When the June 15, 1846 Treaty of Washington was signed by representatives of the United States and Great Britain, it established the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude as the boundary to the middle of the channel which separates the North American continent from Vancouver Island. That decision, probably unknowingly, left a small piece of real estate below the line but isolated by marine waters from the rest of United States / Washington land. That promontory subsequently became known as Point Roberts, a unique and interesting community, greatly influenced by Canada but fiercely American. Point Roberts is a story of political and geographic accident; it is also a story of the people who settled there, who fished and farmed, who lived under difficult circumstances and isolation. It is a chronicle of good times and bad, rising expectations and tragic events. It includes the efforts of people to create social and cultural institutions to solve their problems and to pass their culture on from one generation to the next — governmental units, churches, schools, water districts, even a cemetery. Point Roberts is also a study of two nations and their people facing off, sharing, trying to learn how to live together. That chapter still is not complete, nor is the history of Point Roberts. But its history has begun, and we are indebted to Richard Clark for gathering the existing bits and pieces to date together in this book. It teaches some valuable lessons — that human perseverance can overcome adversity, that human institutions and social inventions do advance a people, and that Point Roberts is an extremely interesting and valuable part of Washington State and the United States of America.