International Border

International Border. . , Pathfinders Maps , David Thompson, an English Canadian fur trader, surveyor, and map-maker entered an apprenticeship in 1784 with the Hudson's Bay Company and later joined the North West Company. Thompson surveyed much of the Canada-U.S. boundary along the water routes from Lake Superior to Lake of the Woods. Thompson's work was instrumental in The Treaty of Ghent Surveys and the boundary from the Northwestern most point of Lake of the Woods to Lake Superior. , Mapping the Boundary , “I have fully completed the survey of this part of North America from sea to sea, and by almost innumerable astronomical observations have determined the positions of the Mountains, Lakes and River, and other remarkable parts of the northern part of this Continent...” , David Thompson 1789 , Disputed Boundary , There are two recorded boundary disputes that concerned Fort Frances. , 1. Ontario vs. Manitoba , The Rainy River District was included in an 1869 sale of Hudson's Bay Company land to the Dominion of Canada. With no established western boundary between Ontario and the territory that became the province of Manitoba, the Dominion Government wanted Manitoba to extend as far east as possible while Ontario wanted the boundary to extend as far west as possible to gain control of the natural resources. , The Dominion government claimed a boundary would have been about six miles west of Thunder Bay close to where the time zone changes from central to eastern. , The dispute was resolved in 1888, but Northwest Ontario regularly brings up the issue of becoming part of Manitoba. , 2. Canada vs. United States of America , In the 1860's Canadian and American engineers were drawing the boundary line between Canada and the U.S. from Lake Superior to the Lake of the Woods. When they reached the eastern side of Rainy Lake, they decided to draw a straight line to the Rainy River, west of the town of Fort Frances, cutting through the centre of the town formed several years later. A dispute in 1910, called the agreement into question but following negotiations, the Canadian and American governments agreed that the border would follow the natural watercourse from Thunder Bay to Lake of the Woods.