, 1873-02-21
Plat-N0tes of tho United States Sur
voy Of tho State Of
Illinois.
Five Hundred Books Half O.
Century Old.
Some Interesting Extracts from
Them.
SAnWncetOWn and It's TrOuD1es---
Tho Great foundations
of 1913.



"Oustodinn plat-Notes and P1ass, U. s. Survey,
state of ILL.," is Tho inscription on D door
located on tho accond floor Of tho stato House,
oosween tho chambers of the Senate and Houso.
~ INC other side of the door 1s small don,
containing a wood-stovo as largo 40 coffin, n
1@olo covorod With drawing tools, q small library
on shoIf to one aide, wallis hung with mapH and
p'a.s, drawers filled with old booha, and In tho
m'das OF all the presiding goniua Of tho place.
CAPTAIN ". Il. II. LAwToN.
Ao NAB oducatod ae OWL onginoor, and, while
praotising his profession bofore vioksbure. d
hostile bullet deprived him. Of tho uno Of Ills
limbs, forcing him tb cali {N9 9crutchos az aids to
iooomotion.. Ho tH a'sd1t, Holaorly-nppoar-
ing man, with mhstaohe, and groat, kindly
eyes, aot IN n handsome countenanco.
Hc works day aud night over tho musty, tfrne-
worn volumes whose contents it Is his duty to
dcoIphor, and transcribo in another act of boo,fa
which, wien completed will indicate tho looa-
tion Of every part Of land in Illinois as defined
by the original survey.
There arc Duo OF those ancient fleld-books
ovEr HALF A CENTURY OLD.
They wero writton in ink by the suryoyore as
they carried tho chnin over llll anl dale through
ti1nbor and prairie, before Illinois vas known as
a State, when the wolf and bcar shared with tho
Indian the ownership Of the wide domain whcnco
they hnye boon driven by tho advancement
Of civilization. TheBo romnrl.s arc curiositics,
Some OF tho spelling ia quite primitive. sasa-
fras Is spelled "sasafrax," "aa1afra1," md
"saccafrax;" buckeye, tsbucki," whicl, Ia pho
motto; sycamore, 'tsickamoro; cypress,
"aoypross;" porsimmon, "peramn;" Saturday,
''sattorday;" and ao-forth. Some of tho re-
marks, too,
ARE CHARACTERISTIC.
Ono gentleman, surveying In Laurence County
In 1906, jottod down hiH opinion as follows:
- Hell hos broke loose In the woods with tho
chalnmen." The Hame individual, surveying In
tho samo county and in tho same year, wrote:
"On our rpasaage south, came to don Of wolves;
caut two young ones, ono unhurt." A motto writ
ten Feb. 10. 1805,-flfty-oight yea1s ago,
in Wabash. County, BayB: SAT
this corner We hoard young Bears sucking
the old ono late in tho evening. Isont up tho
man to tho settlement for . gun, which ho
brought mo, and on Sunday killed tho Bear
nnd laid by.", Tho party travelling through
what ia nov Edwards and Laurence Counties, de-
ecribed the land as stthe abandonment OIL tho
globo;'' which WAS llattering to tho land. On
anothor pago Is the following: "5 milo post in
beautiful prairie, in n valley botwoen or in the
fork OF two rivers, to right ut 80 [chainB) top Of
the hill or high ground whore We oncempod un-
der olump of trees, III the most beauti-
ful prairie I could hnvo concoived,-
bovonl tho power Of description" It must
havo boon gorgeous. On July q,
1906. tho following ontry was made:
party for Point ooup eo arrived at Point ooupeo
next day weary, net, aud unwen." A book Of
later dato refers to
TIE NORTHERN TART OF THE srArE,
fa fS,Fta &oA tn, F,11r3
described in this book woro executed under tic
authority OF a letter from William Rector Bur-
veyor Of the lands Of tho United States In tho
Territories of Illinois and minnesota, appoint
James McDnncan as assistant surveyor, to
survey under the direction Of Richard Graham
and Joaoph Phillips, Commissioners appointed
by tho President OF the United stasoa to run all
the lines OF tho tract Of land coded by tle
betwoeu the original oession Of the sacs aud
Foxes and Luke Michigan, aud leaves tho north
ern boundary only OF the rest OF the land thai
waa at the same time and place, and by the same
treaty, relinqnlahoa By the ottaways; Ghippo,;
The survey to which these books relate
WAS BEGUN IN 1904,
10 pursuance ot an act Of Congress, and con-
tlnued many years. Tho. Surveyor Generals
Kept for many 'yenra' and we're subsequently,
turned over to tho Office at ct. Louis, whence
they came into possession OF the State four
years ago, An aut. Of tho Legislature appro-
recurring Infinite pains mud patience. Some
OF tho writing hnh almost faded out,
and powerful gfass ia uaed to decipher tho
hiaroglyphica, aolne Of which arc ns dilhcult to
translate as the Inscriptions on tho pyramids.
Captain Lawton has boon at work four years,
and two.thlrds OF the work is dono. Two years
more will complete it. TLs entire cost will DO
$4,000. Tho work is tedious, and must bo ac-
curate to bo Of any yalna.
THE ugEFuLNEsy
Of tho undertaking waa illustrated few
days since IL tho United statca Court here whom
the ownership Of = tract Of land worth thouH-
Ands Of or, dollars was II dispute: Tho books
evidence Of the original survey. Judge Neal
spoke Of tho value Of tho boolss, md tbs nocos.
sity for their restoration and preservation, as
tho location Of every, foot OF land in tho State
depended upon thenl."
The names of tho cnrly settlers nyo given IN
these suryeya Tho land on tho Illinois 6horo
opposite st. Louis was granted by Louis XVI.
'ol france to tho Bishop Of Quoboo, in 1852, and
BOOB after
FRENCH En11anAars
took poHBeuaion and it rolnainA III tho hands OF
their descendants to this day. Tlese tracts gen.
orally 900 foot wide, ran for miles along
u Principal au s crop rascd w veseasles M ss wIs 'H1s
found \ good market in St. Louis, and
that city is today supplied. from tho
Ramo territory, cultivated by farmers who
speak Trouch Haid to be pure. The oarly
settlers, being isolated, maintained their native
language and cuatoms, which wera transmitted
from generation to generation and nov ~; We
lave tho strange anomaly Of natiyos Of this
country unable to Apcals Its language. Thoy
speak French just as, in the Dutch sattlcments
ii Pennsyvan}ss Dutch f. tho lingual m, medium @
citizens, hayo schools and churches Of their
own, mix little iu politics, and attend to tho
cultivation OF tho soil. On the old plass aro
such nasnes as Ttlohatto Susanna Ciciro, Jean
l,aptsts Lancicr, Paul Lopouclle, August Oho-
teau, etc.
BUAWEEErOWN.
Horo also may DO seen the original plat OF
sllawnoetown, the oldest town in the State,
which knew ita bost days about tho time Cllica-
Go'H foundation waa laid In the mud Of tho prai-
rte. It IL namo1 after Shawnee. an Indian
Ohof who was 'monarch Of all ho suryoyod"
It ia iu Gallatin County, ton milos below the
mouth Of the Dig Wabash and 1875 milos above
tho mouth Of tho Ohio. In 1854, It waa laid
ot,%1 1,1kIi of f1~ r.Df+