05-Aug-2004 -- Montana Revisited

Our second trip to 49N107W was to satisfy myself of some errors that the Confluence Project pointed out in my report of 25-May-2003. Despite what local residents think, there is no 40 foot strip at the border. The fence, likewise, has nothing to do with the actual border, although it parallels it quite closely. Neither is the 49th parallel of latitude the legal border. The actual, legal border between Canada and the US consists of a series of straight lines between points that were surveyed as part of the treaty between the two countries.

Our return to the site confirmed the fact that 49N107W is actually in Montana. The concrete marker east of the confluence is at 49.00.002N/106.59.144W, and the concrete marker west of the confluence is at 49.00.002N/107.00.477W. Since both these markers are slightly north of 49, the confluence is in the US by a factor of .002 minutes of a degree. This is a couple of meters.

Why do we care about this? Well, if you have to ask that question you probably don't really get the whole confluence thing anyway. It's a scientific excuse to get out and explore this amazing world of ours, and to have a great day with your daughter and her little dog.