Maine-Canada Boundary

Rising from a chain of wilderness lakes, the St. Croix River is now an international wilderness waterway,  constituting part of what is now the clearly defined boundary between  Maine and the province of New Brunswick, Canada.  In the 1790s though, boundaries throughout this region were far from clear. The meaning of the boundary descriptions outlined in the 1783 Peace of Paris was notoriously inexact and hard to decipher-mostly  because the region had not yet been fully explored or mapped.  During negotiations,  later known as Jay’s Treaty,  a joint commission agreed to establish the St. Croix River as part of the boundary between Downeast  Maine and New Brunswick Canada.  In this document,  written from his mansion he called “Montpelier”  in Thomaston, Maine, Secretary of War Henry Knox, an avid Maine land speculator himself, marvels at the region’s economic potential –its fisheries, waterways, lumber and agriculture.  Though Knox’s handwriting was notoriously bad, this is a copy made by a clerk.  The impeccable penmanship makes this an enjoyable read.  By the way, Knox’s mansion is a museum now.