WI: 48th Parallel

if the 48th Parallel border applied west of Puget Sound then ships would have to go between two bits of Canada to get to Seattle, which probably means that it wouldn't apply there.
 
Let's say the border runs from Lake Superior to Puget Sound, just to avoid any annoying exclaves or split islands. It doesn't make that much difference, except that Dakota might not be split in two. The U.S. still gets the site of Seattle and the good iron ore in the Mesabi Range.
 
The CPR chooses the Crowsnest Pass through the Rocky Mountains instead of Kicking Horse Pass, which puts the rail line through Lethbridge instead of Calgary. The result is a switch in the development of the two cities, with Calgary becoming the small market town of 50,000 souls and Lethbridge becoming the major oil industry and transportation hub of over a million. In addition, Radium Hot Springs becomes a bigger tourist trap than Banff ITTL, and the Frank Slide affects more than just the local economy.

Also, because Edmonton and Lethbridge are further away from each other than Edmonton and Calgary, there might still be passenger rail service between the two municipalities - possibly even a high-speed rail link by this time.

ETA: It also just occurs to me that the border will now go south of the Lake of the Woods, which might (I don't know the soil conditions in that area) make it possible for the first rail lines and roads to travel south of the lake as well. Which makes it likely that the railroads will go in to Emerson instead of Winnipeg, which might change the development of those cities as well.
 
Except it's based entirely on a misreading of the source of the Mississippi in the first place.

You're possibly thinking about the faulty Mitchell Map used in the negotiations for the Treaty of Paris (1783) to define the US-GB (Rupert's Land) border between Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods. That's the map that muddled things up and made determining the location of the border in that region difficult post-1818. That and a couple other border ambiguities were later resolved in the Webster–Ashburton Treaty (1842).
 
You're possibly thinking about the faulty Mitchell Map used in the negotiations for the Treaty of Paris (1783) to define the US-GB (Rupert's Land) border between Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods. That's the map that muddled things up and made determining the location of the border in that region difficult post-1818. That and a couple other border ambiguities were later resolved in the Webster–Ashburton Treaty (1842).

Ah yes. Though had they chosen to go from Lake Superior due west to the Mississippi (which seems to be somewhat more in line with the idea which they had) the parallel chosen would be further south.
 
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