How much to survey 3 million acres?

That had to be the first question in 1880 when Texas needed help.

The Rest of the Story

I was doing a bit of research on the famous XIT Ranch in the Panhandle of Texas that covered most of 10 counties that border New Mexico.  Little did I expect to find some interesting survey history.  To raise the money to construct the Texas Capitol, Texas offered three million acres to a group of Chicago investors if they would pay for the construction of the Capitol.  The following excerpt is taken from the Wikipedia account of the XIT Ranch.

"His inspection noted the 1880 J.T. Munson survey used to define the capitol lands, and the northwest boundary of the state was defined by John H. Clark's 1859 survey. Clark's line defining the 103rd meridian, approved by Congress in 1891, turned out to be two to three miles west of the true meridian. The issue was not settled until partial owner John V. Farwell, Jr. and President William Howard Taft were instrumental in passing a joint resolution of Congress on February 24, 1911^[8] by Congress honoring the Clark line. This action saved Texas a strip of land a few miles wide and 310 miles long."

I have been to the marker at the northwest corner of Texas and also to the marker at the southwest corner of the Oklahoma Panhandle a few miles to the east.  I believe you can see Mexico from there.  There is nothing taller than a growing farm crop to block your view.

Another excerpt mentioning survey activity.

"W.S. Mabry surveyed in the four-wire barbed wire fence line, and by 1886, 781 mi (1,257 km) of fence were in place, including a 260 mi (420 km) long west line and a 275 mi (443 km) long east line. Cross fences were added by the late 1890s to make 94 pastures, bringing the total to 1,500 mi (2,400 km) of fence. A telephone line connected Tascosa to Alamocitos in 1888. Though the northern portion of the ranch had plenty of water near Buffalo Springs, the portion south of the Canadian River needed wells, which were also surveyed in by Mabry. By 1900, the ranch had 335 windmills, producing water from an average depth of 125 ft (38 m). Additionally, 100 earthen dams were constructed."