This is what I do on the weekends as my hobby. I traveled over 300 miles one way to find three section corners in the remote Nebraska Sandhills. They were involved in a supreme court case in 1911 and in 1913. I am writing a book about this case. All original GLO corners in this part of the state were mounds of sand with pits and a wood stake. One GLO surveyor once remarked that these monuments disappeared after he turned his back on them. The NW and N 1/4 Corners were remonumented with iron pipes and placed by the Nebraska State Surveyor in 1907. The NE Corner brass cap was placed by a GLO surveyor in 1913 at the location of a pits and mound monument. There was also a spurious corner known as the "beer bottle corner" that was believed to have been made to look like an original GLO corner by a land locator in the 1880's trying to determine where homesteaders should have their land. It was about 2200' off and created all sorts of problems. There was no record of anyone ever using these monuments I found since they were placed, so I had some fun finding them. Text is below each picture.
N 1/4 Corner placed in 1907. Pipe was recorded to be 44" long with two pieces of iron casting buried next to it as memorials.
The memorials appear to be legs from two different old parlor stoves.
The memorials at the N 1/4 Corner. Placed in 1907.
Me at the NW Corner as placed by the state surveyor in 1907. Location is 143' feet from the fence line.
My "crew" involved a retired rancher, my sweetheart Jenny, and a husband and wife ranch hands. We are at the NW Corner. No one in the modern era ever knew where these monuments were located.
The memorials at the NW Corner according to the 1907 notes were a piece of casting sleeved over the 66" long galvanized pipe and cow bones. I also found a couple of pieces of sandstone.
This is how the casting was sleeved over the pipe.
This is a piece of casting about 30' north of the NW Corner that a federal surveyor placed in 1900.
Brass cap GLO monument at the NE corner placed in 1913 to replace a wooden stake in a pits and mound corner. It is 50' from the fence.
Retired rancher at the NE Corner. What was always believed to be the range line fence is about 1/4 mile to the east!
The red dot is the location of the "beer bottle corner" that was thought to have marked the NW corner, but was over 2200' off.
Me at the "beer bottle corner" location.
Evidence found at the location of the "beer bottle corner". Cattle have trampled this area for over 125 years, but I did find 6 pieces of glass.
Just over the hill. We saw ducks, geese, swan, prairie chicken, grouse, many deer, pheasants, turkeys, and a porcupine! This is a truly an amazing part of Nebraska.
A pair of swan coming by. I saw three different sets of swan in this area getting ready to nest.
Awesome work, Mr. Penry! I was wondering if you have already written any other books besides the one you are working on. Also, when do you expect this book to be finished and available? As usual, another interesting story!
Edit: And can I get the book autographed?! 😉
Fascinating work Jerry.
And nice photos. Is the "range line" fence now just a fence? What does the rancher think?
I wonder how this is going to affect the sandhills area.
It looks like a lot of the places I grew up.
This story involves a whole lot more than I briefly mentioned and two other surveyors were also in the area in the 1890's trying to determine where the NW Corner should be located. Many questions still remain in my mind such as does the survey by the State Surveyor in 1907 trump the resurvey of the entire township by the GLO in 1900? The State Surveyor claimed that the GLO had no authority to enter Nebraska and do a resurvey, and especially create a new parcel inside Section 36 (state owned land) that took over 100 acres away from the state that was intended to be leased land for school purposes.
Today one large rancher owns all of the land in the entire area, so the fences that are so far off are just a convenience for moving cattle from pasture to pasture and to prevent overgrazing.
The State Surveyor concluded that the entire township was never surveyed to begin with because the topography doesn't fit. A river in the northern part of the township misses the section lines in almost every crossing as does a small creek in the southern part. Land locators were hired by homesteaders to show them where their land should be in this wide-open area of endless sand and grass. The locators built monuments to resemble original GLO section corners.
The State of Nebraska won the case in 1911 to evict the homesteader off Section 36 where the GLO said he could have his homestead. The homesteader was then able to find enough old timers in the area that stated the "beer bottle corner" was always assumed to be the original GLO corner. In 1913 the supreme court (in a split decision) reversed its decision stating that an original GLO corner holds no matter how far off it is. The State of Nebraska couldn't prove that it wasn't an original GLO corner even though no other original corners were found in the entire township. This particular deputy surveyor had already died by the time this went to court and there was evidence that he fabricated his notes in many other areas. One judge said that because there was proof that this surveyor had lied in other areas it wasn't proof that he had lied in this case. His work was never checked because his brother-on-law was the surveyor general at the time awarding him the contracts.
Because of this case, the Nebraska State Surveyor in 1913 was able to get a law passed that made in illegal to replicate a section corner that appeared to resemble an original GLO monument. Prior to this law, county surveyors and locators were building pits and mound section corners exactly the way the original notes stated they were built if they couldn't find the original ones.
Those iron casting in the first 3 pics appear to be old andirons out of a fireplace.
The digging looks to be pretty easy... I guess that's to be expected in a place called "The Sandhills".
What a cool hobby!! What to you do for work?? 😉
that is pretty cool stuff..although on weekends I'd rather hit the beach;-) .
One of these days I'll get out there and see what W-I-D-E O-P-E-N. Surveying is all about..
Jerry,
Another great post and interesting pictures. I be totally honest, I had to go back and see if you used the word "beautiful" anywhere in your text (I thought you had). While the pictures, subject matter and landscapes are interesting and intriguing.... beautiful did not come to mind 😉
I too would like to read this, or any of your books, I'll bet I find them quite to my liking.
I wish you well on your treasure hunting!!
Carl
I have to disagree with you Carl. I think it IS beautiful. No brush to cut ANYWHERE!! 🙂
> I have to disagree with you Carl. I think it IS beautiful. No brush to cut ANYWHERE!! 🙂
hmmm... touche to that then. I was thinking in other "traditional" aspects.
Jerry has written more than a couple books and this is one that I highly recomend.
Nebraska's Early Geodetic Surveys
It covers the USC&GS, USGS, Missouri River Commission and other surveys. You don't have to be from Nebraska to appreciate the information.
Order yours today - Operators are standing by.
Kurt
> Jerry has written more than a couple books and this is one that I highly recomend.
> Order yours today - Operators are standing by.
> Kurt
Thanks Kurt! I may have to get a copy for some leisurely reading.
> Just over the hill. We saw ducks, geese, swan, prairie chicken, grouse, many deer, pheasants, turkeys, and a porcupine! This is a truly an amazing part of Nebraska.
Yes, it is, it is truly an amazing part of this country.....
Very cool stuff there. With all that wide open space, it seems like it would be good to get some GPS coordinates on those monuments. Do you have certified corner records, or something similar, in Nebraska?
