The partition of the Idaho Territory which gave the meridian its first usage as a boundary

The 34th meridian west from Washington is an archaic meridian based on the Washington Meridian and hence 111°2′48.0″ West of Greenwich.[1] The meridian is most notably used as a boundary for four states. The east-west continental divide of North America crosses the 34th meridian at the tripoint between Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

Usage as a boundary

The meridian was first used as a boundary when the Montana Territory was created in 1864. It served as Montana Territory's extreme southwestern boundary.[2] The next usage of the boundary came when the Wyoming Territory was established in 1868, with the meridian as its western boundary.[3] It was also at this time that it became much of the then-Idaho Territory's eastern boundary, as well as the extreme northeastern boundary of the then-Utah Territory. Montana became a state in 1889, with Idaho and Wyoming following the year afterwards.[4][5][6] Utah became a state in 1896.[7]

In the present day, the meridian is used as Wyoming's western border with Montana, Idaho and Utah.

References

  1. ↑ Stein, Mark (2008). How the States Got Their Shapes. New York: Smithsonian Books. p. 304. ISBN 978-0-06-143138-8.
  2. ↑ 13 Stat. 85
  3. ↑ 15 Stat. 178
  4. ↑ Holmes, Krys (2008). "Chapter 10 - Politics and the Copper Kings, 1889 - 1904" (PDF). Montana: Stories of the Land. Helena: Montana Historical Society Press. p. 193.
  5. ↑ "History". State of Idaho. Archived from the original on May 19, 2014. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Wyoming History". State of Wyoming. 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
  7. ↑ Ron Rood and Linda Thatcher (2014). "Statehood". A Brief History of Utah. State of Utah. Archived from the original (HTML) on November 10, 2017. Retrieved May 16, 2014. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
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