Show yo UR U NT TED T I 1 e 1 1 F 14 F A 11 I 1 acquisitions ACQUISITION 8 SINCE 1853 ALAS IC A from russia in iago A II 11 and in 1808 philippines from span in SIDES Q GUAM front n in LASI agal PORTO m spain 1 1808 TUTU LA amo li vy in 0 CANAL from P mit to IM VIRGIN I 1 from dark in 1917 0 MIDWAY NAVASSA A and other emall islands acquina since 1833 1 P N aa 10 51 S IA 10 N ASIA C L 4 0 R 4 A IS 0 U T H JA ka M R I 1 CA a U s A I 1 A z ip c 0 0 11 4 1 am L U I 1 C 01 TF 1 03 re zt A el IF is A XE 4 1845 r a r Z P v cyz xyz aro 0 ta by ELMO SCOTT WATSON P E YOU want to learn more about the country in which you live than you sou have ever known before send fifty cc cents its to the superintendent of documents at the united states government printing office in washington and tell him to send you bulletin no of the united states geological survey the other name naine for that publication Is 13 boundaries un darles areas geographic centers and altitudes of the united states and the several states but dont let that forbid able sounding title daunt you for in this SOS page paper covered book by edward BI bf douglas find more interesting facts than in all the history and geography books you iou studied tit at school its a big country this united states of america never appreciate just how hov big it Is until you read the statistics given in the last two pages of bulletin SIT from green lands ley icy mountain to indias andias coral strand Is the familiar and poetical way of expressing the extreme ends of the earth but the distance suggested in that expression Is ns nothing compared to the distance between the northernmost and southernmost points in the territory over which the stars and stripes float point barrow the extreme north point of alaska Is nearly miles north of the equator and rose inlet in tit the samoan group the farthest south Amerl american amerlean can inrid Is exactly 1000 miles south of it claims that may be based upon the byrd explorations ind and discoveries of 1920 80 in the antarctic re region ion may put the american fla flag I 1 even further farther south so that we may be able to match glands En boast of dominion over palm and pine with one which mentions from pole to pole few of us may kiy ever get the chance to go from one end of the american possessions to the other but tit in these days das of the automobile and improved roads any of us can get acquainted with the extent of the mainland ot of our country suppose you decide to make a circle tour of your country follow its boundary lines until youre back where you started from how flow far do you you ou will have gone exactly miles driving steadily at the rate of 40 miles an hour and putting in 12 hours a day it would take you five weeks and two flays dais to make such a trip neres heres the mileage start nt at west quoddy near East eastport port maine the easternmost point on the mainland of the united states and drive west follo following wini the northern boundary aalthe all the way including the nater ater boundary through the great lakes until you reach cape balva alva wash the westernmost point by that time you will have covered 1997 miles follow the pacific coastline down to the mexican border and you will add 2730 27 0 more miles turn east along the mexican border anti its 2013 I 1 miles until you get to the gulf pul of mexico follow its shoreline of 8 oil miles until YOU round florida then hend hena north and after 1505 miles along the atlantic you will be back at west quoddy head with 1703 16 miles behind you or it you dont care tor for the circle tour and want to make a direct rothe from the two points farthest apart in the united states start at cape FlitA flattery tery wash and travel southeast until you reach a point on the florida coast south pt lot miami you will have covered 2835 miles would you like to have the experience of 0 being at the highest and the lowest points in the united states in the matter of altitude you dont have to go from one end of the country to the other to do that you can go from the highest to the lowest points in less than an hour that Is if you use an airplane for they are only 80 86 miles apart sail over the summit of mount whitney in inyo tulare county in california altitude feet above sea level then lien swoop down less than three miles to the death valley in inyo county and you will be feet below sea level but even more interesting than these geographical facts in bulletin Is the american history which you will learn from reading about the boundaries of the individual states and looking at the maps which illustrate its pages have you ever wondered why some of our states have the queer shapes that they have the peculiar irregularities of some of the tha state boundaries are due to compromises made to adjust between the representatives of the stales the southwick lck jog for example which appears on the boundary between connecticut and massachusetts wits was established because in adjusting errors in the boundary ns as previously run by compass a long narrow strip of land was given to connecticut and the jog ceded to massachusetts was intended to be an equivalent area the panhandle at the southeast corner of missouri Is said to be the result of efforts of a prominent landowner to have his plantation included in the new state the projection on the tha northern boundary of minnesota which includes a land area of about miles separated from the main part of minnesota by the loire lake of the woods resulted from the use ot of inaccurate maps of the treaty makers probably the most widely known boundary in the united states Is the mason and dixon line between pennsylvania and maryland run by awo t wo famous english mathematicians in the accuracy of their survey Is shown by the fact that in a resurvey years later with modern instruments and methods the position found for uie the northeast corner of maryland differed only feet from their position the th original stones for five mile marks on this una line were carved to in england from limestone and are ara still standing with lord Balti mores coat of arms on the maryland side and the penn arms on the pennsylvania side the east west part of the boundary between massachusetts and rhode island was for more than years a matter of dispute that tha was la fit some respects the most remarkable boundary question with walh which this country has had to deal twice the question went to the supreme court of the united states and in one of these suits daniel webster and rufus rufas choate were employed as counsel for massachusetts choate to illustrate the indefiniteness of certain boundary lines said before the massachusetts legislature the commissioners might as well have decided that the line between the states was hounded on the north by a bramble bush on the south by a blue bine jay on the west by a hive of bees in swarming time and on the east by foxes with firebrands fire brands tied to their tails how flow boundary lines have changed during the ali years from the first english settlement to the present time Is well illustrated in the case of the state of VIrgI virginia the virginia charter of included the area extending west to tha th Z LJ 1 map of the united states state showing accas alons of territory since 1853 2 the highest point in the united states mount whitney in california f fet tet above sea level 3 northernmost point in united states territory point barrow in alaska latitude 71 degrees 25 minutes north 4 southernmost point in united states territory rose roee island in the pacific ocean latitude 14 degrees 32 minutes south 5 map of the united states showing ac accessions r of territory from 1803 to 1853 6 the lowest point in the united states death valley lh in california feet below sea level south sea that Is the pacific ocean called mar afar del sur south sea by balboa in 1513 when he first saw it at a place where the shore line runs nearly ea east stand and west in 1000 no one knew how far away from the atlantic the south sen sea was and some of the other col colonies onles had chatters ch aiters stating the same bame western limit along alone thi the atlantic coast virginia extended from a point miles north of point comfort to a point the same distance south so at one time virginia owned all of what isnow Is now north carolina tennessee kentucky west virginia maryland and delaware and parts of south carolina georgia alabama mississippi illinois indiana ohio and pennsylvania but in the next century and a half she ehe lost a large part of that territory the carolina charters of 1063 1003 1005 took away from her the land south of the present southern boundaries lord Balti mores maryland colony deprived her of the chesapeake day bay region after the revolution the she ceded to the new republic in 1784 the territory nort northwest best of the ohio river in 1792 kentucky was organized as a separate state by her consent and in 1861 2 when the civil war rent the nation what Is now west virginia was separated from the mother state indiana Is another state which once comprised a vast area including all of illinois and wisconsin most of michigan and a large larg e part of minnesota perhaps the largest terri territory to ry once held by a present state was that of missouri in 1812 the name of the territory of louisiana was changed to territory of MIsso missouri url and at the time it included all of the original louisiana purchase chase except the present state of louisiana but gradually missouri territory and state was whittled down losing most of oklahoma and arkansas to the latter in 1819 end and parts of ams colorado kansas and new mexico to spain in the same year in 1831 1834 1 missouri lost all of iowa and parts of minnesota north and south dakota to michigan and in 1854 most of montana the rest of north and south dakota parts of wyoming and colorado and nil all of nebraska to the latter and to kansas when the kansas and territories were organized in that year a by br getem union |