INTERPRETATION OF THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN TREATY OF 1825 AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ALASKA-CANADA BOUNDARY

Abstract

Nearly 270 years ago the first Russian exploration to Gamaland, the new land to the east, was undertaken by Vitus Bering. Though little was discovered, his second voyage proved to be the opening of a new territory. Russian Promyshelenniki were soon exploiting the land for its fur-bearing animals and as the search for furs widened so did Russian control of the new land.As exploration and settlement in the new land advanced east and south, so it did also from those directions. A hundred years later the Anglo-Russia Treaty of 1825 established the boundaries between Russian America and British interests in North America. But the wording of the treaty was vague, and as early as 1834 questions arose as to the actual boundary between the two lands. Controversy arose again within a year of the 1867 U.S. purchase of Alaska from Russia. The necessity for boundary resolution increased as the new land became more inhabited and developed.Eventually, unable to agree on interpretation of the 1825 treaty, Britain and the United States placed the issue before a tribunal. In the fall of 1903 the Alaska Boundary Tribunal was formed. After nearly a month of hearings they agreed decisions as to the location of the boundary between Alaska and Canada. Ten more years would pass before the boundary would be completely surveyed.