What is the history behind the small piece of land the juts up into Onatario/Manitoba , Canada from Minnesota?

Question

The U.S./Canada border in the West is the 49th parrell and this little piece of land seems that it should have some reason for its unusal border.

Answer 1

That little piece of land is mainly comprised of water. It is a chunk of the lake of the woods, along with a small piece of land on the northwest edge of the lake. This area has a history of boundary disputes, both between the U.S. and Canada and between Ontario and Manitoba. The International Joint Boundary Commission came to the Lake in 1823 to determine the U.S. / Canada border as it had been designated in a treaty that came at the end of the Revolutionary War. (The treaty stated that the boundary between U.S. territory and the British possessions to the north would run "…through the Lake of the Woods to the most northwesternmost point thereof, and from thence on a due west course to the river Mississippi…" They didn't realize at that time that the source of the Mississippi was actually to the south! )The biggest bone of contention was what constituted the most northwesterly point. This wasn't resolved until the 1920's. The error regarding the Mississippi was corrected by having the boundary run due south from the northwest point of the lake to the 49th parallel and then westward along it. Because the lake goes above the 49th parallel, you get that little jut, which also has that small piece of land, called the Northwest Angle. It was the northernmost point in the U.S. .before Alaska came along.