Early Governors' Papers

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Legislature at every Session, is as well qualified to make impartial decisions, as one who has a reasonable certainty of the undisturbed possession of office during his good behaviour. By the third article of the convention of eighteen hundred and twenty, regulating the boundary between the States of Kentucky and Tennessee, it is provided that whenever the Governor of either State, shall deem it expedient to have the line between the two States run and plainly marked, he shall cause a notification thereof to be communicated to the Governor of the other State, and thereupon two surveyors shall be appointed, one by the Governor of each State to ascertain, survey and plainly mark what is known by the name of Walkers line. The Governor of Kentucky is accordance with this stipulation, notified me early in September last, that he was desirous to have the line run and marked adjoining the counties of Trigg, Simpson, and Allen, and solicited the co-ope -ration of this State. M^r. James Bright was accor-dingly appointed the Surveyor in behalf of Tennessee, and he and Doctor Munsell of Kentucky commenced the duties assigned them early in November. On tracing and marking the line it was discovered, that at a certain beach [sic] tree near Drakes creek, the reported line took an offset south sixty two degrees west to a black Jack, on the road leading from Nashville to Lexington, and thence it took an other offset

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northwardly to a gum tree, standing in Walkers original line. The surveyors continued the line and found no other difficulty, till within about a mile of Cumberland river, where it terminated; but they extended it accord -ing to its course at its course at its termination across to the Tennessee river. On running a line due North from where they sturck to Tennessee, they intersected a line said to have been run by Walker. The citizens West of Cumberland river between those two lines, have been considered as belonging to Tennessee, and have always been subject to the Jurisdiction of her laws. The Legislature of Kentucky in acting upon the subject, admit the North line between the rivers Cumberland and Tennessee, as the permanent division line between the two states at this point; and claim their right to the triangular territory on the road leading from Nashville to Lex -ington. As this arrangement is in perfect accord -ance with what has been hethereto known and acted upon as Walkers line by the border settlers of each State, I recommend that the line as seen by Munsell and Bright, and ratified by the State of Kentucky, be recognized by you, as the true and permanent line of boundary between the two States. As there is no law autho-rising the payment of the Surveyor, chain carriers and markers, an appropriation for that purpose will be required at the presnet session.