Missouri v. Kentucky
Supreme Court of the United States
The State of Missouri brought here, in February, 1859, her original bill against, the State of Kentucky, the purpose of the bill being to ascertain and establish, by a decree of this court, the boundary between the two States at a point on the Mississippi River known as Wolf Island, which is about tweuty miles below the mouth of the Ohio. The State of Missouri insisted that the island was a part of her territory, while the State of Kentucky asserted the contrary.
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The State of Missouri brought here, in February, 1859, her original bill against, the State of Kentucky, the purpose of the bill being to ascertain and establish, by a decree of this court, the boundary between the two States at a point on the Mississippi River known as Wolf Island, which is about tweuty miles below the mouth of the Ohio. The State of Missouri insisted that the island was a part of her territory, while the State of Kentucky asserted the contrary. The bill alleged that both States were bounded at that point by the main channel of the river, and that the island, at the time the…
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Davis
It is unnecessary, for the purposes of this suit, to consider whether, on general principles, the middle of the channel of a navigable river which divides coterminous States, is not the true boundary between them, in the absence of express agreement to the contrary, because the treaty between France, Spain, and England, in February, 1763, stipulated that the middle of the River Mississippi should be the boundai’y between the British and the French territories on the continent of North America. And this line, established by the only sovereign powers at the time interested in the subject, has…
2Cited by63 opinions
- Wisconsin v. Pelican InsuranceSupreme Court of the United States · 1888
- Oklahoma v. TexasSupreme Court of the United States · 1922
- United States v. TexasSupreme Court of the United States · 1892
- Louisiana v. MississippiSupreme Court of the United States · 1906
- Indiana v. KentuckySupreme Court of the United States · 1890
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