File No. 711.4216L/95
The Secretary of State to the British Ambassador
Washington, May 8, 1916.
Excellency: In a letter of the 28th ultimo,1 the Secretary of War advises this Department that, in connection with surveys of the Northern and Northwestern Lakes, the War Department has been directed by Congress to make a survey of the Lake of the Woods and other boundary and connecting waters between the said lake and Lake Superior. The object of the surveys in that locality by the War Department is to obtain hydrography only, for the purpose of making maps for use in navigation, and it is added that the results of previous surveys made for other purposes by the International Boundary Commission and by the International Joint Commission will be availed of so far as practicable in the work by the War Department, which is substantially an extension of the previous surveys of the above-named commissions.
It further appears that the charts to be made will be similar in character to the charts of the Northern and Northwestern Lakes issued by the War Department through the United States Lake Survey Office and will benefit Canadian as well as United States commerce. To the end that the charts shall best fulfil their main purpose, viz: use by navigators, it has been customary to embody in these surveys the contiguous and related Canadian waters.
It is proposed to commence this survey at the beginning of the working season this year, in the southwestern portion of the Lake [Page 301] of the Woods which lies within the United States; about June 1 next it will be desirable to extend the work into Canadian waters in and near Buffalo Bay. The survey party will consist of about eight to ten men, the work will be almost entirely the taking of soundings from motor-launches and rowboats and it will be necessary to place a number of temporary ranges on them. The location of the international boundary line with reference to the areas mentioned is shown on the accompanying outline map of a portion of the Lake of the Woods.1
The Secretary of War asks that information be obtained through your Embassy as to whether there will be any objection on the part of the Canadian Government to the extension of the surveys of the Lake of the Woods to include the Canadian waters in and near Buffalo Bay, and he points out that, as the organization for the work is now in progress, an early reply will be appreciated.
I shall be grateful if you will bring this matter to the attention of the Canadian Government in the sense indicated by the letter from the Secretary of War.
I have [etc.]