Pearse Canal

Pearse Canal is a narrow natural strait at the southern end of the Alaska Panhandle, beside the mouth of Portland Inlet between Alaska and British Columbia. Named in 1868 by Captain Daniel Pender during coastal surveying, it gained lasting importance because the border between the United States and Canada was difficult to define in this maze of islands and channels. The meaning of the Portland Channel named in the Anglo-Russian Treaty of 1825 remained uncertain for decades, and rival interpretations fueled the Alaska boundary dispute. Under the Hay-Herbert Treaty of January 24, 1903, Pearse Canal was formally adopted as part of the international boundary.

Metlakatla, Alaska · United States