Hi! The only times I've seen anywhere near the interest in a thread have been about gulls!

Cheers! Murray

(Ms.) Murray Hansen
Graham, WA
MurrayH at aol.com








-----Original Message-----
From: jbroadus <jbroadus at seanet.com>
To: lostriver <lostriver at completebbs.com>; Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Sun, Aug 28, 2011 10:09 am
Subject: [Tweeters] Viti rocks and Whatcom or Skagit County.


Kelly:



This thread may be getting beyond what we on tweeters really know about. I more

or less started it, with

tongue in cheek, making a little fun of county listers.



Here is what I do know: The county boundary was originally a straight east west

line, as set by the territorial

legislature before statehood. They merely called out a standard parallel, which

is one of the lines run by the

general land office. I have checked the early (19th century) general land

office maps, and the line cut

through the south end of Lummi Island, which would leave Viti Rocks in Skagit

County (the GLO never

actually made a tie to the rocks themselves.) Now, I think we can be pretty sure

the legislature did not know

or care if the line cut through some island, they were simply trying to create a

simple boundary line.



The state statutes, in RCW 36.04 (County boundaries) still show the boundary as

the same east west line.



The newer USGS maps, as noted by Wayne and myself, show the same straight east

west line. The 1995

"Eliza Island" 7.5 minute quad shows the line just like the statute.



Hence, if you rely on the statutes and on the newer USGS maps, you get Viti

Rocks in Skagit.



Now, I also have seen some of the older USGS maps showing the curved boundary.



It is possible to change a county boundary, but it is supposed to require a

court action in front of a

"disinterested Judge." I did a legal database search, and found no mention of

such an action. That does

not mean that one never happened-- it could have occurred at the county level

and would not have made it

into the databases if it was never appealed. There should be a record of such an

action in the county court

clerk's records.



Thus, if the county boundary was ever really curved, then the curved boundary

would be the newer one. It

obviously would make perfect sense to curve the boundary, not because of Viti

Rocks but to put all of

Lummi Island in Whatcom Cy. As several have noted, Whatcom Cy. assesses all the

land on Lummi as part

of Whatcom Cy., which again makes sense (why have one small tip assessed by

Skagit Cy?) Also, both

counties publish maps with the curved boundary.



What we don't really know is whether the two counties ever went through the

official court action they are

supposed to use to curve the boundary, or if they are just using a sort of

"gentleman's agreement" to treat

Lummi entirely as part of Whatcom. To me, that would also make sense. I doubt

that it was ever curved by

the legislature, because such an action is normally noted in the revised codes

(that is a note about the

change would be added to RCW 36. Also, there is a note in the RCW that says that

our state constitution

prohibits a legislative change of a county boundary by "special act".)



Thus, for me, I think this is still an open question.



That is why I suggested this be allowed to rest until some historical research

is done by somebody. I don't

have the time. I used to do this at historical museums, state archives, etc.,

and it could be fun for someone

with the inclination. Both counties have surveying departments. Maybe somebody

could just go in and ask

if they have a record of this.



I never realized this topic would generate this much discussion.



Jerry Broadus

PLS 17660



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