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ORDO URS SUSE SISA SEISITSECISESISISESIEISEKTISIISEXTISIXISIEXISIATISIETISEISACISECISAISACISESESETISECTSALSA

MAY 10th = REC CENTER

ee DA 6:00 pm. Din $: 50pm.

Dares 9:00 p.m. - 3:Oa.m.
ea, Dress- Semi-For mal BAND: Daddy Frank
— Curling Club Members Only
HUSTORY OF THE
PAN HAN DEE

The history of who owns that strip of read estate -
more commonly known as the Alaskan Panhandle - is complex
and ofen confusing, but we'll try to keep it as sweet and
simple as possible. The area once belonged to Russia and
the boundary between Alaska and Canada had been decided
in 1825 by a treaty between Russia and Great Britain.

ser wlsihon bis < Although the language of the treaty was fuzzy in parts,
of myself. . . imagine my the land area in question was sparsely populated, infreq-

in

d

“Yes, | AM ashame
having a wife dumb enough to think she con uently visited and, thus, ownership rights were never
get me to shovel the walk by | ale really put to the test until the early 1870s, when gold
doing it herself.” . was discovered in the Cassiar district of B.C. You see,

the U.S. had bought Alaska in 1867. And the only practi-

cal access to the gold was up the Stikine River - which
oO () meant passing through U.S. territory.
a In 1872 and '74 the B.C. government pressed for
demarcation of the boundary. When the U.S. refused to
participate because of the cost, U.S. and Canadian custom
officers on the Stikine settled the question themselves
in 1875. That worked for a year until the U.S. govern-
ment claimed the point they'd chosen was American terri-
tory. Canada, in the meantime, had sent in an engineer
with the purpose of locating the boundary on the Stikine
River. He came up with a line 19 miles from the coast.
The U.S. agreed to accept it on a temporary basis.

Things went along relatively smoothly until 1896,
when the Klondike Gold Rush began. Again, primary access:
to the goldfields was through the Panhandle and both
Canada and the U.S. laid claim to ownership. With thou-
sands of miners agitating to get to the gold, the boun-

a dary war was on again. U.S. officials were refushing to
British Columbia — Alberta Saskatchewan.” -Manitopa : (> allow British vessels to land on the shores of the inlet
. leading to the goldfields.

WESTERN CANADA LOTTERY Bu Conclusive action on the boundary matter was vital

() and, in 1899, a joint U.S.-Canada commission was able to

- @hyone Can Win —

Y agree to a few points on the boundary. An Alaskan Boun-
Tickets are now on sale for the 4th Western Lottery dary Tribunal was set up in 1903 by the U.S. and Great
Mp aw which will be held July 31, 1975. () Britain to further define the issue. The big question
They are available at: was whether the 1825 treaty put the boundary around the
Liquor Store ) heads of the many inlets or parallel with the coast. The
. U.S. said the treaty established the boundary as an un-
Community Centre : : ,
Lounge broken chain of mountains exactly parallel with the coast
Edmar Sales \ but - since there wasn't such a chain - the boundary
: should be 10 marine leagues (about 30 miles) in from the
Books for sale may be obtained from Lee Coran, 205 _ shore, including heads of all bays and inlets. Canada
Smith Street. Phone 778-7456. would thus be effectively cut off from the sea along the

V
We are also agents for the OLYMPIC LOTTERY TICKETS Panhandle. Canada said there were mountains parallel to
and a limited amount will be available for the next draw. the coast and that ig tena ceils ee nace their sum-
. mits, cutting across a inlets and, fiords.
Pg OE NS ey ee okac made approx- President Theodore Roosevelt threatened to use force
imately $975.00 from the first 3 series. Although the U.S. and Great Britain drew up a compromise
We would like to thank everyone for their support () boundary chart, the mountains chosen served the same

by buying tickets from us and also the sellers who are purpose as the 10-marine-league strip the U.S. wanted.
doing a marvelous job Even to this day, the problem of access by water to
: y

northern B.C. and the Yukon occasionally angers some
Lee Coran, , Canadians because of what they regard as the "sell-out"
Cassiar Artifical Ice Fund. of 1903.

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