eastern mouth of the Pearl River; thence up the eastern branch of Pearl River to the thirty-first degree of north latitude; thence along the said degree of latitude to the river Mississippi; thence down the said river to the place of beginning, shall become and form a part of the State of Louisiana. (Twelfth Congress, first session.)

The north boundary of Louisiana was surveyed by a joint commission of the State and the United States.

TEXAS.

Texas declared its independence of Mexico in 1835. On December 29, 1845, it was admitted to the Union. As originally constituted, it embraced besides its present area the region east of the Rio Grande, now in New Mexico, extending north to the forty-second parallel, its eastern limits coinciding with the western limit of the United States, as laid down in the treaty with Spain of 1819. (See "Texas accession," p. 24.)

In 1848, the eastern boundary of the State was extended slightly, as noted in the following act:

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Congress consents that the legislature of the State of Texas, may extend her eastern boundary so as to include within her limits one-half of Sabine Pass, one-half of Sabine Lake, also one-half of Sabine River, from its mouth as far north as the thirty-second degree of north latitude.

In 1850, the State sold to the General Government for the sum of $10,000,000, that part lying north of the parallel of 36° 30', and that portion lying west of longitude 1030, as far south as the parallel of 32°, as set forth in the following clause from the act of Congress relating to this transfer:

First. The State of Texas will agree that her boundary on the north shall commence at the point at which the meridian of one hundred degrees west from Greenwich is intersected by the parallel of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north latitude, and shall run from said point due west to the meridian of one hundred and three degrees west from Greenwich; thence her boundary shall run due south to the thirty-second degree of north latitude; thence on the said parallel of thirty-two degrees of north latitude to the Rio Bravo del Norte, and thence with the channel of said river to the Gulf of Mexico. (Thirty-first Congress, first session.)

The following act defines the northern boundary of Texas:

AN ACT to authorize the President of the United States, in conjunction with the State of Texas, to run and mark the boundary lines between the Territories of the United States and the State of Texas.

Beginning at the point where the one hundreth degree of longitude west from Greenwich crosses Red River, and running thence north to the point where said one

hundredth degree of longitude intersects the parallel of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north latitude, and thence west with the said parallel of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude to the point where it intersects the one hundred and third degree of longitude west from Greenwich; and thence south with the said one hundred and third degree of longitude to the thirty-second parallel of north latitude; and thence west with said thirty-second degree of north latitude to the Rio Grande. (Thirty-fifth Cong., first session.)

The boundary line of Texas is as follows: Beginning in the Gulf of Mexico, at the outlet of Sabine Lake, the line passes northward through the middle of Sabine Lake and up the middle of Sabine River to the point where said river intersects the parallel of 32°; thence north along the meridian of that point of intersection to the point where said meridian intersects Red River; thence up Red River to the one hundredth meridian west of Greenwich; thence north on said meridian to the parallel of 36° 30'; west on said parallel to the meridian of 103° west of Greenwich; thence south on said meridian to the parallel of latitude of 32°; thence west on that parallel to its point of intersection with the Rio Grande; thence down the mid-channel of the Rio Grande to its mouth.

That portion of the east boundary between Red River and the Sabine was run and marked by a joint commission of the United States and Texas in 1841.

The boundary lines between Texas and New Mexico were run and marked in 1859-60, under the Department of the Interior.

ARKANSAS.

The Territory of Arkansas, or Arkansaw, as it was originally spelled, was formed on March 2, 1819, from a part of Missouri Territory. The following clause from the act establishing it defines its limits in part:

All that part of the Territory of Missouri which lies south of a line beginning on the Mississippi River at thirty-six degrees north latitude, running thence west to the river St. François, thence up the same to thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north latitude, and thence west to the western Territorial boundary line, shall, for the purposes of a Territorial government, constitute a separate Territory and be called the Arkansaw Territory.

In 1824 an act was passed by Congress fixing the western boundary of the Territory. This was as follows:

AN ACT to fix the western boundary line of the Territory of Arkansas, and for other purposes. The western boundary line of the Territory of Arkansas shall begin at a point forty miles west of the southwest corner of the State of Missouri and run south to the right bank of the Red River, and thence down the river and with the Mexican boundary to the line of the State of Louisiana.

Four years later, in 1828, the following act was passed defining its southern boundary:

AN ACT to authorize the President of the United States to run and mark a line dividing the Territory of Arkansas from the State of Louisiana.

Commencing on the right bank of the Mississippi River at latitude thirty-three degrees north and running due west on that parallel of latitude to where a line running due north from latitude thirty-two degrees north on the Sabine River will intersect the same.