A look at some weird border and territorial anomalies.
• American president Franklin Roosevelt’s family had a retreat on Campobello Island, part of New Brunswick. That makes sense, as you can get there directly from the United States, via a border bridge with Maine. To get there from anywhere else in Canada? You have to take a ferry.
• The town of Hyder, Alaska, is incredibly remote…to the rest of the United States. There are no roads going from anywhere in Alaska (or from anywhere else in the U.S. for that matter) to Hyder. There is, however, a route from Stewart, British Columbia. In other words, to get there, Americans have to go first into Canada, and then back into the U.S.
• Point Roberts, Washington, is accessible by traveling through other parts of Washington State…after crossing two Canadian border stations. The town is bordered by the province of British Columbia, the Straight of Georgia (Canadian waters), and Boundary Bay (which separates Washington state from British Columbia).
• The 600-odd residents of Estcourt Station, Maine, have to undertake international travel to buy a cup of coffee. The residents there have no road access to Maine. To get anywhere, they have to go to Rue Frontiere, which is a road operated by the town of Pohenegamook, in Quebec, on the other side of the border.
• In 1970, three small rural municipalities on the outskirts of Saskatoon merged to form a new district called Corman Park. The vast (1,978 square kilometers), sparsely populated (8,350) area now completely surrounds Saskatoon, the 17th most populated city in Canada.
For the Innu people, Matshishkapeu is the “Fart Man”—the most powerful of all spirits.