Helen Witmer, age 13, of South Burlington, Vt., for her question:

WHO SAID 'FIFTY FOUR FORTY OR FIGHT'?

"Fifty four forty or fight" was a slogan used during a boundary dispute between the United States and Great Britain. An 1818 treaty allowed both nations to occupy the Oregon Country, lying between 42 degrees and 54 degrees 40 minutes north latitude.

In the 1830s and the 1840s, American expansionists wanted to take the whole area, by force if necessary.

When James K. Polk became President, the U.S. made a new treaty ' that set 49 degrees as a boundary, except for Vancouver Island.  The U.S.secured the land south of the line and Great Britain obtained the land to the north.