William R. Pattle, James Morrison and John Thomas recorded adjacent claims in Island County on April 18, 1853. All three claims lay along the eastern shoreline of Bellingham Bay with a promontory they called "Mineral Point" and later "Pattle's Point" as the key reference. The Morrison claim was positioned in the center with the Pattle claim to the north and the Thomas claim to the south. Pattle, being married, filed for 320 acres and Morrison and Thomas, being single, each filed for 160 acres. These filings were made without physical surveys and the boundaries were described without reference to the meandering of the shoreline. Hence, they read as if each claim had four 90 degree corners with its boundaries running exactly north and south east and west.

Here are the descriptions of the Pattle, Morrison and Thomas claims exactly as recorded in Island County:³

Wm. K. Pattle claims 320 acres of land for himself and wife in Island county, Oregon Territory, located and bounded as follows, to wit: commencing at a blazed cedar tree on Mineral point being on the east side of Bellinghams bay, and running thence in a northerly direction one mile, thence east one half mile, thence south one mile, thence west one half mile to the place of beginning; this claim joins the claim of James Morrison on his northern boundary.

James Morrison claims 160 acres of land in Island county, Oregon Territory, located and bounded as follows, to wit: at a blazed cedar tree on Mineral point being on the east side of Bellinghams bay and runni8ng thence in a southerly direction one half mile, thence east one half mile, thence north one half mile, thence west one half mile to the place of beginning; this claim is made in virtue of settlement thereon on or about the 1st of December, 1852, and subsequent cultivation and improvement.

John Thomas claims 160 acres of land in Island County, Territory of Oregon, located and bounded as follows, to wit, Commencing at James Morrison's southern boundary on the east side of Bellinghams Bay and running south one half mile, thence east one half mile, thence north one half mile, thence west to the place of beginning; this claim is made in virtue of settlement thereon on or about the 20th of January 1853, and subsequent cultivation and improvement.

Actually, the Thomas claim followed the curve of the shoreline around the cove that became known as "Harris Bay" and had a reverse "L" shape (See discussion below).

On February 9, 1854, a claim for 160 acres just east of Morrison was recorded in Island County by Morris Connor, who was also called Morris or Maurice O'Connor. Here is the description of the O'Connor claim as recorded in Island County:

Morris Conner claims 160 acres of land in Island county, Washington, Territory,^[E] bounded and described as follows; to wit; Commencing at the South east corner of James Morrison's Land Claim on Mineral Point, Bellingham Bay, and running thence from said corner east, one half mile to a blazed tree, thence North one half mile to a blazed tree, thence west one half mile to a blazed tree at said Morrison's north east corner, and thence along with said Morrison's east line to the place of beginning, one half mile.

As will be seen, this claim was later repositioned to lie just south of the Morrison claim adjoining the Thomas/Harris claim to the west. The only other person to claim land on the south side of Bellingham Bay under the DLCA was Alonzo M. (for Marion) Poe, who opted not to file in Island County as indicated below. Click Map 1 to see how the boundaries of the Pattle, Morrison, Thomas and O'Connor claims should have been adjusted to account for the meandering of the shoreline.