Scobey–Coronach Border Crossing


The Scobey–Coronach Border Crossing connects the towns of Scobey, Montana and Coronach, Saskatchewan on the Canada–US border. It is reached by Montana Highway 13 on the American side and Saskatchewan Highway 36 on the Canadian side. An airport with a grass runway that straddles the border is located on the east side of this crossing.

History

The US Customs Service established this crossing as a port of entry in 1914, at the peak of the homesteading in this area. The US first built an inspection station at the border in 1937. That red brick roadside border station was replaced by a wooden structure in the median in 1978, and that facility was replaced by a multi-lane border station in 2012. The Canadian border station, which was originally known as "East Poplar River", was upgraded in 1958, 1981 and 2014.

Biometric System

In 1996, this border crossing became the world's first fully automated port of entry, using biometrics to confirm the identity of travelers. The US and Canadian governments engaged in a cooperative prototype project to enable certain trusted individuals with nothing to declare to cross the border in either direction after the port had closed for the night. Local residents who were enrolled could use a speaker recognition system to open the gates and enter the country without inspection. This system was replaced with a Remote Video Inspection System in 1998, which was decommissioned after the September 11 attacks of 2001.