I don't think these should be considered enclaves or exclaves, since the
political units in question are connected through territorial waters under
state and county jurisdiction. Whatcom County and the State of Washington
are not disconnected, only their land areas are. And if disconnection by
territorial or fresh water "counts" as an exclave, every coastal state
that has islands has exclaves. Point Roberts is cerainly a geographical
oddity, but not an exclave or enclave. (I.m.h.o.)
David
dmark@...
On Mon, 17 Jul 2000, michael donner wrote:
> & specifically re the pt roberts & nw angle exclaves or enclaves
>
> uncannily i chanced to make visits also yesterday within or very close to
> all 3 of the other international outlands of this sort that occur along the
> caus boundary
>
> similarly 2 of these cases are also comprised of unconnected american
> territory
> but the last is a unique reverse instance of a canadian outpost or exclave
>
> if anyone would like to find or name or discuss further any of these 3
> topologically equivalent yet curiously forgotten members of what is
> actually a caus enclave quintet
> then 3 clues to them are the following
>
> all 3 of these exclaves are like the nw angle cut off by fresh water
>
> 2 of them are like both pt roberts & the nw angle closely associated with
> what could fairly be called major international tripoints
>
> & the least of the 3 may not even have a name yet
>
> m
>
>
> >
> >
> >On Sun, 16 Jul 2000, Peter Hering wrote:
> >
> >> Bill, thanks for your info on Point Roberts. Actually, I didn't express
> >>myself properly: I know quite a lot about PR, have been there myself,
> >>taken a lot of pictures as well - BUT: I'd like to know about the
> >>background for the decision to put the border quite there: why should the
> >>southern tip of this peninsula belong to the US - with all the
> >>difficulties involved..? And why did the southern part of Vancouver
> >> Island not become American as well - would be logical in my opinion...!
> >> Any material on this border and the decision made accordingly...?!?
> >
> >The basic point is that the European powers often negotiated boundaries
> >without knowing the local geography. Or when the new USofA negotiated
> >about the West. (See Barry Smith's "On Drawing Lines on a Map"
> >(<http://wings.buffalo.edu/philosophy/faculty/smith/articles/drawing.html)> htt
> >p://wings.buffalo.edu/philosophy/faculty/smith/articles/drawing.html)
> >for a general treatment but nothing about Point Roberts.)
> >
> >Anyway, in the mid 1800s, the United States wanted all territory on the
> >Pacific Coast up to 54 degrees 40' noth, the S limit of Russian territory.
> >Britain on the other hand wanted the border to the Columbia River (or was
> >it 42 latitude?) Anyway, eventually, the compromise was negotiated to be
> >the 49th parallel of latitude west to the Pacific. Britain was so solidly
> >settled in to Vancouver Island that they convenced the US to let them
> >retain control of the Island. The wording of the treaty was something
> >like, "the 49th parallel west to the ocean, thence through the principle
> >channel between Vancouver Island and the mainland. There was later
> >argument about whteher the principle channel was east or west of the San
> >Juan islands but eventually the US won and the San Juans became US
> >territory.
> >
> >Back to Point Roberts. When the treaty was worded and signed, presumably
> >no-one realized that the 49th parallel intersects the mainland shoreline
> >three times! A similar case of drawing lines on maps without knowing the
> >local geography led to Kentucky having a disconnected piece due to the
> >fact that the parallel selected for the KY-TN border crosses the
> >Mississippi 3 times. And a piece of Minnesota (the Northwest Angle)
> >similarly can be reached by land only through Canada and forms the
> >northernmost part of the 48 continguous states, is US territory largely
> >because when the treaty wording was plotted out on the geography, there
> >were some surprises!
> >
> >David
> >
> >David Mark
> >dmark@...
> ><http://www.geog.buffalo.edu/~dmark/> http://www.geog.buffalo.edu/~dmark/
> >
> >
> >
> >To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> >BoundaryPoint-unsubscribe@egroups.com
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
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