EXECUTIVE ORDER
83-7

ILLINOIS/MISSOURI BOUNDARY IN THE AREA OF MAPLE ISLAND

WHEREAS, the United States Army Corps of Engineers is supervising the construction of Replacement Lock and Dam No. 26 on the Mississippi River near Alton, Illinois, between Madison County, Illinois, and St. Charles County, Missouri; and

WHEREAS, at the site of the construction there has been uncertainty as to the location of the true boundary between the states of Illinois and Missouri; and

WHEREAS, to relieve this uncertainty the Attorney General of Illinois and the Attorney General of Missouri undertook to examine the facts and applicable law regarding the boundary between those two states in the area of Replacement Lock and Dam No. 26. The Attorney General of Illinois was advised and assisted in his investigation by the Water Resources Division of the Illinois Department of Transportation. The Attorney General of Missouri was advised and assisted by the Missouri State Land Surveyor, pursuant to the latter's statutory authority to restore, establish, maintain and preserve boundary markers of importance to the State of Missouri, Sections 60.500 et seq. RSMo; and

WHEREAS, the western boundary of Illinois was fixed in 1818 as the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi River, see Iowa v. Illinois, 147 U.S. 1 (1893), and the eastern boundary of Missouri was fixed in 1820 as the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi River, see Missouri v. Kentucky, 78 U.S. (11 Wall.) 395 (1871); and

WHEREAS, in the year 1917 the Corps of Engineers by the construction of dams and revetments along the right bank of the Mississippi River just south of Alton, Illinois, caused the main channel of commerce to move in a northeasterly direction so that a land area known as Maple Island became then substantially attached to the Missouri shore; and

WHEREAS, by examination of Army Corps of Engineers and Mississippi River Commission logs, maps, charts, and other materials from the year 1880 onward, the Missouri State Land Surveyor has determined, with the concurrence of the Attorney General of Illinois and the Attorney General of Missouri, the location of the main channel between the states along the site of the aforementioned construction prior to actions of the Corps of Engineers causing the main channel of commerce to move; and

WHEREAS, the Attorney Generals of Illinois and Missouri are satisfied that under well-settled judicial principles this movement of the Mississippi River channel would be considered a man-made or artificial avulsion and that the state boundary would remain in the abandoned channel. See Missouri v. Nebraska, 196 U.S. 23 (1904); and

WHEREAS, the true present state boundary is depicted on a map dated September 9, 1982, prepared under the direction of the Missouri State Land Surveyor and attached to this agreement as Exhibit 1; and

WHEREAS, the Attorneys General of Illinois and Missouri are satisfied that it is legal and proper for the states mutually to agree as to the true location of their common boundary and that the consent of Congress to this agreement under Article I, Section 10 of the United States Constitution is not required. New Hampshire v. Maine, 426 U.S. 363 (1976).

NOW, THEREFORE, the undersigned, James R. Thompson, Governor of Illinois, and Christopher S. Bond, Governor of Missouri, hereby ratify the state boundary determination of the Missouri State Land Surveyor as reflected on his map of September 9, 1982, and described thereon by courses and distances and according to the Missouri State Coordinate System, Sections 60.400 et seq., RSMo, and we order all executive departments of both state governments to accept and recognize such map and descriptions as the present true boundary between the states.

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