Machias Seal Island off the coast of Maine is the last piece of disputed territory between the United States and Canada. The wording of treaties defining the two countries give both a claim to the 15-acre island. However, the US and Canada have been reluctant to fight over it. It makes a difference to locals, because the nations have different laws about wildlife conservation and lobster fishing. And then there are the tourists who want to visit Machias Seal Island to see the sea birds. The island was claimed by Tall Barney Beal, who lived there to avoid the Civil War draft. Tall Barney bequeathed the island to the first descendant named after him, who was his great-grandson Barna Norton. Norton spent his entire life defending his claim to the island, which he declared to be US territory.
He would also tell—many, many times—a particular story. “I own the island,” went the simplest version. “It was given to me.”
This story conflicts with the official stances of two powerful nations. It flies in the face of the Canadian lighthouse that has stood on the island for nearly two centuries. It also complicates the United States’s position, which is to claim the disputed island as American territory without making too much of a fuss. But Norton never gave up on his story. In a time when the last thing most people want is another border controversy, I decided to try to find out why.
Tall Barney Beal and Barna Norton were both colorful characters. Norton took tourists to the island daily, and used its disputed status to smuggle liquor, but defended the seabirds who lived there. Read their stories, and that of Machias Seal Island, at Atlas Obscura.
(Image credit: Greta Rybus)