State of Minnesota v. State of Wisconsin

258 U.S. 149, 42 S. Ct. 591, 66 L. Ed. 519, 1922 U.S. LEXIS 2253
CourtSupreme Court of the United States
DecidedMarch 6, 1922
Docket11, original
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 258 U.S. 149 (State of Minnesota v. State of Wisconsin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of the United States primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State of Minnesota v. State of Wisconsin, 258 U.S. 149, 42 S. Ct. 591, 66 L. Ed. 519, 1922 U.S. LEXIS 2253 (1922).

Opinion

*150 By the Court:

The State of Minnesota having made a motion before the court for a final decree, confirming the report of the Commissioners appointed by the decree in this cause on the 11th day of October, A. D. 1920, to run, locate and designate the boundary line between the State of Minnesota and the State of Wisconsin, in and through Lower Saint Louis Bay, Upper Saint Louis Bay and the Saint Louis River, from Upper Saint Louis Bay to the falls in said river, which report is in words and figures, as follows:

“ To the Honorable Chief Justice and the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States:

We, Samuel S. Gannett, Washington, D. C.; William B. Patton, Duluth, Minn., and John G. D. Mack, Madison, Wisconsin, Commissioners appointed, under decree of the court rendered October 11th, 1920, ‘to run, locate and designate the boundary line between the State of Minnesota and the State of Wisconsin, in and through Lower St. Louis Bay, Upper St. Louis Bay and the St. Louis River, from Upper St. Louis Bay to-the “Falls” in the said river'/ have the honor to submit the following report, with accompanying maps, which maps are marked Exhibit No. 1, entitled, Supreme Court of the United States, October Term, 1920, No. 13, Original, Tracing of Parts of Original Map of St. Louis Bay and St. Louis River, Made under Direction of Captain George G. Meade, T. E. 1861, Showing Boundary Line Between Minnesota and Wisconsin as Surveyed in Accordance with Terms of Above Decree in 1921, and Exhibit No. 2, entitled, Supreme Court of the United States, October Term, 1920, No. 13, Original, Map Showing Boundary Line Between Minnesota and Wisconsin Through St. Louis Bay and up St. Louis River to the Falls as Surveyed in Accordance with Terrhs of Above Decree in 1921.

*151 Organization.

The Commissioners held their first meeting on October 29th, 1920, in suite 612, Palladio Building, in the City of Duluth, Minnesota, and organized by electing Samuel S. Gannett, Chairman.

Meade Chart.

In carrying out the decree of the court, that the boundary line must be ascertained upon a consideration of the situation existing in 1846, and accurately described by the Meade Chart/ the Commission made a careful study of the Meade Chart, filed as Minnesota’s Exhibit No. 1, and found that the scale of said chart, 1: 32000, was too small for practical use in determining a line which could be laid out and properly monumented; and that the triangulation points of the original Meade survey, shown on the original Meade Map (the location of which was absolutely essential in transferring to the ground points determined on the map), were omitted from the chart.

Meade Map.

An attempt was then made to use the photographic copies of the original Meade map, being Wisconsin’s Exhibits Nos. 46C and 46D, but it was found that the process of production had caused unequal shrinkage in the several sheets composing the map, and that no accurate scalings could be made therefrom.

Under instructions of the Commission, Mr. S. S. Gannett went to the office of the U. S. Lake Survey, in the City of Detroit, Michigan, the repository of the original Meade map, and under his personal supervision, caused an accurate tracing to be made of so much of the said Meade map, and the soundings and triangulation points shown thereon, as pertains to the case un<ier considera *152 tion. An accurate copy of this tracing, showing in addition the boundary line, as fixed on said map by the Commission, is filed herewith as Exhibit No. 1.

Triangulation Points.

The triangulation points, heretofore noted as being platted on the original Meade map by triangles, and shown in red ink on the aforesaid tracing, are located, in the records of the Lake Survey, by rectangular coordinates referred to the primary triangulation station of the Ü. S. Lake Survey, known as Minnesota Point North Base, drawn in red ink on aforesaid tracing, and described hereinafter in detail under the heading, ' Descriptions and Geographic Positions of Triangulation and Reference Points.’ Commissioner Gannett secured an accurate copy of said coordinates from the official records of the U. S. Lake Survey, and they are correctly given in Table No. 1, attached to this report.

The original Meade trianghlation points have' not been in existence for some years, but the Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army, in later surveys of the St. Louis Bays and River, has established new triangulation points and referred the same by rectangular coordinates to aforesaid ‘ Minnesota Point North Base.’ An accurate copy of the official coordinates of these later triangulation points was also secured by Commissioner Gannett, and a true copy of same is hereto attached and marked Table No. 2.

With these coordinates, it is possible to accurately relocate the original Meade triangulation points, or to show the new ones on the Meade map in their true positions; and the last mentioned points are thus shown on Exhibit No. 1, being marked by triangles in black ink.

Having -the existing, or new, triangulation points platted in their true positions on the Meade map, it is possible to ‘ tie in ’ by scale any points or lines on said map to these triangulation points, and to transfer said points *153 or lines to the ground by similar measurements from said triangulation points. ^

Office Procedure.

With this information at hand, the Commission laid down on the tracing of the original Meade map, Exhibit No. 1, the boundary line between the States of Minnesota and Wisconsin, in accordance with the decree of the court, namely:. ‘From a point midway between Rice’s Point and Connor’s Point, through the middle of Lower St. Louis Bay, to and wiih .the deep channel leading to Upper St. Louis Bay, and to a point, therein immediately south of the southern extremity of Grassy Point, thence westward along the most direct course, through water not less than eight feet deep eastward of Fisherman’s Island, as indicated by the red trace A-B-C on Minnesota’s Exhibit No. 1, approximately one mile to the deep channel and immediately west of the bar therein, thence with such channel north and west of Big Island upstream to the “ Falls.” ’

The center of the pivot pier of the Inter-State Bridge was found to be the point midway between Rice’s Point and Connor’s Point, and was designated by the Commission as Station No. O. From this point, as a beginning, a series of straight lines was laid out to conform with the decree of the court, special care being taken to have the lines over water not less than eight feet deep as shown by the Meade map, and the angle points between said lines numbered consecutively.

From such of these angle points as were convenient,' ‘ties’ were scaled to the best situated triangulation points on the map, and by means of rectangular eoordL nates from each angle point on the lines between the ‘ ties,’ to triangulation points, the lengths and angles of deviation of the several lines were calculated, and closed polygons formed.

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Bluebook (online)
258 U.S. 149, 42 S. Ct. 591, 66 L. Ed. 519, 1922 U.S. LEXIS 2253, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-minnesota-v-state-of-wisconsin-scotus-1922.