Right, but I'm not sure that's the right precedent to use. Space is big: it'd be more equivalent to, oh, dumping the Lost Roman Legion in a prehistoric Asia and expecting them to divvy up the continent as fast as they could march.
Davy Jones: One Soul is not equal to another
Jack Sparrow: Aha! So we've established my proposal is sound in principle, now we're just haggling over price.
-- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Or in this case, scope instead of price.
Jokes aside, the point being is the sponsored settlement of the prairies had an influence of the negotiations of the Canada / U.S.A. border. If an human civilization had belief that it may have future competition with aliens for territory in space it would make sense to them to secured as much as possible as a Schelling Point in negotiations / conflicts.
If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.
Of course, for "every Monday", the last one should have been dated July 22-28. *cough*