746
Opinion of the Court
border, the easternmost point of New Hampshire meets the southernmost point of Maine. The boundary in this region follows the Piscataqua River eastward into Portsmouth Harbor and, from there, extends in a southeasterly direction into the sea. Twenty-five years ago, in a dispute between the two States over lobster fishing rights, this Court entered a consent judgment fixing the precise location of the "lateral marine boundary," i. e., the boundary in the marine waters off the coast of New Hampshire and Maine, from the closing line of Portsmouth Harbor five miles seaward to Gosport Harbor in the Isles of Shoals. New Hampshire v. Maine, 426 U. S. 363 (1976); New Hampshire v. Maine, 434 U. S. 1, 2 (1977). This case concerns the location of the Maine-New Hampshire boundary along the inland stretch of the Piscataqua River, from the mouth of Portsmouth Harbor westward to the river's headwaters at Salmon Falls. (A map of the region appears as an appendix to this opinion.)
In the 1970's contest over the lateral marine boundary, we summarized the history of the interstate boundary in the Piscataqua River region. See New Hampshire v. Maine, 426 U. S., at 366-367. The boundary, we said, "was in fact fixed in 1740 by decree of King George II of England" as follows:
" 'That the Dividing Line shall pass up thro the Mouth of Piscataqua Harbour and up the Middle of the River . . . . And that the Dividing Line shall part the Isles of Shoals and run thro the Middle of the Harbour between the Islands to the Sea on the Southerly Side. . . .'" Id., at 366 (quoting the 1740 decree).
In 1976, New Hampshire and Maine "expressly agree[d] . . . that the decree of 1740 fixed the boundary in the Piscataqua Harbor area." Id., at 367 (internal quotation marks omitted). "Their quarrel was over the location . . . of the 'Mouth of Piscataqua River,' 'Middle of the River,' and 'Middle of the Harbour' within the contemplation of the decree."
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