Acquiring land cession from the Native Americans was one of Isaac Stevens' primary goals as the first governor of the territory.
This somewhat vague definition was further confused by the way the Makah cession boundary had been defined as extending south to the lands occupied by the Quileute.
This circular definition, along with the unclear phrases about where the line ran through the Olympics, resulted in confusion and legal problems which continue to the present day.
Article three promised the tribes the right of fishing "in all usual and accustomed grounds and stations is secured to said Indians in common with all citizens of the Territory".
Article eight required the tribes to "acknowledge their dependence on the United States", and briefly outlined how crimes would be dealt with.
In article ten the United States promised to establish and support for 20 years an agricultural and industrial school, free to the children of the tribes and located at the territorial central Puget Sound agency.
Article thirteen forbid the tribes from trading "at Vancouver's Island or elsewhere outside the dominion of the United States", nor to allow "foreign Indians" to live in the reservation.
The Fish and Wildlife project assumed the "southerly" line was to follow the main drainage divide between the Pacific and Hood Canal.