Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1913-12-26
OLD SURVEY STANDS.
Lines Run by George Washington
Are Correct.

Government eu&vsyors Have Checked
Up Work Done by "Fathsr Of His
County," and Found Them
Accurate. ''
Washington. Government sur
teyorS, who have just been checking
up some Of the lines reputed to have
been run by George Washington In
his days OF chain and compass work.
have found them good. ~.S
About 1861. according to tradition,
George Washington, then nineteen
years old. run out for Lord Thomas
Fairfax the line between what was
then to be Augusta and Frederick
counties, Virginia, this being only a
part Of great deal Of surveying
which he is said to have been engaged
upon at that tine. These two coun'
ties were separated from what was
then Orange county, and the grant to
Lord Fairfax WAS supposed to extend
westward to the Pacific ocean. Sub
sequently these large tracts were fur
Their subdivided, 30 that the Fairfax
line," as it is generally known, runs
now between Rockingham and Shen'
andoah counties, with the original Au-
gusta and Frederick counties to the
south and north respectively.
In the organic act for the formation
Of the two counties or parishes" as
they were then called, it was required
that the line should be straight one
from the head spring OF Hedgman
river one of the sources of the Kappa
hammock, to the head spring of the
Potomac.
Since 1t was required that the line
should be straight it was first neces-
sary to get the approximate course by
building large bonfires on the inter
vening high points. Then starting
from the top of the Massanutten
mountains, the line was run straight
away over intervening mountains and
rivers toward the northwest.
Away of across part OF what is
now West Virginia there is a large
rock known today as the Fairfax
stone. It Is the monument which
marks the southwest corner of Gar,
ret county, Maryland, the southwest
corner of Preston county, West Vir-
ginia, and prominent points in the
boundaries Of two other West Virginia
counties. A line from Orange court
house, coinciding with the Shenan-
doah and Rockingham county line,
passes through this Fairfax stone
which gives the name to a nearby sta
ton, Fairfax, on the Western Mary
land railroad. 1t has been assumed
that, in running this line, a high peak
northwest of Orange courthouse was
the starting point, and that from here
1t was possible to see distant peak
in the North mountain range over the
top Of the Intervening Massanutten
mountain.
Washington, of course, used sim
pie compass, and his line could not
be expected to check absolutely with
that obtained by the government sur
veyors who have retraced his survey.
using high-power transits and all the
refined and accurate methods which
modern instruments allow. Neverthe-
less, the line was run so carefully in
the first place that but little variation
has been found in it. Even without
instruments, it is possible to distin-
guish the course Of the line with sur
prising distinctness. From the top OF
Middle mountain, in the Massanutten
range, the Shenadoah-Rocking CHAM, or
Fairfax, line can be readily followed
by means OF the boundary fences dat
ing from earliest days, and by blocks
OF timber, alternately cleared away or
left standing, which come up from
either county and stop at the line,
like squares in checkerboard. Then
Il one turns to the southeast the
same demarkations are plain across
the valley of the south fork Of the
shenandoah, cutting straight through
the present Page county, which Is
made Of land formerly in Shenandoah
county, belonging to the Fairfax
grant, and partly from land formerly
IN Rockingham. Thus, as far as the
eye can see in either direction, this
old line shows plainly.
The Washington compass now to
be seen at the u. s. national museum
in the city named for its owner, is pre-
sumed to be the same one used In
running this line more than 100 years
ago.
The Fairfax stone stands as a per
manent monument. In addition, there
are, throughout that section Of the
country, various other records OF
these Washington surveys. For ex
ample, q large white oak which stands
at the corner Of q farm about IN
miles from Lost City, Hardy county
West Virginia, was, according to q per
sistent story of that section Of the
country, marked by Washington.
Survey blazes cut into trees, aud
since grown over, have been cut away
and . count of the annual layers Of
growth over the old wounds shows
them to, have been made at the time
Washington was surveying. One
strange thing about these blazes IL
that they are several feet higher than
those put on trees by woodsmen OF
today. This fact has given rise to q
sort OF superstition that Washington
known to have been very tall, was
actually ! giant. Other authorities
have said that Washington did mich
Of his work on horseback, and made
his blazes with long-handled az from