Editing Lake Tahoe (section)

====Interstate boundary dispute====
Lake Tahoe is divided by the prominent interstate boundary between California and Nevada, where the two states' edges make their iconic directional turn near the middle of the lake. This boundary has been disputed since the mid-nineteenth century.<ref name="Dispute1850">{{cite news |last=Brean |first=Henery |date=May 2, 2009 |title=Nevada and California have a border dispute going back to 1850 |url=https://www.reviewjournal.com/ |work=Las Vegas Review-Journal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010215013824/http://www.reviewjournal.com/ |archive-date= February 15, 2001 |access-date=June 4, 2018}} [http://www.boitano.net/history/california/Nevada%20and%20California%20have%20a%20border%20dispute%20going%20back%20to%201850%20%20www_rgj_com%20%20Reno%20Gazette-Journal.htm Alt URL]</ref>

As part of the [[compromise of 1850]], California was speedily [[Admission to the Union|admitted to the Union]]. In doing so, Congress approved the [[California Constitution]] which defined the state's boundary in reference to [[geographical coordinates]]. This includes the section of the [[120th meridian west|120th meridian]] that is between the [[42nd parallel north|42nd parallel]] at the [[Oregon]] border and the [[39th parallel north|39th parallel]] amid Lake Tahoe, and an [[Angle#Types of angles|oblique]] line continuing from that point southward to where the [[Colorado River]] crosses the [[35th parallel north|35th parallel]].<ref name="CA v. NV">{{cite court |litigants=California v. Nevada |vol=44 |reporter=U.S. |opinion=125 |court=[[Supreme Court of the United States]] |date=1980 |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/447/125 |access-date=June 4, 2018 |quote=The two straight-line segments that make up the boundary between California and Nevada were initially defined in California's Constitution of 1849. The first, the "north-south" segment, commences on the Oregon border at the intersection of the 42d parallel and the 120th meridian and runs south along that meridian to the 39th parallel. And the second, the "oblique" segment, begins at that parallel and runs in a southeasterly direction to the point where the Colorado River crosses the 35th parallel. Cal.Const., Art. XII (1849). In 1850, when California was admitted to the Union, Congress approved the 1849 Constitution, and with it California's eastern boundary. Act of Sept. 9, 1850, 9 Stat. 452.}}</ref> Fourteen years later, Congress approved the [[Nevada Constitution]] when it was admitted as a state in 1864, which defined its western border at the forty third degree of Longitude West from [[Washington meridians#Old Naval Observatory meridian|Washington, D.C.]], and its southwestern border along the oblique section of the boundary line of California. While 43 degrees of longitude west from the [[Washington meridians#Old Naval Observatory meridian|Washington Meridian]] does not really coincide with the 120 degrees longitude west of [[Prime meridian (Greenwich)|Greenwich]], the 1864 Congress was of the belief that the two lines were identical; the former was [[International Meridian Conference|abandoned]] nationally in 1884. The centuries long [[Territorial dispute|dispute]] that erupted began with [[Boundary (real estate)|boundary]] discrepancies across many [[Cadastral surveying|surveys]] within which were valuable mineral deposits; Nevada also had a wish that California would assent to [[Cession|cede]] its land east of the [[Great Basin Divide|Pacific crest]] as had been preauthorized by Congress in 1850.<ref name="Dispute1850"/> The first consequential attempt to [[Survey marker|mark]] the California-Nevada boundary was the 1863 [[J.F. Houghton]] and [[Butler Ives]] line. An 1867–1868 survey of the California-Oregon border by [[Daniel G. Major]] for the [[United States General Land Office]] found the 120th meridian more than two miles west of the prior line, so it was followed by the 1872 survey by [[Alexey W. Von Schmidt]]. Against initial instructions, Von Schmidt began his survey with the [[1872 California-Nevada State Boundary Marker]]<ref name="NGS Data Sheet-KS1363">{{cite web |title=NGS Data Sheet – California Nev Iron Mon |url=https://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=KS1363 |website=Survey Marks and Datasheets |publisher=NOAA: National Geodetic Survey}}</ref> which was six-tenths of a mile east of the Houghton-Ives line. When he discovered the [[Colorado River]] had shifted at the 35th parallel, he simply changed the endpoint resulting in a survey that was neither straight nor accurate. Substantial doubts led Congress in 1892 to fund the [[United States Coast and Geodetic Survey]] to remark the oblique line.<ref name="NGS Data Sheet-JR1261">{{cite web |title=NGS Data Sheet – Initial Mon – 1 CA NV |url=https://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=JR1261 |website=Survey Marks and Datasheets |publisher=NOAA: National Geodetic Survey}}</ref> This new survey found the Von Schmidt line to be 1,600 to 1,800 feet too far west, but both surveys were then used by both states.<ref name="Abbe">{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=81000387}}|author=Abbe, Donald|title=1872 California-Nevada State Boundary Marker|website=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form|publisher=National Park Service|year=1979|access-date=June 20, 2018|quote=Between 1855 and 1900, six different surveys of California's eastern boundary were made. None of them agreed as to the location of the boundary or the 120th degree of longitude. Various surveys were conducted in 1855, 1863, 1872, 1889 and 1893. The 1872 Von Schmidt survey is the only one that was clearly marked along its entire length with stone, rock, wood and iron markers. The 1872 survey also was accepted longer than any other survey before its inaccuracy became widely known. It was not until 1893 that the Von Schmidt line was found to be 1,600 to 1,800 feet too far west. However, even after 1893, the Von Schmidt line remained the accepted boundary, and is still used more today than the more accurate 1893 version. Oddly enough, both the 1872 and 1893 lines have been recognized and are used by both California and Nevada.}}</ref> Unsurprisingly, the combination of the 1893 C.G.S. survey's oblique line and Schmidt's well marked north–south line do not intersect precisely at the 39th parallel as mandated by the California Constitution. Congress does not have the [[Article Four of the United States Constitution#Clause 1: New states|constitutional power]] to unilaterally move state boundaries.

The wealth in natural resources between the Sierra Crest and the easternmost sections of survey lines created a powerful source for conflict. Major [[Aurora, Nevada|mining sites]] in the Tahoe area were in disputed territory. In a striking display of [[opportunism]] which ostensibly occurred because the boundary was still "officially" unsurveyed, settlers arrogated parts of California up to the irregular Sierra Crest tens of miles east of the boundary—defined over six years prior—in an attempt to create [[Nataqua Territory]]. An armed skirmish known as the [[Sagebrush War]] included gunshots exchanged between militia.<ref>{{cite news |first=Henry |last=Brean |title=Four Corners mistake recalls long border feud between Nevada, California |url=http://www.lvrj.com/news/43760307.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402150233/http://www.lvrj.com/news/43760307.html |archive-date=April 2, 2012 |work=Las Vegas Review-Journal |date=April 27, 2009 |access-date=April 27, 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> Even after six surveys, conflict remained over which of them, if any, were legally binding in marking the boundary;<ref name="Abbe"/> this was partially heard by the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] in 1980, where the doctrine of [[acquiescence]] was invoked.<ref name="CA v. NV"/>

A boundary defined in terms of [[Geographic coordinate system|geographical coordinates]] is theoretically precise, but poses pragmatic challenges to implement. Where a particular coordinate actually lies on the surface of the earth is dependent on the [[figure of the Earth]]. In the mid-1800s the [[Bessel ellipsoid|Bessel ellipsoid of 1841]] or the [[Alexander Ross Clarke#Length comparisons and Figure of the Earth, 1866|Clarke ellipsoid of 1866]] were widely used; the [[John Fillmore Hayford|Hayford ellipsoid of 1910]] may later have been used by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. The standard ellipsoid for western states in 1849—which is generally congruent with that year's version of the [[Astronomical Almanac]]—is [[Implicit assumption|implicit]] in California's constitutional boundary definition; incessant invention of new [[Geodetic datum|datums]] by new and potentially interested parties do not re-render the old boundary definition. Holding assumptions of the earth back-in-time, modern [[Global Positioning System|satellite]] assisted survey techniques can determine location and [[Geographic coordinate conversion|transform]] them onto old [[Earth ellipsoid|ellipsoids]] to within a centimeter. [[Celestial navigation]]<ref name="NGS Data Sheet-KS1400">{{cite web |title=NGS Data Sheet – Von Schmidts Iron Monument|url=https://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=KS1400 |website=Survey Marks and Datasheets |publisher=NOAA: National Geodetic Survey |quote=The south face has the lettering inscribed – 1872 longitude 120 west of Greenwich A.W. Von Schmidt U.S. astronomer and surveyor}}</ref><ref name="NGS Data Sheet-JS3908">{{cite web |title=NGS Data Sheet – Upper Truckee |url=https://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=JS3908 |website=Survey Marks and Datasheets |publisher=NOAA: National Geodetic Survey |quote=It was placed near the old blocks that mark the astronomical station of Van Schmidt.}}</ref> techniques by contrast, are accurate up to two-fifths of a mile; uncertainty in the latter was known, but precision then was unobtainable.

The legacy of this dispute continues.<ref name="Abbe"/> There is an official federal<ref name="NGS Data Sheet-JR1261"/> obelisk-shaped [[Survey marker|monument]] marking the oblique California border, which is now surrounded by [[Edgewood Tahoe Resort|Edgewood Tahoe golf resort]] that is claimed and taxed by Nevada.<ref name="NGS Data Sheet-JR1261"/><ref name="USGS SL82">{{cite map |author = [[United States Geological Survey]] |year = 1982 |title = South Lake Tahoe, Calif. – Nev. |url = https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/img4/ht_icons/Browse/CA/CA_South%20Lake%20Tahoe_300625_1955_24000.jpg |format = JPEG |type = Topographic map |series = 7.5 Minute Series |scale = 1:24,000 |location = Reston, VA |publisher = United States Geological Survey |access-date= July 17, 2018}}</ref>  A federal survey monument was removed to the Lake Tahoe Historical Society circa 2018.<ref name="NGS Data Sheet-JS3908"/> The Von Schmidt line crosses US 50 on the west edge of present-day [[Applebee's]], and the east edge of the Marcus Ashley Gallery in Tahoe Crescent V Shopping Center.<ref name="USGS SL82"/><ref name="USGS Markleeville 1891">{{cite map |author = [[United States Geological Survey]] |year = 1891 |title = Markleeville Sheet |url = https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/img4/ht_icons/Browse/CA/CA_Markleeville_299437_1891_125000.jpg |format = JPEG |type = Topographic map |scale = 1:125,000 |location = Reston, VA |publisher = United States Geological Survey |access-date= July 17, 2018}}</ref> The Nevada community of [[Stateline, Nevada|Stateline]] has been moved east.<ref name="USGS SL92">{{cite map |author = [[United States Geological Survey]] |year = 1992 |title = South Lake Tahoe, Calif. – Nev. |url = https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/img4/ht_icons/Browse/CA/CA_South%20Lake%20Tahoe_295270_1992_24000.jpg |format = JPEG |type = Topographic map |series = 7.5 Minute Series |scale = 1:24,000 |location = Reston, VA |publisher = United States Geological Survey |access-date= July 17, 2018}}</ref>

The boundary splits Lake Tahoe unevenly, with two-thirds in California and one-third in Nevada.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://water.nv.gov/WaterPlanning/truckee/truckee1.cfm#N_13_ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100825094729/http://water.nv.gov/WaterPlanning/truckee/truckee1.cfm |archive-date= August 25, 2010 |title= Truckee River Chronology |access-date=October 26, 2008 |publisher=Nevada Department of Conservation & Natural Resources }}</ref> In California, Lake Tahoe is divided between Placer County and El Dorado County. In Nevada, Lake Tahoe is divided among Washoe County, Douglas County and Carson City (an [[Independent city (United States)|independent city]]).