Editing Alaska boundary dispute (section)

== Background ==

===1825–1897===

In 1825 Russia and the United Kingdom signed a treaty to define the borders of their respective colonial possessions, the [[Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1825)|Anglo-Russian Convention of 1825]]. Part of the wording of the treaty was that:

{{blockquote|the said line shall ascend to the north along the channel called [[Portland Channel]] as far as the point of the continent where it strikes the [[56th parallel north|56th degree of north]] latitude; from this last-mentioned point, the line of demarcation shall follow the summit of the mountains situated parallel to the coast as far as the point of intersection of the [[141st meridian west|141st degree of west]] longitude<ref name="Political Geography p. 82">''Political Geography'', by Norman J. G. Pounds ({{ISBN|0-07-050566-7}}), 1972 p. 82</ref>}}

The vague phrase "the mountains parallel to the coast" was further qualified thus:

{{blockquote|Whenever the summit of the mountains ... shall prove to be at the distance of more than ten marine [[League (unit)|leagues]] from the ocean, the limit ... shall be formed by a line parallel to the winding of the coast, and which shall never exceed the distance of ten marine leagues therefrom.<ref name="Political Geography p. 82"/>}}

This part of the treaty language was an agreement on general principles for establishing a boundary in the area in the future, rather than any exact demarcated line.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020|reason=This assertion has a major bearing on the rights and wrongs of the case and needs support}}

Signed in 1839, the [[RAC–HBC Agreement]] created an understanding between the [[Russian-American Company]] and the [[Hudson's Bay Company]]. Typically referred to as the ''lisière'' (edge), a stretch of the [[Alaskan Panhandle]] from [[Cross Sound]] to [[Parallel 54°40′ north|54°&thinsp;40′]] was given to the HBC as a [[fur trade]] [[monopoly]] in exchange for the agricultural and pastoral products produced by its subsidiary, the [[Puget Sound Agricultural Company]], along with an annual amount of furs given to the Russian company. The lease was renewed until the end of [[Russian America]]. This lease was later brought up by the Province of British Columbia as bearing upon its own territorial interests in the region, but was ignored by Ottawa and London.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://explorenorth.com/library/history/shelest.html |title=''"The Dryad Affair: Corporate Warfare and Anglo-Russian Rivalry for the Alaskan Lisière"'', J. W. Shelest, ExploreNorth.com website |access-date=2013-04-07 |archive-date=2018-07-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180711233255/http://explorenorth.com/library/history/shelest.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The United States bought Alaska in 1867 from Russia in the [[Alaska Purchase]], but the boundary terms were ambiguous. In 1871, [[British Columbia]] united with the new Dominion of [[Canada]]. The Canadian government requested a survey of the boundary, but the United States rejected it as too costly; the border area was very remote and sparsely settled, and without economic or strategic interest. In 1898, the national governments agreed on a compromise, but the government of British Columbia rejected it. U.S. [[William McKinley|President McKinley]] proposed a permanent lease to Canada of a port near [[Haines, Alaska|Haines]], but Canada rejected that compromise.

===Klondike gold rush===
In 1897–98 the [[Klondike Gold Rush]] in [[Yukon]], Canada, enormously increased the population of the general area, which reached 30,000, composed largely of Americans. Some 100,000 fortune seekers moved through Alaska to the [[Klondike River|Klondike gold region]]. From a population of 500 in 1896, the village's population grew to approximately 17,000 people by summer 1898. {{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

The presence of gold and a large new population greatly increased the importance of the region and the desirability of fixing an exact boundary. Canada wanted an all-Canadian route from the gold fields to a seaport. There were reports that Canadian citizens were harassed by the United States as a deterrent to making any [[land claim]]s.<ref>{{cite book |author=Alexander Begg |author-link=Alexander Begg (1825–1905) |chapter=Statement of facts regarding the Alaska boundary question |title=Alaska Boundary Question |page=1387 |url=http://www.nosracines.ca/e/page.aspx?id=321458 |location=Victoria, British Columbia |publisher=R. Wolfenden |year=1902 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527183307/http://www.nosracines.ca/e/page.aspx?id=321458 |archive-date=2011-05-27 }}, report to [[David McEwen Eberts]], [[Attorney-General of British Columbia]].</ref>{{failed verification|date=February 2025}}

{{citation needed span|date=February 2025|text=The head of [[Lynn Canal]] was the main gateway to the Yukon, and the [[North-West Mounted Police]] (NWMP) sent a detachment to secure the location for Canada. This was based on Canada's assertion that that location was more than ten marine leagues from the sea, which was part of the 1825 boundary definition. A massive influx of American stampeders through [[Skagway, Alaska|Skagway]] very quickly forced the Canadian police to retreat. They set up posts on the desolate summits of [[Chilkoot Pass|Chilkoot]] and [[White Pass]]es, complete with a mounted Gatling gun at each post. This was still disputed territory, as many Americans believed that the head of [[Bennett Lake|Lake Bennett]], another {{convert|12|mi|km}} north, should be the location of the border. To back up the police in their sovereignty claim, the Canadian government also sent the Yukon Field Force, a 200-man Army unit, to the territory. The soldiers set up camp at [[Fort Selkirk]] so that they could be fairly quickly dispatched to deal with problems at either the coastal passes or the [[141st meridian west]].}}