Tongass Passage is a strait

Strait

A strait or straits is a narrow, typically navigable channel of water that connects two larger, navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not...

 on the Canada-United States border

Canada-United States border

The Canada–United States border, officially known as the International Boundary, is the longest border in the world. The terrestrial boundary is 8,891 kilometers long, including 2,475 kilometres shared with Alaska...

 between Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

 and British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, located on the southwest side of Wales Island

Wales Island (British Columbia)

Wales Island is an island on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada, situated east of the Dixon Entrance at the entrance to Portland Inlet. in area, Wales Island is north of the port city of Prince Rupert, and south-east of Ketchikan, Alaska....

. Wales Island, and Pearse Island

Pearse Island

Pearse Island is an island in western British Columbia, Canada, in the Portland Inlet, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean. The island was first charted in 1793 by George Vancouver during his 1791-95 expedition...

, to its northeast, were claimed by the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 prior to the settlement of the Alaska boundary dispute

Alaska Boundary Dispute

The Alaska boundary dispute was a territorial dispute between the United States and Canada . It was resolved by arbitration in 1903. The dispute had been going on between the Russian and British Empires since 1821, and was inherited by the United States as a consequence of the Alaska Purchase in...

 in 1903. Prior to that time, numerous American-owned canneries lined its shores. Canadian claims to the islands were affirmed in the Alaska Boundary Settlement of 1903

Hay-Herbert Treaty

The Alaska boundary treaty, also known as the Hay–Herbert treaty, signed in 1903, is a treaty between Great Britain and United States that resolved a dispute on the location of the border between Alaska and Canada....

, in which Tongass Passage, Pearse Canal

Pearse Canal

Pearse Canal is a channel or strait forming part of the Canada-United States border at the southern end of the Alaska Panhandle and adjacent to the mouth of Portland Inlet. It is on the northwest side of Wales and Pearse Islands, which are in British Columbia, Canada, and forms part of the...

 and the Portland Canal

Portland Canal

The Portland Canal is an arm of Portland Inlet, one of the principal inlets of the British Columbia Coast. It is approximately long. The Portland Canal forms part of the border between southeastern Alaska and British Columbia. The name of the entire inlet in the Nisga'a language is K'alii...

 were defined as comprising "Portland Channel", a term first used in the Anglo-Russian Treaty of 1825 as part of the marine boundary between Russian America and British claims in the region, but which remained undefined until the boundary settlement.