Before extensive settlement could occur, the location of the international border had to be settled (an earlier American survey had suggested that the boundary at Pembina was inaccurately defined). In order to avoid a conflict, Great Britain and the United States appointed a joint boundary commission to survey and mark the 49th parallel from the northwest angle of Lake of the Woods to the foot of the Rocky Mountains. It was composed primarily of a 44-man detachment of Royal Engineers, among who included four trained photographers. One hundred and ninety-five of their photographs, showing not only the surveyors' activities but the land they traversed and the people they met, were included in the Commissioners' final report.