Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

“ Many inconveniences have arisen from the improvident manner in which parts of the boundaries have been designated. When the state government was formed, the whole country on the west and north was a wilderness and its geography unwritten. ”

“ The state of Kansas claims the same island by answer and what it terms a cross bill. A few words will explain the issue between the parties. When Missouri was admitted to the Union [3 Stat. at L. 545, chap. 22] its western boundary at this point was a meridian running due north. There was land between a part of this line and the Missouri river. By treaty with the Indians and act of Congress on the petition of Missouri, that state was granted jurisdiction over such land, and its boundary was extended to the Missouri river. ”

“ The precise position of that part of the line passing through the middle of the mouth of the Kansas river, which lies north of the missouri, is unknown, but it is believed to run almost parallel with the course of the stream, so as to leave a narrow strip of land, varying in breadth from 15 to 30 miles. Great calamities are to be feared from the Indians on the frontier. ”