Map & Territory
The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong
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The Northwest Angle
In 1783, the American War of Independence was coming to a surprising end. The two sides were able to agree upon a series of lakes and rivers as the international boundary. They agreed that at the end of the Boundary Waters, the border would go from the northwest tip of the Lake of the Woods directly west to the Mississippi. But it wasn't actually round at all, and two, it wasn't directly east of the Mississippi at all,. In fact,Lake of the Woods is about 100 miles north of the beginning of the Mississippi.
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