Treaty of Beaufort

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The Treaty of Beaufort, also called the Beaufort Convention, is the treaty that originally set the all-river boundary between the U.S. states of Georgia and South Carolina.^[1] It was named for Beaufort, South Carolina, where it was signed in 1787.

It set the boundary to be the thalweg (centerline) of the Savannah River, extending north into the Tugalo River (now spelled Tugaloo), and up to the headwater of its primary tributary. At that time, the area had not been fully surveyed, thus the somewhat ambiguous wording. If that headwater point was south of Georgia's border with North Carolina (nominally latitude 35°N), then South Carolina would claim everything north of a due-west line from that point, and south of 35°N, as far west as the Mississippi River. This claim was shown on some maps of the time, though it never took effect.

As it later was discovered, the primary tributary of the Tugalo is the Chattooga River, which does originate in North Carolina. In 1787 the area was Cherokee territory and not considered part of either state. The Treaty of 1816 officially extended the states' frontier northeast up the Chattooga River, where it remains the current boundary.

The other issue addressed was the islands in the rivers, which the treaty assigned to Georgia, but in the two rivers (Savannah and Tugalo) known to be the border at the time. In these cases, the thalweg is drawn through the center of the more northerly (actually northeasterly) channel, curving gradually around the island. This part of the treaty was the subject of some later border disputes between the two states.