Blood and Bones

By 1874, Canada and the United States had surveyed land and placed boundary stones over 6,000 kilometers of territory. They had established a cohesive skeleton for the border in every major region except the Arctic. Drawing on government correspondence, annual reports, and paylists, chapter 7 rebuilds the bureaucratic footprint of the Canada–US border at the end of the nineteenth century. It maps the positions and operations of the North-West Mounted Police and American soldiers as well as customs, immigration, and Indian Affairs personnel. In doing so, it shows how the border diverged across the East Coast, Great Lakes, Prairies, West Coast, and Artic, as well as differentiating the US approach to its border with Canada and Mexico.