Pearse Canal

Pearse Canal is a channel or strait forming part of the Canada-United States border at the southern end of the Alaska Panhandle and adjacent to the mouth of Portland Inlet. It is on the northwest side of Wales and Pearse Islands, which are in British Columbia, Canada, and forms part of the southwestern edge of Misty Fjords National Monument in Alaska, United States. The southwest entrance to the strait is between Phipp Point and Maie Point, both in Alaska.

Name origin

The strait was named by Captain Daniel Pender in 1868 as part of surveying of the coast, in association with Pearse Island (see that article for more).

International boundary

Pearse Canal was established as part of the Canada-United States border as part of the outcome of the Hay-Herbert Treaty, otherwise known as the Alaska Boundary Settlement, of January 24, 1903. US claims had included Wales and Pearse Island. Under the terms of the treaty, Pearse Canal along with Tongass Passage (at Eales Island's southeast end) and the Portland Canal is defined as "Portland Channel", a term which was established as defining the boundary by the Anglo-Russian Treaty of 1825 but which remained undefined and not on maps until this time. Disputes over the meaning of the term were pivotal to the eventual settlement of the boundary in this region (a varying interpretation maintained the meaning was Clarence Strait, while the original US interpretation interpreted it as south of Wales Island.)

See also

• Alaska Boundary Dispute