In 1898 the Atlin area was in dispute with the Alaska-British Columbia boundary, leading American news broadcasters stating the Atlin area was in Alaska rather than in northwestern British Columbia. This Alaska-British Columbia boundary dispute was eventually resolved by arbitration in 1903 and no evidence for the 1898 eruption has been found, leading researchers to speculate the eruption and report as uncertain. However, given the location of the placer operations from which the eruption was supposedly visible (Pine, Birch, Discovery, and McKee creeks) and the reported location of the volcano south of Gladys Lake, the vent might possibly be in the very rugged and inaccessible Coast Mountains south or southwest of Atlin Lake.