A portion of this Territory was given up to Colorado at the time of its formation in 1861. (Vide Colorado, p. 132.)

Kansas was admitted into the Union on January 29, 1861, with its present boundaries, which are thus defined in the enabling act:

The said State shall consist of all the territory included within the following boundaries, to wit: Beginning at a point on the western boundary of the State of Missouri where the thirty-seventh parallel of north latitude crosses the same; thence west on said parallel to the twenty-fifth meridian of longitude west from Washington; thence north on said meridian to the fortieth parallel of latitu le; thence east on said parallel to the western boundary of the State of Missouri; thence south with the western boundary of said State to the place of beginning.

The south boundary was surveyed and marked by Col. J. E. Johnston, in 1857. This line was subsequently retraced and re-marked by deputy surveyors, in the extension of the public land surveys. The western boundary was surveyed in 1872, under the General Land Office.

The north boundary, which is the base line for the sixth principal meridian, was run by deputy surveyors of the General Land Office, 1855-1859, the initial point, on the Missouri river, having been determined by Capt. Lee, U. S. topographical engineer.

NEBRASKA.

The Territory of Nebraska was formed on May 30, 1854, from the northwestern part of Missouri Territory. Its limits, as originally constituted, are defined as follows in the act of organization:

Beginning at a point in the Missouri River where the fortieth parallel of north latitude crosses the same; thence west on said parallel to the east boundary of the Territory of Utah, on the summit of the Rocky Mountains; thence on said summit northward to the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude; thence east on said parallel to the western boundary of the Territory of Minnesota; thence southward onʼsaid boundary to the Missouri River; thence down the main channel of said river to the place of beginning, be, and the same is hereby, created into a temporary government by the name of the Territory of Nebraska. (Thirty-third Congress, first session. ) This area was reduced in 1861 by the formation of the Territories of Colorado and Dakota. (Vide Colorado, p. 132, and Dakota, p. 129.) In 1861, in the act creating the Territory of Dakota, a small area was added to the western end of Nebraska. The following is the text of the act making this addition:

That, until Congress shall otherwise direct, that portion of the Territories of Utah and Washington between the forty-first and forty-third degrees of north latitude, and east of the thirty-third meridian of longitude west from Washington, shall be, and is hereby, incorporated into and made a part of the Territory of Nebraska.

The State of Nebraska was admitted on March 1, 1867.
Its limits are defined as follows in the enabling act:

That the said State of Nebraska shall consist of all the territory included within the following boundaries, to wit: Commencing at a point formed by the intersection

of the western boundary of the State of Missouri with the fortieth degree of north latitude; extending thence due west along said fortieth degree of north latitude to a point formed by its intersection with the twenty-fifth degree of longitude west from Washington; thence north along said twenty-fifth degree of longitude to a point formed by its intersection with the forty-first degree of north latitude; thence west along said forty-first degree of north latitude to a point formed by its intersection with the twenty-seventh degree of longitude west from Washington; thence north along said twenty-seventh degree of west longitude to a point formed by its intersection with the forty-third degree of north latitude; thence east along said forty-third degree of north latitude to the Keyapaha River; thence down the middle of the channel of said river, with its meanderings, to its junction with the Niobrara River; thence down the middle of the channel of said Niobrara River, and following the meanderings thereof, to its junction with the Missouri River; thence down the middle of the channel of said Missouri River, and following the meanderings thereof, to the place of beginning. (Thirty-eighth Congress, first session.)

In 1870 an act was passed to redefine a portion of the boundary between Nebraska and the Territory of Dakota, the pertinent portion of which is as follows:

That so soon as the State of Nebraska, through her legislature, has given her consent thereto, the center of the main channel of the Missouri River shall be the boundary line between the State of Nebraska and Territory of Dakota, between the following points, to wit: Commencing at a point in the center of said main channel, north of the west line of section twenty-four in township twenty-nine north, of range eight east of the sixth principal meridian, and running along the same to a point west of the most northerly portion of fractional section seventeen, of township twenty-nine north, of range nine east of said meridian, in the State of Nebraska, as meandered and shown by the plats and surveys of said sections originally made and now on file in the General Land Office. (Forty-first Congress, second session.)

The west boundary on the twenty-fifth degree of longitude west of Washington, between latitudes 40° and 41°, the south boundary on the forty-first parallel from the twenty-fifth degree of longitude to the twenty-seventh degree, and the west boundary on the twenty-seventh degree of longitude, between the forty-first degree and the forty-third degree, were surveyed and marked in 1869, under the General Land Office.

In 1882 an act was passed transferring to this State from Dakota a small area lying between the Keyapaha River and the forty-third parallel of latitude. The following is the act in question:

*

Be it enacted, * * That the northern boundary of the State of Nebraska shall be, and hereby is, subject to the provisions hereinafter contained, extended so as to include all that portion of the Territory of Dakota lying south of the forty-third parallel of north latitude and east of the Keyapaha River and west of the main channel of the Missouri River. (Forty-seventh Congress, first session.)

The north boundary, from the Keyapaha River westward, was surreyed in 1873. In 1893 the part of this boundary east of Keyapaha River was surveyed and the remainder resurveyed. All this was done under the General Land Office.