 From 1906 to 1913 he worked on the team assigned to survey the Alaska-Canada border and advanced from the position of surveyor to become the United States Engineer-in-Charge.During this effort, the team surveyed the boundary from the Pacific to Arctic Oceans, placed boundary markers, and cleared wooded areas to provide a clear line of sight between markers.Riggs married Renée Marie Coudert on April 30, 1913 in New York City.