SHORT LIST OF

SURVEYING TERMS

ee used asacormer Plat As used technic

{ direction

ng Tree

size of the trees are also recor¢ al survey to

ies of lands which 1b

Corner A pointont th, determined by the er sur
surve process, which defines an extremity on
a bour y cto!
Field Notes — The official wr record of the
survey, certified by th rveyor and ap. i
proved by proper authority y, field notes )
were prepared by hand, but are now t physically oce \

subject to di e
Meander Line A traverse of the margin of a SS COT e to

permanent natural body of water

Monument The physical object which marks

the location of a corner point

ral survey which

narks them for the



surveying fees had helped him acquire, made it
possible for George Washington to serve as Revo-
lutionary Commander-in-Chief and the nation’s
first president.

Itremained for the late 1700"s of colonial America
for the beginning of what was to become the most
ambitious program of land disposal, ownership re-
cording, and actual on-the-ground boundary
marking which has ever occurred. Described as a
“marvel of simplicity,” the United States rectan-
gular survey system was designed to lay out one
mile square parcels over all of the federal land
outside of the original thirteen colonies and their
western territories. With modifications to Thomas
Jefferson’s original proposal for a rectangular
survey, the Continental Congress enacted the
Land Ordinance of 1785. It set in motion a se-
quence that tied the New England manner of rec-
tangular survey to the southern penchant for indi-
vidual settlement. Two military engineers, Colo-
nel Henry Bouquet and Thomas Hutchins, were
also among the contributors. Hutchins, as Geogra-
pher of the United States, in compliance with the
ordinance, personally established the Point of
Beginning where the west boundary of Pennsylva-
nia crossed the north bank of the Ohio River (near
present day East Liverpool, Ohio). Absolom
Martin, of New Jersey, completed the first town-
ship in 1786,

Under the principles set forth in the Land Ordi-
nance, 1.5 billion acres have been surveyed into 6-
mile square townships, each with 36-mile square
sections from East Liverpool to San Diego and
from the Florida Keys to Point Barrow on the
Arctic shore, resulting in easily understood land
descriptions to expedite land transfers and pro-
mote security of title. The design is at once both
complex and simple. The accomplishment is
grand —- 2.6 million section corners, each a mile
apart, resulting from a vast cumulative expendi-
ture of human energy in carrying transits, drag-
ging chains, lifting stadia rods, cutting trails, scal-
ing mountains, emplacing monuments, digging
pits, and blazing witness trees.

The plan developed three new theories in land
administration. First, the principle of “survey
before settlement,” second, the principle of a
mathematically designed plan to be followed
throughout the entire area of the public domain;
and third, the creation of a standard land unit, a
section of uniform shape and area, with bounda-
ties physically marked on the ground. These
planned features were not used within the original
colonies in America where land locations were
made in irregular form, and without any orderly
design.

In 1812, the General Land Office (GLO) was
established by Congress as a bureau of the Treas-
ury Department “to superintend, execute, and
perform all such acts...respecting the public
lands...” Before then, the public domain workload
was handled by the Treasury Department, but it
was recognized that a more focused land manage-
ment agency was needed. However, the Surveyor
General post, with responsibility for contracting
surveys to private surveyors, remained independ-
ent of the GLO.

Edward Tiffin of Ohio was appointed the first
commissioner of the GLO. Tiffin’s contributions
to land surveying were significant in consolidat-
ing and organizing land and survey records. Later
as a Surveyor General, he designed a plan of
correction lines to solve the troublesome problem
of conforming a rectangular pattern to a round
earth,

The first surveying was done on the lands between
the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi
River, an area which seven of the states had ceded
to the new nation.


‘Sheet No Tots

TOWNSHIP 18 SOUTH, RANGE 69 WEST, OF THE SIXTH PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, COLORADO
DEPENDENT RESURVEY AND SURVEY

Serveged ty 1K Meniey 0 1876

asec 16 See.

Oe sears era a tatoo

Surveyed by 1K ABNey om 478
see 33 Sec 34 Sec 38, se 36

\aeninntice on Soproeal heat

Resurvey plat of a Colorado township (1980).

st



The Rectangular Survey System...

Our present system of public land survey still
retains the basic elements set forth in the Ordi-
nance of 1785, with subsequent legislation and
regulations adding refinements.

Under the cadastral system, the public domain is
plotted into a grid of squares, each approximately
6 miles to the side, called “townships.”

Before any measurement can be made, the sur-
veyor must define an initial point where the exact
latitude and longitude is known. From that initial
point two lines are run, one north-south, the other
east-west. The north-south line becomes a princi-
pal meridian and is identified by a name —the Salt
Lake Meridian, for example, which intersects its
baseline at the southeast corner of the Mormon
Temple Grounds in downtown Salt Lake City.
‘The east-west line becomes the base line for the
meridian (see map, page 6).

Working along the principal meridian and the base
line, the surveyor sets township corners at 6-mile
intervals, and then, by extension, the tract is
marked off into a grid. Each of the 6-mile squares
is. a township of 36 square miles, or approximately
23,040 acres. Any specific township can then be
located according to its relationship to the appro-
priate principal meridian and the base line.

Because of the shape of the earth, principal meridi-
ans come closer together as they extend toward the
North Pole. To adjust for this, correction lines are
run every 24 miles.

The township is further divided into sections of
one-mile squares containing 640 acres. Individual
sections are identified by a numbering system that
starts with section 1 in the northeast corner of the
township and ends with section 36 in the southeast
corner.

TOWNSHIP GRID

NORTH

MERIDIAN

west l

EAST

Working from a principal meridian and base line,
the surveyor marks off the township lines into
grids of 36 square miles,

PRINCIPAL

‘souTH

Townships are further divided into sections of one square mile
(640 acres). Sections are then numbered from I to 36.



caused deviations of the compass needle.

The exploration and survey of the western lands
continued with many verbal and written accounts
by curious surveyors of colorful descriptions of
the nature of a new land, and tales of hardship,
misery, and financial loss. One 1852 field note
record of an Iowa survey reads “...one of my men
was accidentally shot yesterday and died almost
instantly.” The notes continue with bearings and
distances to the stricken man’s grave.

Until 1910, public land surveys were generally
administered by federal surveyors-general in each
state or territory who contracted with authorized
deputy surveyors to perform the work. Sets of in-
structions to the deputies were often written by the
survey general to specify the method of survey and
the accuracies expected. However, it gradually
became evident that a consolidation of officially
authorized surveying procedures was needed. An
Oregon Manual of Surveying Instruction was
published in 1851, and a revision of this manual
was published by the GLO in 1855 for national
use. Subsequent manuals were issued in 1871,
1881, 1890, 1894, 1902, 1930, 1947 (BLM), and
1973 (BLM).

‘Toward the end of the 19th century, several signs
pointed to the need for new management arrange-
ments. Almost from the beginning, a U.S. Sur-
veyor General was appointed for cach territory
and state. Under general instructions from the sur-
veyor general in Washington, he contracted with

4

deputy surveyors, often after competitive bid. The
deputy surveyor general hired the crews, pur-
chased the supplies, and supervised the field work.

When public land surveying covered prairies,
open benchland, and other relatively accessible
Jand, there was competition for such surveys. As
surveying embraced fragmentary, rough, and iso-
lated areas, contractors found it hard to bid within
the statutory limits.

Resurveys became increasingly necessary as a
growing proportion of careless, fraudulent, and
sometimes practically mythical surveys surfaced
as the public lands were occupied. Prospective
contractors found it difficult to bid on resurvey
work because it was hard to estimate the amount
and character of the work. A change to contracting
by the day brought some improvement, but ulti-
mately the law was changed to provide for the
direct hire of professional surveyors and their vari-
ous kinds of assistants at a specified salary.

Stable pay and professional pride was thus substi-
tuted for contractors beginning July 1, 1910. Im-
proved surveys at little extra cost soon justified
those who advocated the direct hire of profession-
als in surveying.


Growth of the Public Domain...

In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson arranged to
buy a large amount of land from France. This is
know as the Louisiana Purchase. It amounted to
over 500 million acres and included most of the
land from the Mississippi River west to the Rocky
Mountains, except what is now the state of Texas.
The Louisiana Purchase cost the United States
about $23 million.

In 1819 the land thatis now Florida became part of
the United States. Texas became part of the U.S. in
1845. A year later the United States signed a treaty
with Great Britain which added the area that is
now the states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.
This treaty is known as the Oregon Compromise.

In 1848, just one year before the discovery of gold
in California, the United States obtained from
Mexico the lands that are now the states of Califor-
nia, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Arizona, Wyo-
ming, and Colorado. The Gadsden Purchase in
1853 added what is now southern Arizona.

The last large addition to the Unites States came in
1867 when the United States purchased Alaska
from Russia. The area of Alaska amounted to over
375 million acres (about one-fifth the area of the
rest of the United States). It cost about $7 million.

With these additions, the public domain stretched
from the west boundary of Pennsylvania to the
Pacific Ocean, from the Canadian border to the
Gulf of Mexico, and included Florida and Alaska.
Altogether it embraced over one billion, 800 mil-
lion acres.

A remarkable pioneer surveyor was William Burt
who surveyed large areas of land in upper Michi-
gan and Wisconsin in the mid) 1800's. Burt, who
did not have much formal education, was the
inventor of the solar compass which used the sun
to maintain direction. His invention came of ne-
cessity from tying to use the magnetic compass
and run lines ina region of vastiron deposits which

bok 1 Po Chav cas ho

yg
a
Ne

wo


The chain is the unit of linear measurement for the survey of the public
lands as prescribed by law. All returns of measurement in the rectangular
system are made in the true horizontal distance in links, chains, and miles.
The only exception to this rule are special requirements for measurement

in feet in mineral surveys and townsite surveys.

LINEAR MEASUREMENT

1 Chain = 100 Links or 66 Feet
1 Mile = 80 Chains or 5,280 Feet
1 Mile = 1.61 Kilometers

AREA MEASUREMENT

1 Acre = 10 Sq. Chains or 43,560 Sq. Feet
1 Square Mile = 640 Acres
2.47 Acres = | Hectar

SNL




SURVEYING

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

1988



The Federal Land Surveyor...

Surveyors are usually within one of three groups
— geodetic surveyors measure the shape and size
of the earth; topographic surveyors locate and map
the earth’s features including its contours, water
bodies, roads and buildings; cadastral surveyors
lay out and mark property boundaries according to
legal requirements and doctrines.

Today, in the BLM, there are about 280 permanent
cadastral surveyors to augment this corps of pro-
fessionals, BLM employs seasonal survey aids
who operate surveying instruments, cut brush,
climb hills, maintain equipment, and set perma-
nent monuments. There are also professional
cadastral surveyors employed by several other
government agencies for specialized purposes
such as land line location and boundary manage-
ment in the U.S, Forest Service.

Travel and long stays away from home offices are
commonplace for BLM field surveyors. A good
degree of self-reliance is a desirable attribute of
surveyor party chiefs since independent decisions
on both technical and crew management matters
are frequently needed. Personnel management
and logistical abilities are sometimes critical (such
as for a six month Alaskan field camp operation).

BLM surveyors go to and from work sites on just
about anything that moves, including by foot,
horseback, four-wheel drive vehicle, helicopter,
and boat. Survey work is carried on any where in
the United States — from the Arizona deserts to
the Alaskan tundra, along the edge of a large water
body, or in a dense forest on the sides of a western
mountain. Cadastral surveys fall into two main
categories — original surveys and resurveys.
Since the majority of the land in the lower 48 states
has already been originally surveyed, most origi-
nal survey work today is carried on in Alaska,
quite often in remote, roadless areas.

Resurveys have always been necessary in marking
the public lands in order to restore obliterated or
lost original survey lines. Statutory authority for

Corner Monument. The exact location of the corner is
stamped on top. The bottom is spread out to prevent pulling
the post from the ground. Congress authorized the use of
metal monuments in 1908, Stone monuments were princi-
pally used before then

resurveys was given by Congress in 1909, Resur-
veys now compose the most challenging and
complex projects for BLM surveyors.

However, it is legally stipulated that no resurvey
can impair the bona fide land rights of affected
claimants. Corners established in original cadas-
tral surveys are forever fixed in position even
though they may not fall precisely at a stated
bearing and distance from a previous point.
‘Today's cadastral surveyor must weigh many



The section can be further sub-divided into quarter
section of 160 acres which became the basic unit
under the Homestead Act of 1862. Quarter sec-
tions can be divided into half-quarter sections of
80 acres or into quarter-quarter sections of 40
acres, etc.

From the settler’s point of view, the rectangular
system forced them to take undesirable land along
with that deemed most desirable. However, this
disadvantage may have been more than offset
ce there was less chance of boundary disputes
and fewer cases of expensive litigation than there
would have been under a system of metes and
bounds.

Under the rectangular survey system itis very casy
to describe and locate any one parcel of land.
There cannot be another parcel of land with the
same identification. In order to avoid writing outa
lengthy description, a shorthand method of de-
scribing has been devised.

For example, in the illustration on page 7, the
sample township is located two townships south of
the base line and three ranges west of the principal
meridian. In short, from the location of the town-
ship, it would be written “T. 2 S., R. 3 W." In
formal land descriptions it is also necessary to
include the name of the principal meridian.

The example section on page 7 would be de-
scribed as “Sec. 14, T. 2 S.,R. 3 W” and the name
of the principle meridian. Although the name of
the state is not required, itis usually added forcon-
venience. One of this system of land description
is that the method allows land to be described by
very small legal subdivisions without an actual
detailed field survey.

Quarter divisions of a section of land are known as
“aliquot parts.” An aliquot part is always de-
scribed in relation to the four points of the com-
pass. In the lower illustration on page 7 the
hatched portion would be described as the “north-
east quarter of the northwest quarter (NE1/4NW1/
4) Sec. 14, T. 2 S., R. 3 W,” and the name of the
principal meridian.

BLM has sometimes found it necessary to ap-
prove uses of land tracts before actual survey has
been performed. These administrative require-
ments are handled by a system of “protracted
surveys” — lines drawn on maps that informally
extend the public land survey system, even though
the boundaries have not yet been laid out on the
ground. Protractions help in locating oil and gas
leases and provide a means for recording actions
dealing with public lands.

Protractions will not take the place of the final
official survey but they do provide a present basis
for many types of land management.


1845 Annexed Texas

@
(0) The Original Thirteen States 1846 Oregon Compromise
@ 1790 North Carolina Cession ® 1848 Mexican Cession
® 1781-1802 State Cessions 1850 Purchased From Texas
@® 1803 Louisiana Purchase (0) 1853 Gadsden Purchase
® 1818 Red River of the North (©) 1867 Purchased From Russia
© 1819 Treaty With Spain @ 1898 Annexed Hawaii

ACQUISITION OF THE TERRITORY OF THE UNITED STATES



History...

Land surveying dates back to ancient times. More
than one civilization recognized the need for
marking the boundaries of land for taxing pur-
poses as well as for defining just where one own-
ership begins and another ends.

The Egyptians, with their great expertise and
accuracy in building pyramids more than 7,000
years ago, must have possessed the techniques and
instruments to perform surveys comparable in
precision to present day requirements. In fact, the
Egyptians were very much involved in property
surveys since land boundaries along the Nile River
were annually lost from flooding, and resurveys
were constantly needed.

Most modern BLM monuments have an inscrip-
tion which reads: UNLAWFUL TO DISTURB.
Such warnings are really not new. Babylonian
boundary stones set about 3500 years ago con-
tained not only geographical information and the
surveyor’s name, but also numerous curses on
anyone daring enough to move the monument!

There were several other notable surveying en-
deavors in earlier times including the Roman rec-
tangular plots laid out with the four-armed groma
instrument, William the Conqueror’s land surveys
of England with their resultant “Doomsday
Book,” and the pyramid, road, city, and bridge-

related surveys of the 11th to 14th century Incas.

In early day America, several types of surveys
were performed using state-of-the-art instru-
ments, calling principally on mathematicians,
astronomers, and navigators to perform as land
surveyors. Most of these earlier surveys were of
the metes and bounds type, meaning they were es-
tablished by distances and directions which were
not in accordance with a regular pattern.

Surveying was often listed among he accomplish-
ments of notable scientific and/or public figures in
late 18th century America. When the Penns and
Calverts reached an impasse over the boundary of
Pennsylvania and Maryland, they asked Britain’s
Astronomer Royal, to send “...some able
mathematicians...of great integrity.” If the As-
tronomer Royal did not confer immortality upon
Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, he conferred
it upon the boundary they surveyed. David Ritten-
house, a largely self-taught mathematician, as-
tronomer, and instrument maker was involved in
half the boundary surveys of British America.
When Thomas Jefferson came to draft the Land
Ordinance of 1785, he brought notonly his accom-
plishments in law, political philosophy, and archi-
tecture, he brought the heritage of his noted sur-
veyor father, Peter Jefferson, and his own experi-
ence as a Virginia surveyor. Land holdings which

1



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Handwritten field notes of an original cadastral survey in Colorado (1872).



Dependent Resurvey of the W. Bdy.,
T. 18 S., BR. 69 W., Sixth Principal Meridian, Colorado

Taare
Set an iron post, 28 ins. long, 2 ins. diam., on solid
rock, suppor in a sound of stone, 5 ft. base, to top
of brass cap mkd.
Ss i/le
si2|s7
1976

28.08 | The N-5 1/64 sec. cor. of secs. 7 and 12, identical with
cor. 6, M.S. 14374, Alabaster Placer, sonumented with o
sandstone, 24x8x6 ins., firmly set 16 ins. in the
ground, wkd. with a X (cross) on top, and 6 14374 on the
E face.

At the corner point
Set an iron post, 28 ins. long, 2's ins. diam., 24 ins.
in the ground, with brass cap akd.
Nes
1/66
$12]s?
COR 6
MS 14374
1976
Bury the mkd. stone alongside the iron post.
N. O° 21" £., beginning new measurement.
Continue descent.

8.10 Powerline, bears ESE. and WwW.

9.38 |The & sec. cor. of secs. 7 and 12, identical with cor.
1, M.S. 16374, Alabaster Placer, nonumented with o
sandstone, 22x12x5 ins., firmly set 8 ins. in the
ground, mkd. 1 14374 on the & face.

At the corner point
Set an iron post, 28 ins. long, 24 ins. diam., 22 ins.
in the ground, with brass cap mkd.
Tl8s
R7OW ROGH
‘
$12]s7
COR 1
IMs 14374
1976
Bury the wkd. stone alongside the iron post.
The cor. is located in a fence extending
N. 0° 16" W., beginning new seasurenent.
Over rolling hills, through scattering juniper and
pinon.
Faw OOO Gene 1978) dares Fee 7) SDI BLM FIELD NOTE PAPER

Field notes of a resurvey in Colorado (1979).

“4



As the Nation’s principal conservation agency, the Department of the Interior has basic responsibilities for water,
fish, wildlife, mineral, land, park, and recreational resources.

Interior, America’s “Department of Natural Resources,” works to assure the wisest choice in managing all of our
resources so that cach will make its fully contribution to a better United States — now and in the future.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is part of the United States Department of the Interior, Its responsibili-
tics encompass 272 million acres of public lands and administration and management of approximatcly 300
miltion acres of mineral rights. It also maintains the legal status for 331 million acres of reservations created from
public lands, such as the national parks, national wildlife refuges, and national forests.

BLM was established on July 16, 1946, by the consolidation of the General Land Office (created in 1812) and
the Grazing Service (created in 1934), Much of the history of the exploration and development of the public land
slates appears on the pages of BLM’s records. As steward of nearly half of all federally)managed lands, BLM's
primary purpose is wisely balancing the use of natural resources. To achieve this goal, BLM selectively disposes,
conserves, enhances, and maintains the environmental quality of these public lands. These resources, besides the
land itself, include minerals (i) and gas), forests, range, recreation, wildlife, and soil and water.

To manage these resources, the Bureau must be able to accurately identify and locate the increasingly valuable
arcas of land with which it has been entrusted.

BLM’s Cadastral Survey Program is responsible for the creation, restoration, marking and defining the
boundaries of these lands. Cadastral Survey is also responsible for the official boundary surveys for all federal
agencies who together manage over 700 million acres of land.


SURVEYING OUR PUBLIC LANDS

SINCE 1785



kinds of evidence in order to ensure the protection
of private rights.

In recent years, modern technology has replaced
the traditional “chain” measuring tape with elec-
tronic instruments. Microwave, light wave, laser
beam, photogrammetry, and gyroscopic orienta-
tions are among the scientific mediums integrated
in the cadastral surveyor’s array of working tools.

New, highly sophisticated surveying techniques
range from “Total Station” concepts where all
azimuthal and distance data are automatically
recorded for later computer processing, to inertial
guidance systems which give continuously up-
dated coordinates of airborne positions. BLM in
Alaska use this “black box” system to rapidly meet
the survey demand of millions of acres of land
scheduled for transfer under the Native Claims
and Alaska Statehood Acts.

Computer aided drafting has replaced the tradi-
tional manual methods of platting the boundaries

that were measured by the surveyor. computers
also provide the capability to calculate coordi-
nates, or latitude and longitude, for survey cor-
ners. These coordinates are incorporated in the
BLM’s Public Land Survey System/Geographic
Coordinate Data Base and allow the PLSS to be
displayed on maps using automated methods
rather than manual copying techniques. The
PLSS/GCDB is the foundation for legal parcel
based Land Information System which will allow
mapping and analysis of resource and cultural
information which relates to the land. “Field to
finish” will no longerend at the survey plat, but at
any map which shows the PLSS.

The physical challenge to the cadastral surveyor
of laying boundaries across the terrain remains.
The mental challenges are increasing. The future
survey of our public lands will call for technically
adept surveyors who are willing to integrate the
wisdom and experience of their predecessors with
the expanding knowledges and uses of both the
scientific and managerial regimes.

10



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Uh Premcpal Mersin Cored se ely conformable 8 the ab mat of the vary tare

enn

Wf 0 flan ths offen which nen etn ssainad and Aapraces

AURVEDOR GENKRALS OFFICK, |

ee _Nbcnyute

plat of a Colorado township (1877).