The
Public Land
Surveys in Minnesota
General
References
Papers published
in Dis-closures
and its successor magazine, Minnesota Surveyor, the official
publication
of the Minnesota Society of
Professional
Surveyors
References
and links to those material concerning the public land surveys in
Minnesota
currently in the collections of the Minnesota
Historical Society and accessible through their online catalog PALS
Links
to internet sites useful in explaining the surveys in Minnesota
The
Minnesota Boundary Line
Measurement
Recent Oral Presentations
A Partial Inventory of the General Land
Office Surveying Records for Minnesota. Minnesota
Department of Transportation Survey Technical Workshop Wednesday
March 2007
The Public Land Survey Records for Minnesota. MSPS Annual Meeting January 2008
The Rectangular Public Land Surveys in the United States: From Space to Place. MSPS Annual Meeting January 2009
The Public Land Surveys and the Public Land Survey Records in the Upper Midwest; A Geographer’s Perspective. Iowa Society of Professional Surveyors March 2009
Minnesota Public Land Surveys; A Geographer's Perspective. MSPS Chapter 6 Seminar April 9, 2009
General References
Dodds, J.S.
Linklater, Andro.
Measuring America (Walker and Company. New York, 2002)
Minnick, Roy. (compiler) A Collection of
Original Instructions to Surveyors of the Public Lands,
1815-1881(Rancho Cordova, CA. Landmark Enterprises. n.d.)
White, C. Albert. A History of the
Rectangular Survey System (Washington DC. Government Printing Office,
1982)
General Instructions under which
the surveys
in
Minnesota took place
The surveyors general of Wisconsin
&
Iowa issued two sets of instructions that concern the surveys in
Minnesota. George W. Jones issued one set dated May 28, 1846.
George B. Sargent issued another set sometime in 1851.
When in 1851 and how much surveying in Minnesota Territory was carried
out under its provisions is unknown and is not reproduced here but can
be seen in White (1982 386-399).
On July 10, 1852, Sargent received the following letter from John Wilson, Acting Commissioner of
the General Land Office. White (1982 116) suggested that the letter instructs Sargent to adopt the Oregon
Manual.
It
is desirable and highly important to obviate the
necessity, wherever practicable to do so, of having double
corners
established on township lines
except where they close on a Standard Parallel.
To effect such purpose demands that the Standard Parallels should be
sufficiently near each other.
A distance of four townships or twenty four miles
between such parallels, North of the Base line, has been prescribed for
the
public surveys in
Oregon, and whenever new standard parallels
have been run elsewhere there is no reason perceived why the same
regulation may not, with good
advantage be adopted for the purpose of avoiding
the perplexity of double corners to the utmost
degree practicable
– restricting that necessity to
those parallels. Whenever the surveys shall be
undertaken north of the Northern boundary of the state of Iowa Standard
Parallels at the distance
of four townships apart will have to be adopted, for
all that region of country.
How far
it will now to be practicable to adopt such standards elsewhere,
in your
surveying district, if at all, is a subject of enquiry, to which I
would invite
your immediate and most serious attention, before instructions for
new surveys
shall have been received by you. Herewith transmitted are sundry copies
of the
manual of Instructions to Deputy Surveyors in Oregon,
with copies of the
Illustrations connected therewith, Copies of the diagrams of the
surveys made,
in progress, and proposed in Wisconsin, Iowa,
and Minnesota, which accompanied
your late annual Report, and also herewith transmitted, and on them are
indicated by red lines the “Standard parallels”
proposed for future adoption
in Minnesota, at intervals of twenty four miles, and
those elsewhere
are proposed for your
consideration, all with a view to
dispense with double
corners, every where, to the greatest degree practicable.
It
is moreover proposed in connection with the same general
views, to project an adequate number of check meridians, on which the
corners of future
surveys, to start therefrom, will be duly established. Such
meridians, to be established prior to running the Standard Parallels,
will be
made to operate
as a check on the true geographical position of the same – and
such meridians, to great extent, may also be made to govern the surveys
on both
sides
of them; for in surveying towards a check meridian, on which the
corners
are preestablished, whenever the closings can be made by course
lines to
the
preestablished corners, without at
all disfiguring the surveys,
double corners can thereby be avoided; Nevertheless in cases where the
departure from
the cardinal points would be too great so to admit, double
corners will be unavoidable. By these methods, it is thought, to
restrict the absolute necessity
for double corners within
the smallest possible limits.
The
check meridians suggested are illustrated on the
accompanying diagrams. While the principle is commended to your most
careful
consideration, the
detailed mode of applying the same to revision or amendment,
where you may find good reason to suggest such.
By
this programme (sic) of operations the future surveys in
your entire district would be so blocked out as to prepare for
immediate
operation at any time
whatever portion of it the public necessities should
first demand to eb surveyed for market, and enable you to ???
whatever portion the surveys of which
could best be dispersed with for the time being, and all without any
discomfiture whatever to the general plan as it will ultimately appear
The
public surveys when once made are, in the eyes of the
law, to endure for all time, but the evidences are constantly
accumulating of
the existence of
defects in them of various kinds in different districts, but
mainly as to the absence of the monuments which should perpetuate them,
evils
for which the
existing general prescriptions of law provide no remedy – and
whatever remedy is to be hereafter applied in such cases must await
further and
special
legislation of Congress on the subject. In view of this state of facts,
it is obvious that the duty of all having to do with the public land
surveys,
strenuously
and unceasingly to aim to make all future surveys fulfill these
purposes for all time to come. The object is one in which the best
interests of
entire
communities, are involved, knowing as we do, that uncertainty as to
land
marks is destructive to the peace of neighborhoods. To obviate such
evils
which
cast enduring odium on the authors of them, is an object worthy of all
the
assiduous care and pains needed to accomplish the same, and such as it
is
believed will ever receive your most anxious and hearty cooperation to
accomplish. The perpetuation of corner boundaries by means of mound
monuments, formed the subject of special communication dated 9th
inst. That instruction is designed to be of universal application in
your
district wherever
mounds have to be constructed.
Before
your deputy surveyors depart for the field of duty it
is deemed proper that you should require each of them to construct in
your
presence a
monument of the character required in those instructions, as a pattern
to which, when their work is returned, their oath is to declare that
the mounds
they have erected conform
This letter was published in
Dis-Closures "Comments on the Instructions to Deputy
Surveyors in Minnesota, 1847-1860"
The letter can be found in Volume 15 page 2-5 of
National Archives Microfilm No. 27 "Letters sent by the General
Land Office to Surveyors General, 1796-1901"
On May 16, 1853, Warner Lewis, the new Surveyor
General, was also advised to use the same instructions. (White,
1982 116)
On
February
15, 1855, the 1851 Oregon Manual was expanded.
This manual, and its subsequent reprints that introduced minor changes,
governed
most
of the surveys in Minnesota
Surveys, east of the Mississippi River and the Third Guide
Meridian, would continue to be
based on the 4th Principal
Meridian and would continue
the
old method of correcting for convergency, using correction lines
rather
than standard parallels and not involve guide meridians
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS OF 1846 OFFICE OF
THE SURVEYOR GENERAL OF WISCONSIN AND IOWA
Dubuque, May 28, 1846
TO__________________________
Deputy Surveyor,
SIR:-You are to survey in person, or by
the assistance of some duly authorized Deputy Surveyor acting under
your
immediate direction and supervision, the district assigned you under
contract
of ___________________ 18____, conformably to such parts of the
following
instructions as apply to the character of the work for which you have
contracted,
except so much thereof as is modified or countermanded by manuscript
special
instructions, hereinafter written.
SYSTEM OF SURVEY
1. The United States lands are surveyed
into rectangular tracts, bounded by north and south, east and west
lines.
They are first surveyed into townships or tracts of six miles square,
which
are subdivided into thirty-six equal parts, called sections
2. Townships and ranges number
from base
and meridian lines-the former bearing due east and west and the latter
intersecting them at right angles, and bearing due north and south
3. The base line of the surveys in
Wisconsin
is the south boundary of so much thereof as borders the State of
Illinois;
that of Iowa, is located near the geographical centre of the State of
Arkansas
4. The fourth principal meridian, to which
the surveys in Wisconsin relate, starts from the mouth of the Illinois
River. The fifth principal meridian, to which the surveys in Iowa
relate,
starts from the mouth of the Arkansas River
5. The townships, both in
Wisconsin and
Iowa, number from their respective base lines, northward; the ranges,
in
each, number from their respective meridians, both east and west
6. Sections are numbered from
east to
west and from west to east progressively, commencing with the northeast
corner section
7. Correction lines provide for the error
that would otherwise arise from the convergency of meridians, and
arrest
that arising from the inaccuracies of measurement. They are run due
east
and west, at stated distances, forming a base to the townships north of
them. This base, for each township, is extended sufficiently to meet
the
convergency for a given distance.
INSTRUMENTS
Base, meridian, correction and township
lines are to be run with an instrument that operates independently or
the
magnetic needle, which is to be employed only to show the true magnetic
variation. Section, meander and all other lines interior of a township,
may be run either with the same instrument, or with the Plain Compass,
provided it is of approved construction and furnished with a vernier or
nonius
ASSISSTANTS -THEIR OATHS
You are to employ no other assistants
than
men of reputable character, each of whom, must, before performing any
duty
as such, take and subscribe an oath (or affirmation) of the following
form,
which must be forwarded to or deposited to this office prior to or upon
the return of your field notes
For Chainmen
I, A. B., do solemnly swear (or
affirm;)
that I will impartially and faithfully execute the duties of Chain
carrier,
that I will level the chain upon uneven ground, and plumb the
tally-pins
whether sticking or dropping the same; that I will report the true
distance
to all notable objects, and the true length of all lines that I assist
in measuring, to the best of my skill and ability
Sworn and
subscribed
--------------------------------------------- ----------
before me at ----------------------- this
---------------------
18____.
Justice of the Peace
(or other officer authorized to
administer
oaths)
of
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------County
of --------------------------------- State
or Territory of -----------------------
For Flagmen or Axemen
I, C. D., do solemnly swear (or affirm)
that I will well and truly perform the duties of axeman or flagman,
according
to instructions given me, and to the best of my skill and ability
MARKING LINES, ESTABLISHING AND MARKING
CORNERS
1. All lines which you actually
establish
are to be marked as follows: Those trees which intercept your line are
to have two notches upon the side where your line intersects and leaves
them, without any other mark whatever
2. A sufficient number of those trees
which approach nearest your line, to render the same conspicuous, are
to
be blazed upon two sides, diagonally or quartering towards the line;
the
blazes to approach nearer each other the farther the line passes from
the
blazed trees, and to be as nearly opposite-coinciding with the line-as
possible, in cases where they are barely passed
3. Corner posts are to be made only of
the most durable wood found in the vicinity of your lines. Township
corner
posts must not be less than five, section and meander corner posts
four,
and quarter section post three inches in diameter. These posts must be
set or driven firmly into the ground, above which they are to appear,
at
township corners three feet, at section and meander corners two and a
half
feet, and at quarter section corners two feet
4. All township and section corner posts
are to be squared upon their upper ends and the angles of the square
set
with the cardinal points of the compass. Township corner posts must
have
six notches upon each of the said angles section corner posts, upon
township
lines, as many notches upon one of the said angles as they are miles
distant
from the township corner where the line commenced, and Interior section
corner posts as many notches both upon their south and east angles as
they
are miles distant from the south and east boundaries of the township
respectively
5. Quarter section and meander
corner
posts are to be blazed upon two opposite sides, and set with those
blazes
facing the sections between which they occur
6. A tree supplying the place of a corner
post is to be squared and marked as directed for posts
7. All posts established at corner of
sections are to be marked upon each side of their squared part with the
number of the four sections which those sides respectively face; at
meander
corners with the number of the sections between which such posts are
set
and at quarter section corners with '/s S. upon the two blazed sides
8. Bearing trees are those of which you
take the course and distance from a corner. They are distinguished by a
large smooth blaze or chop, fronting the corner, upon which is marked,
with an iron made for that purpose, the number of the range, township
and
section, except at quarter section corners where r/a S. will supplant
the
number of the section, thus:
R ------------
E. or W
T ------------ N.
S------------ or 1/4 S
The letters B.T. are also to be marked
upon
a smaller chop, directly under the large one and as near the ground as
is practicable
9. Witness trees are signalized and marked
as above, but the course and distance to them, as well as the small
chop,
are omitted
10.Trees, employed either for the purpose
of bearing or witness trees, are to be alive and healthy and not less
than
five inches diameter
11. From all posts established for
township
corners, or for section corners upon township lines, four bearing
trees,
if within a reasonable distance, must be taken; one to stand within
each
of the four sections
12. At interior section corners four
trees,
one to stand within each of the four sections, are to be marked; two of
thorn as bearing and two as witness trees.
13.From quarter section and meander
corners
two bearing trees are marked, one within each of the adjoining sections
14. Wherever bearing trees cannot be had,
quadrangular mounds of earth or stone are to be raised around the
corner
posts, the four angles of which mast coincide with the cardinal points
of the compass
15. Mounds, at township corners are to
have a base of five feet, a top of two feet, and a height of three
feet;
at section, meander and quarter section corners, they are to have a
base
of four feet, a top of one and a half feet, a height of two and a half
feet
16. Where mounds are made of earth the
place from which it is taken is styled the Pit, which is to he
a
uniform and stated distance from the mound in all Instances where the
same
is practicable, viz.: at township corners there are to be two pits, one
ten links due north, and the other ten links due south; at section
corners
one pit, eight links due south; at quarter sections corners one pit
eight
links due east, and at meander corners one pit eight links either due
north,
south, east or west. The distance of the mound and pit to be obtained
by
measuring from centre to centre. The mounds are to be neatly covered
with
sod in all cases where the same can be had
17. Posts established in mounds for
township
corners are to be marked upon each side of the square, with the
appropriate
number of the range and township; at section corners upon township
lines
with the appropriate number of the range and township upon two sides
thereof,
and at interior section corners with the range and township within
which
such post stands
18. Whenever the true place of
establishing
a corner is inaccessible, except it occurs in a body of water that is
to
be meandered, you are to establish a witness corner as near thereto as
is practicable and either due north, south, east or west of it. Such
corner
is to be constructed in all respects like the one for which it stands
as
a witness, with the addition of the letters W.C., immediately over the
numbering, both upon the post and trees
19. When a section or quarter section
corner happens at the point for establishing a meander corner, the
posts
and trees are to be marked with the appropriate numbers for such
sections
or quarter section corners
MEASUREMENTS AND WHERE TO ESTABLISH
MEANDER
CORNERS
1. Your distances are all to be noted
and
returned in chains and links and to be taken with a half or two-pole
chain
of fifty parts, each measuring seven inches and ninety-two hundredths.
The length of your chain should be adjusted by means of a screw
attached
to the handle of the hind end; every tenth link should compose a
swivel,
and all the rings and loops should he welded or brazed. The accuracy of
your chain is to be preserved by comparing it with a standard adjusted
at this office
2. Your tally pins, eleven in number,
must not exceed fourteen inches in length, must be of sufficient weight
to drop plumb, and are to be made of iron or seasoned wood pointed with
steel
3. The length of every line you run is
to he ascertained by horizontal measurement
4. Whenever your line is obstructed by
an object over which you cannot measure with the chain, you are to pass
the same by offsets, traverse or trigonometry; observing that the
distance
thus obtained, extends no farther than is necessary to actually pass
the
interposing object
5. Whenever your course is so obstructed
by navigable streams, or other bodies of water which are to he
meandered,
you are to establish a meander corner at the intersection of your lines
with both margins thereof, and of all islands therein
TOWNSHIP LINES
1. North and south lines are termed
range
lines; east and west, township lines. The former are styled, in the
field
notes, the line between certain ranges; the latter, the line between
certain
townships. Each mile both of a range and town ship line, is
particularized
by the number of the sections between which it is run, thus: north
between
sections 31 and 36, west between sections 1 and 36
2. Upon the base or township line forming
the southern boundary of your district, township corners are
established
at intervals of six miles. From each of these corners you are to run
range
lines due north, six miles; establishing a quarter section corner at
the
end of the first forty, and a section corner at the end of the first
eighty
chains, and observing the same order and intervals of establishing
quarter
section and section corners to the end of the sixth mile, where you
will
temporarily set a township corner post
3. You will then commence at a township
corner upon the first range line east of your district, and immediately
east of the township corner posts temporarily set by you, and from
thence
run due west across your whole district, Intersecting your range lines
at or within three chains and fifty links, due north or south, of your
said six mile posts. At the point of Intersection, if within the above
limits, you will establish a township corner. Upon this township or
last
mentioned line, quarter section and section corners are to be
established
at the same distances and Intervals as directed for range lines;
observing
that the length of each and every township line which you are to
establish,
is in no case to exceed or fall short of the length of the
corresponding
township boundary upon the south, more than three chains and fifty
links.
If, however, in closing your first tier of township, and all others
closing
to or upon old work, you find it impossible to preserve the true course
of your lines and close within the above limits, you are to resurvey
and
examine until you detect the real cause of discrepancy, which if not fn
your own work, you will report to this office, and for which you will
provide
in the field, in all instances where the same is practicable, by adding
to, or deducting from the length of your first range line or lines. And
where, in order to close a township to or upon old work, you are
compelled
to employ a variation greater or less than the true magnetic variation,
both must be stated
4. After closing your first tier of
townships,
you are to run up and close successive tiers, to the completion of your
district, by the same method of survey as directed for the first tier
5. You are to observe and note the true
magnetic variation, at least once upon every mile or section line, and
as much oftener as there is a change therein
6. The bearing trees, standing upon the
west side of range, and upon the north side of township lines, are to
be
entered first in your field notes
7. After a township corner is
established
as before directed, you are to complete the notes of the corresponding
range line, by inserting the said corner, with the true distance
thereto,
and adding or erasing the notes of any topography or other minutes,
that
may be included or excluded by thus adding to or deducting from the
length
of the range line as temporarily established
8. With your field notes you must return
a diagram, drawn upon a scale of one and a half inches to six miles, on
which you are to represent each boundary you have run with the length
and
variation thereof, and with all the topography thereupon that can he
properly
expressed upon that scale
SUBDIVISION
Length of North and South and East
and West Lines, and
Where to Establish Quarter Section
Posts
1. Every north and south section line,
except those terminating in the north boundary, are to be one mile in
length.
The east and west section lines, except those terminating In the west
boundary,
are to be within one hundred links of eighty chains in length; and the
north and south boundaries of any section, except tit the extreme
western
tier, are to be within one hundred links of equal length
2. The length of the
section lines
closing to the north and west boundaries, are to be governed by the
length
of the sixth or closing miles, both of the range and township lines,
and
must be as nearly of the same length, or of an average there of, as is
practicable
3. Quarter section corners both
upon north and south and upon east and west lines, are to be set
equidistantly
from the corresponding section corners; except upon those closing to
the
north and west boundaries, where the quarter section corners will be
established
precisely forty chains north or west of the respective section corners
from which those lines start
Method of Subdividing; Random,
Corrected
and True Line, and Diagram
1. The first mile, both of the south
and
east boundaries of each township you are to subdivide, is to be
carefully
traced and measured, before you enter upon the subdivision thereof.
This
will enable you to observe any change that may have taken place in the
magnetic variation, as it existed at the running of the township lines,
and will also enable you to compare your chaining with that upon the
township
lines
2. Any discrepancy, arising either from
a change in the magnetic variation or a difference in measurement, is
to
be stated as directed under the head of field notes
3. After adjusting your compass to a
variation
which you have thus found will retrace the eastern boundary of the
township,
you will commence at the corner to sections 35 and 36, on the south
boundary,
and run a line due north, forty chains, to the quarter section corner
which
you are to establish between sections 35 and 36; continuing due north
forty
chains farther, you will establish the corner to sections 25, 26, 35
and
36
4. From the section corner last named,
run a random line, without blazing, due east for corner of sections 25
and 36, in east boundary. If you intersect exactly at the corner, you
will
blaze your random line back and establish it as the true line. But if
your
random line intersects the said range line, either north or south of
the
said corner, you will measure the distance of such inter. section, from
which you will calculate a course that will run a true line back to the
corner from which your random started
5. From the corner of sections 25, 26,
35, 36, run due north between sections 25 and 26, setting the quarter
section
post, as before at forty chains, and at eighty chains establishing the
corner of sections, 23, 24, 25, 36. Then run a random line due east for
the corner of sections 24 and 25 in east boundary; correcting back in
the
manner directed for running the line between sections 25 and 36
6. In this manner proceed with the survey
of each successive section in the first tier, until you arrive at the
north
boundary of the township, which you will reach in running up a random
line
between sections 1 and 2. If this line should not intersect at the post
established for corner to sections 1, 2, 35 and 36 upon the township
line,
you will note the distance that you fall east or west of the same,.
from
which distance you will calculate a course that will run a true line
south
to the corner from which your random started
7. The first tier of sections being
thus laid out and surveyed, you will return to the south boundary of
the
township, and from the corner of sections 34 rind 35, commence and
survey
the second tier of sections, in the same manner that you pursued In the
survey of the first; closing at the section corners on the first tier
8. In like manner proceed with the survey
of each successive tier of sections, until you arrive at the fifth or
last
tier. From each section corner which you establish upon this tier, you
are to run random lines for the corresponding corners established upon
the range line forming the western boundary of your township, and in
returning,
establish the true line as before directed
9. All section lines are to be right
lines, regardless of the number or nature of intervening obstacles;
except
in the event of their intersecting a lake or pond of such diameter, at
the points of intersection, as forbids their continuance by means of a
trigonometrical calculation, in which case, and in cases also where a
river,
lake, correction line, or reservation, form a portion of the boundary
of
a township, when the closing lines thereupon, will be trite lines, the
courses of which will have a strict reference to the variation and
closing
of the adjacent lines; the quarter section posts upon which are to be
set
forty chains from the section corner at which such true lines commenced
10. In closing upon a
correction line,
you are to establish a section corner at the point of your intersection
therewith, stating the true distance of such intersection from the
nearest
corner thereon
11. Field notes of random lines are to
embrace nothing but the variation, length and closing thereof
12. Topography of every description, line
trees and corners, are to be taken upon the corrected lines and
included
in the notes thereof, following which, is to be written the description
of the land and timber
13. With these instructions you
are
furnished
a diagram, drawn upon a scale of one mile to an inch, upon which is
represented
the magnetic variation or variations and length of each township
boundary
of the district you are to subdivide, also the topography and corners
upon
the same, as returned by the township line surveyor. On this diagram
you
are to represent, as you progress with your survey, the crossing and
courses
of all streams of water and of the bottom land through which they
meander;
the intersection, situation and boundaries of all lakes, ponds,
prairies.
marshes, swamps, windfalls and all other objects, mentioned in your
field notes. that can be shown upon said diagram. All the
topography
thus noted upon your diagrams must be joined or connected, so as, to
form
a complete map of the townships of your district. These diagrams form
an
essential part of, and must be returned with your field notes
14. Should you find a manifest error in
the measurement of any of the township lines of your district, you are
to correct the same, by resurveying and re-establishing such line or
lines,
from the point where the error was detected, to the north or west end
thereof;
noting your intersection with each one of the erroneous corners as you
progress, which you are to demolish and deface with all evidences
thereof.
Of such remeasurement and corrections you are to take full and complete
field notes, in a separate book, to he returned to the Surveyor
General's
Office, with the field notes of your subdivision. For such corrections,
however, the Surveyor General is not authorized to make any
compensation
HOW AND WHAT TO MEANDER
1. In subdividing any one township, you
are to meander as hereinafter directed, any lake or lakes, pond or
ponds,
lying entirely within the boundaries thereof, of the area of forty
acres
and upwards, and which cannot be drained and are not likely to fill up,
or from any cause to become dry
2. Whenever required by special
instructions,
to meander any stream or body of water, passing through or lying within
your district, you are also to meander all islands situated therein,
which
are valuable for their soil or timber
3. Standing with your face towards the
mouth of a stream, the bank on your left hand, is termed the left
bank,
and that upon your right hand, the right bank. These terms are to be
universally
used to distinguish the two banks of a river, both in running lines and
in meandering
4. In meandering rivers, you are to
commence
at a meander corner in the township boundary, and take the course and
distance
of the bank upon which you commence, to a meander corner upon the same
or another boundary of the same township, carefully noting your
intersection
with all intermediate meander corners. By the same method you are to
meander
the opposite bank of the same river
5. In meandering lakes, ponds or bayous,
you are to commence at a meander corner upon the township line and
proceed
as above directed for the banks of a navigable stream; except where a
lake,
pond or bayou lies entirely within the township boundaries, when you
will
commence at a meander corner established in subdividing, and from
thence
take the course and distance of tire entire margin thereof
6. To meander a pond, lying entirely
within
the boundaries of a section, you will run a random line thereto from
the
nearest section or quarter section corner. At the point where this
random
line intersects the margin of such pond, you will establish a witness
point,
by fixing a post in the ground and raising a mound or taking bearings,
as at a meander corner; except that the post and the large face upon
the
bearing trees, will be marked with the letter W., only
7. In meandering islands, you are to
proceed
as directed in sections, 5 and 6 of this chapter, except that where
there
are no meander corners established upon an island, you are to take the
course and distance of your starting point from the nearest meander
corner,
instead of section or quarter section corner
8. The meanders of each fractional
section,
or between any two meander posts, or of a pond or island interior of a
section, must close within one chain and fifty links
9. Your field notes of meanders in any
one township, are to follow immediately after the notes of the
subdivision
thereof. They are to state and describe, particularly, the meander
corner
from which they commenced, each one with which they close, and are to
exhibit
the meanders of each fractional section separately; following and
composing
a part of which, will be given a description of the land, timber, depth
of inundation to which the bottom is subject, and the banks, current
and
bottom of the stream or body of water you are meandering
10. To furnish data that will enable this
office to fix the exact location of all islands, whether to be
meandered
or not. you will take the bearing of the upper and lower points
thereof,
from both ends of one or more of your meander courses which form a base
line of sufficient length for that purpose. You will repeat the same
process
in meandering the opposite bank or margin of the same stream, lake,
pond
or bayou. You will also note, in the proper place in the meanders of
each
fractional section, the exact position and extent of all falls and
rapids;
fords, portages and mill sites existing in, or connected with the river
or other body of water which you are meandering
11. No blazes or marks of any
description
are to be made upon your meander lines, though the utmost care must be
taken to pass no object of topography, or change therein,
without
giving a particular description thereof in Its proper place in your
meander
notes
FIELD NOTES
1. Your field notes are to form a full
and perfect history of your operations in the field
2. The field notes of the
subdivision
of every township, whether fractional or not, are to be written in a
separate
book
3. No one page, either of the notes of
township lines or subdivision, is to embrace the field notes of more
than
one section line
4. Description of the timber,
undergrowth,
surface, soil and minerals, upon each section line, is to follow the
notes
thereof, and not to be mixed with them
5. The language of your field
notes
must be so concise and clear, the hand in which they are written so
plain
and legible, that no doubt can exist as to your figures, letters, words
or meaning
6. No abbreviations are to be made in
your field notes, except such as relate to course, to express which,
the
proper combinations of the capital letters N., S., E. and W. are to be
used; except when a course is exactly to a cardinal point, in which
case
it is to be written full
7. The description of each mile
must be independent, and not refer to a preceeding description
8. The date of each day's work must
follow immediately after the notes thereof
9. The variation is invariably to
occupy a separate line
10. The first page of a field book of
subdivision-a sample of which will be shown or furnished you by this
office,
is to embrace only the township and range, state or territory, name of
the deputy, with the dates at which the survey was commenced and
finished.
The head of each subsequent page will express the township, range and
meridian
11. The second page will contain the notes
of your resurvey of the first mile, both of the south and east
boundaries
of your township; stating the corner at which you commence, the
variation
you assume, and each corner with which you close
12. All rivers, creeks and other streams,
lakes, ponds, prairies, swamps, marshes, groves, bills, bluffs,
windfalls,
roads and trails, are to be distinguished in your field notes by their
original and received names, only; and where such names cannot be
ascertained
or do not exist, your imagination is not to supply them
13. Immediately following your field
notes,
you will give a general description of the township
Objects and Data to be Embraced
by
Your
Field Notes
You are to enter in their proper places
in the field notes of your survey, a particular description and the
exact
location of the following objects:
1. The length and variation or variations
of every line you run
2. The name and diameter of all
bearing trees, with the course and distance of the same from their
respective
corners
3. The name of the material of which
you construct mounds, with the course and distance to the pits
4 The name, diameter and exact distance
to all those trees which your lines intersect
5. At what distance you enter, and at
what distance you leave every river, creek or other "bottom," prairie,
swamp, marsh, grove or windfall, with the course of the same at both
points
of intersection
6. The surface, whether level, rolling,
broken or hilly
7.The soil, whether first,
second or third
rate
8. The several kinds of timber and
undergrowth;
naming the timber in the order of its prevalency
9. All rivers, creeks and smaller streams
of water, with their actual or right angled widths, course, banks,
current
and bed, at the points where your lines cross
10. A description of all bottom lands
-- whether wet or dry; and if subject to inundation, state to what depth
11. All springs of water, and whether
fresh, saline or mineral, with the course and width of the stream
flowing
from them
12. All lakes and ponds, describing their
banks and the depth and quality of their water
13. All coal banks, precipices,
caves,
sinkholes, quarries and ledges with the character and quality of the
same
14. All waterfalls and mill sites
15. All towns and villages, houses,
cabins,
fields and sugar camps, factories, furnaces and othe improvements
16. All metalliferous minerals or ores,
and all diggings therefor, with particular descriptions of both, that
may
come to your knowledge, whether intersected by your lines or not
17. All roads and trails with the courses
they bear
18. All offsets or calculations
by which
you. obtain the length of such parts of your lines as cannot be
measured
with the chain
19. The precise course - and distance
of all witness corners from the true corners which they represent
AFFIDAVIT
1. Following the field notes and
general
description, in each of your field books, an affidavit of the following
form is to be written, and to be signed by yourself and each of your
assistants
in the field:
I, A. B., Deputy Surveyor, do solemnly
swear (or affirm) that, in pursuance of a contract with C. D., Surveyor
General of the United States for Wisconsin and Iowa, bearing date
the--------
day of________________, 18____, and in strict conformity to the laws of
the United States, and the instructions of the said Surveyor General, I
have regularly surveyed
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------- -----
principal meridian (State or Territory)
of---------------------------------------------------------------- and
I do further solemnly swear (or affirm) that the foregoing are the true
and original field notes of the said survey, executed as aforesaid.
A. B., Deputy Surveyor
G. H.) Chainmen.
J.K. )
L. M., Marker
N. O., Flagman
Subscribed by said A. B., Deputy
Surveyor,
and sworn before me at__________
_-_____________-______-_this___-____day
of________________, 18____, P. Q., Justice of the Peace (or
other
officer authorized to administer oaths) of-----------------
-----------------------------
in the county of ----------------------------------State (or Territory)
of
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Your attention is directed to the
following
section of an act of Congress, approved, August 8th, 1846, entitled "an
act to equalize the compensation of the Surveyors General of the public
lands of the United States, and for other purposes:"
3. "That the Surveyors General of the
public lands of the United States, in addition to the oath now
authorized
by law to be administered to deputies on their appointment to office,
shall
require each of their deputies, on the return of his surveys, to take
and
subscribe an oath or affirmation that those surveys have been
faithfully
and correctly executed, according to law and the instructions of the
Surveyor
General; and, on satisfactory evidence being presented to any court of
competent jurisdiction that such surveys, or any part thereof, had not
been thus executed, the deputy making such false oath or affirmation
shall
be deemed guilty of perjury, and shall suffer all the pains and
penalties
attached to that offence; and the district attorney of the United
States
for the time being, in whose district any such false, erroneous, or
fraudulent
(sic) surveys shall have been executed, shall, upon the application of
the proper Surveyor General, immediately institute suit upon the bond
of
such deputy; and the institution of such suit shall act as a lien upon
any property owned or held by such deputy, or his sureties, at the time
such suit was instituted."
The above section of the said law,
applies
to the foregoing affidavit, and will be in all particulars and in every
instance, rigidly enforced.
FIELD NOTES OF TOWNSHIP LINES,
SUBDIVISION
AND MEANDERS, WITH A DIAGRAM
The following illustration of the
manner
of arranging and style of entering field notes; if; to be regarded by
you
as a part of your instructions. A single page has been made to embrace
the notes of more than one mile, in order to preserve a convenient size
for this book; in this particular, therefore, you will be governed by
section
3 under head of field notes. The diagram attached to forepart of this
book
was platted from the following field notes, and shows the importance of
carefully noting all the topography your lines intersect; otherwise
your
diagram, upon which nothing is to appear that is not mentioned in your
field notes, will be but a partial and disconnected representation of
the
topography of the
township.
Surveyor
General
Instructions
to the Surveyor General of Oregon, Being a Manual for Field Operations
was published March 3, 1851. Here is a copy from White C Albert, The
History of the Rectangular
Public Land Survey (Washington DC, Government Printing Office,
1982
433-456
Diagrams A,B,C to which reference
is
made
in the Manual are not found in the copy but are found in the Instructions of 1855, titled Instructions
to the Surveyeyors General of Public Lands of the United States for
those
surveying districts established in and since the year 1850; containing
also, A Manual of Instructions to Regulate Field Operations of Deputy
Surveyors,
Illustrated by Diagrams and
are publsihed in White 1982 494-499 and reproduced here. The diagrams
are also printed in Dodds
J.S. et al Original
Instructions Governing Public Land Surveys of Iowa
DIAGRAM A illustrates the mode of
laying
off township exteriors north of the BASE line and EAST and WEST of the
principal MERIDIAN, whether between the base and first standard, or
between
any two standards
DIAGRAM B indicates the mode of
laying
off a TOWNSHIP into sections and quarter sections, and the accompanying
set of field notes (marked B) critically illustrate the mode and order
of conducting the surveryunder every variety of circumstance shown by
the
topography on the diagram
Copy of a plat of Township 25 North
Range
2 West of the Willamette Meridian, Oregon Territory
DIAGRAM C illustrates the mode of
making
mounds, stake, or stone corner boundaries for townships, sections, and
quarter sections.
COMPOSITE
MAPS OF U.S. LAND SURVEYORS' ORIGINAL PLATS & FIELD NOTES
These maps were
drawn by J. William Trygg as a
result of his employment as an appraiser for several Indian Tribes in
their suits against the United States for adjustments of the amounts
paid them for their lands when ceded to the government. The lands were
valued as of the date of the cession and were not surveyed until after
the cession, but before development was legally permitted. Inasmuch as
the surveyors were required to furnish a plat (map) of each 6-mile
square township with the section lines run in a grid at 1-mile
intervals along with a written record describing the areas as they
passed over it, their records were the prime source of information for
preparing the Composite Maps
Map
Index
Sample of the Twin Cities Area
See Minnesota Historical Society
J. William Trygg papers Legal and
background papers related to the work of an appraiser for the
Indian Claims Commission. The papers are largely organized by docket
and Royce designation and include tree tally sheets, land sale
information, documentation of terrain, abstracts from U.S. Land
Surveyors' Field Notes, printed reports, and court exhibits. Some of
the reference material is for earlier time periods
Marschner Map
Shown here is a digitized version of
the map. The original was redrafted by Cartographers in the Department
of Geography at the University of Minnesota, under the direction of
Miron L Heinselmann, and published by the North Central Forest
Experimentatl Station in 1974
Article
on Map (DNR)
Minnesota's
Bearing Tree Database (DNR)
