GLO Stones

Well... I am not too old or too salty but here are my thoughts:

I would look closely at those survey records that recovered the original stones. Any patterns you can glean frm the record might help. I would also reach out to any surveyors in the area that have had good luck recovering originals. Also ask surveyors at the regional offices for the USFS, BLM and County Surveyor's offices. Ask specifically about the GLO surveyors you are retracing. Do they have a solid reputation? Some of those guys were good at chaining and lousy at corner references; others just the opposite. Ask the other local surveyors if they have recovered pits in your area, how did they identify the pits etc.

I would also scrounge anywhere and everywhere for records that document the location of a corner that aren't obvious survey records. Transmission line r/w maps, rr maps, local ag services maps etc. also tracking down some long term residents or descendants of original settlers can give you an idea how fences came to be, or were destroyed etc.

Also don't neglect older aerial photos of the area in question, sometimes you can spot a pattern of occupation that might lead you in the right direction. Look for evidence of old fence lines (burnt or rotten posts).

Obviously try to narrow down your search areas as much as possible. Search at record distance from opposite directions, search at proportioned positions, search the obvious occupation lines, search at record distances from clearly defined topo features from the original notes. Sometimes I have better luck searching with a handheld gps unit instead of staking a precise RTK point... I think it helps me avoid tunnel vision.

Good luck and have fun. The corner search will likely get easier once you find a few in the area and get on/near the original lines.

Stay positive and believe the corner is there. If you head to the field to search thinking you won't find the stone... Odds are you won't find the stone.

One word. Backhoe.

Makes all the difference in the world.

Don't the corner records have ties, measurements or other info to locate the corner? If not what good is a corner record?

The fact is that finding a GLO stone that hasn't been found and referenced before happens rarely enough that most surveyors that do will still be talking about the event years later.

> Don't the corner records have ties, measurements or other info to locate the corner? If not what good is a corner record?

If North Dakota is like Oklahoma not all corners have records, especially not in the back country. Even when they do, the quality of those records is often very poor.

:good: :good: :good:
great advice! especially this part.

>
> Stay positive and believe the corner is there. If you head to the field to search thinking you won't find the stone... Odds are you won't find the stone.

I have found well over one hundred marked GLO stones from the 1850's. Most of the surevyors I know go into the field assuming they could possibly not still be there. I go into the field knowing that a stone doesn't just disappear. Even if it isn't still at the corner location, it has to be somewhere. We have found the stone in other piles of rocks, in nearby ravines, leaning up next to a power pole, in road ditches, etc. But, most of them are just hidden from sight and due to laziness an unfortunate double monument has occurred where a surveyor took the easy way out and set his own monument. Two days ago we found a stone buried 6.3' deep in a gravel road intersection. Previous surveyors said they searched but could not find it. I looked at the terrain and knew it still had to be there. We use a probe (Mighty Probe) that can have extensions put on them. The good surveyors in the post in mound with pits areas are still finding them as well. Mostly it depends upon the surveyor who is searching.

Nearly all I have found were near the center of a county road intersection or roughly one-half mile distant somewhat in line with a fence or two. I've also found them where there was never a road, but that is rare in my home county and the abutting counties. The vast majority of section lines have roads centered along them. Most of the roads were first approved and improved within the first 20 years after the GLO survey and were established to be centered upon the section lines.

The most important fact of life in my area about finding GLO monuments is to assume the GLO notes are a pack of lies. Presuming them to be always correct and precise will only lead you to some disastrous circumstances. Oh, and that fantasy that the surveyors were following a curved line from east to west, well it falls into the same category as setting up on Christmas Eve with a plate of cookies and a nice cold glass of milk to hand to the jolly old elf that's going to appear after sliding down your chimney and hand you a set of keys and title to a new Jaguar.

I think he means corner records that describe corners he doesn't need to search for. No doubt there are many corners that have no CR filed.

I remember one township where I was able to find the stones simply by pacing half a mile, and looking around. There they were, firmly set and marked, one after the other. And then: The adjoining township, nothing, absolutely nothing. One township had been surveyed by a competent and reliable crew, and the adjoining township was fraudulent. Discouraging to say the least.

be careful...

A few years back I noticed a number of filed corner records, filed by the same surveyor, announcing "found original stone". These were all in disassociated counties. Usually only one in any given area.

I had the opportunity to tie a few of these into surveys over a period of time. I am not saying that I researched them all. The four or five that I did tie into were probably not THE stones. The ones I investigated were not even excavated enough to determine the actual size, let alone any distinguishing hashes or marks.

My opinion: In a lot of areas you can pick a spot and start digging. When you hit a rock too big to dislodge with the sharp-shooter, you call it a found monument. Probably happens more often than I would like to think. I believe this one particular surveyor has moved on to greener and more hydrocarbon related endeavors.

J.P. has the process down to a fine art. We should all take notes.

If you can't find a Quarter Corner at the approximate midway and on line location, begin looking at 2640' from either direction from the Section Corner. Of course the 1/4 Corner will also be off line because they just stubbed out the line from one direction and never measured completely across. Countless double monuments have been set because surveyors were not looking in the right location.

6.3' deep! Now that's some perseverance. Well done!

> ... The good surveyors in the post in mound with pits areas are still finding them as well.

Maybe in the real arid parts of the world. I'm sure there's a few that while digging out a county surveyor's stone (not GLO) come accross a few splinters and think they've found the holy grail, but it's in no way conclusive. Just a little rotten wood. I've often looked at it, wondered/dreamed of the posibility. Even noted wood remnants on my corner record, but never had the audacity to claim they were stake remnants.

The real real old boys who knew the real real old boys tell me that even during the hey day of the county surveyor they didn't find very many intact. If they found anything it was usually the pit.

Steve