In 1783, shortly after the Revolutionary War, the Treaty of Paris was signed, establishing the boundaries between the newly born United States and the British colonies. One stretch of the northern boundary followed the 45 parallel latitude line, starting from the St. Lawrence River in northern New York and stretching across the entire state of Vermont. Years later, during a survey, it was realized that the original survey was off by about 1 kilometer north of the 45th parallel. There was even a fort being built on the wrong side in Rouse’s Point, NY. (Today, locals affectionately call the fort “Fort Blunder”—for obvious reasons.) Construction on the fort halted immediately and for the next 3o years, the question of whether the people who inhabited this sliver of land along the 45th parallel were to be Canadian or American hung in the balance. It wasn’t until 1842 when the Webster-Ashburton Treaty was signed to correct a number of border disputes between the two countries that the 45th parallel blunder was resolved. Once the treaty was signed into law, the original survey which accidentally put the boundary 1 kilometer north of the 45 parallel line of latitude was kept. Officially keeping what is now the Bouchard family farm on American soil.