The Squatter at Point Roberts
A persistent settler claims a strategic military reserve, forcing the U.S. government to defend its borders against encroaching private interests.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Horace Brewster, a resident of the United States whose postoffice address is Ladner, B.C., has camped for some time now upon the lighthouse reserve on Point Roberts, a bit of land in American waters the Canadian government would like very much to regain. Mr. Brewster thinks this government, having never made any use of the land and not evincing a disposition to do so now, ought to give him the land on which he has squatted in return for the improvements and cultivation he has put upon it. An interview with Secretary of War Daniel Lamont makes it possible to assure not only Mr. Brewster but the Canadian government likewise that the United States proposes to hold this little piece of land which juts out into the sound from the mainland of British Columbia, regarding it as a very important strategic point.
“The United States proposes to hold this little piece of land... regarding it as a very important strategic point and one that might be of great advantage in time of war.”
Point Roberts remains a geographic oddity—a US territory accessible only by driving through Canada. The 1894 struggle over ownership and use of this 'strategic point' foreshadows the modern-day complexities of this border enclave, which frequently fluctuates between isolation and disputed sovereignty.
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