As soon as the Collins-Vallentine Line had been completed its accuracy began to be questioned. On both sides of the border suspicions were raised that “their” country had been cheated. In 1792 the lands north of the border were opened up to settlement. Some 91 new townships in the wilderness of southeastern Quebec were mapped and named, soon to become known as the Eastern Townships. Experienced surveyors working the new townships on the border may well have carried sextants and they reported back to Surveyor-General Joseph Bouchette that the Collins-Vallentine line was significantly north of where the true 45th parallel was situated.
