The California-Nevada Boundary

Abstract

A number of states have had serious border disputes, but, to many, it comes as a surprise that any difficulties could arise along the California-Nevada frontier. The boundary was described by a state constitution and never changed; the border consists merely of two straight lines; the region is mostly barren deserts and mountains; and the line forms the western margin of Nevada, the most sparsely inhabited of all the states. Actually, the boundary which appeared so clear and definite on paper had to be located and marked on the unknown physical features of a region of difficult accessibility, a process made slow and costly by the very sparcity of population. Furthermore, when rapid changes in economic and political geography occurred during the early period of unknown boundaries, conflicting claims of territory and jurisdiction naturally arose. The northern part of the border zone is associated with the Sierra Nevada. The steep eastern slope of these rugged fault block mountains extends generally north and south, penetrated by deep canyons with alluvial fans at their mouths. In places there are foothills flanking the eastern face of the Sierra. These mountains form the western edge of the Great Basin, an intermontane plateau with semi-arid climate and sagebrush vegetation. Only certain favored spots, such as the alluvial fans and the valleys of the foothills which flank the Sierra, are useful as agricultural land. South of Lake Tahoe the border extends toward the southeast, thus leaving the Sierra and crossing alternately the desert basins and north-south ranges of mountains which characterize the Great Basin country. The climate becomes drier and hotter, with the plateau vegetation changing from sagebrush to creosote bush and cactus. The tops of the basin ranges, like the crests of the Sierra, are forested. The early history of this remote region featured a floating western boundary of Nevada. This gave rise to many difficulties, including a small border war in the north and a frontier town in the south which operated as the county seat for two different counties (one in California and one in Nevada) at the same time. Then the actual demarcation of the southern part of the line-from Lake Tahoe southeasterly to the Colorado River-presented a unique and perplexing puzzle. This boundary segment started at a point in Lake Tahoe which was far from shore and ran obliquely over basin and range country to the center of a stream that shifted its course several times during the period of survey. Boundary disputes and demarcation problems were major affairs of the region for several decades. The California constitutional convention of 1849 was the scene of lively debates