It is more a case of ignorance, greed and speed.
The problem arises when someone thinks "Why dig for a monument when you 'know' it's halfway between the ones you found?"
...Is it possible that some of the pin cushioning problems in the PLSS has to do with the existence of Township and Range maps and a desire to preserve its geometric symmetry?
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A phrase used in the restoration of corners within the rectangular system is to "protect the plat".?ÿ I still am of the opinion however that a proliferation of pincushions has more to do with poor survey practice than by the design of the system.
But there are different flavors of the PLSS.?ÿ Some states have large areas of federally owned public lands.?ÿ The?ÿ Manual is probably imperative reference when working within those lands.?ÿ Oklahoma however is a "closed" state.?ÿ All of the federal lands have been at one time or other have passed to private ownership of "entrymen", even most, if not all lands of Native Nations that are now held in trust.?ÿ
This presents a different set of rules to a surveyor working under civil authority.?ÿ The Manual's rigid rules for retracement and corner restoration can only apply if the bona fide rights of private owners to which the lands have passed are not infringed upon.?ÿ
Some may argue, but this fact makes retracement and corner restoration a far more complex issue than a just a "cook book" procedure of single or double proportion in the case of lost or obliterated corners.?ÿ Above all else the rights of the owners must be carefully weighed; especially before applying procedures from the Manual of Instructions.
From my experience in Oklahoma, a large percentage of the land corner pincushions I've seen are probably due to either an improper or blind adherence to the Manual or ignorance of owner's bona fide rights.?ÿ In some cases it is both.?ÿ
The Federal vs private issue rears it's ugly head often in the west. Add to that later patents excluded minerals so now privately held lands are often split with Federal minerals. I still don't agree that it creates pin cushions.?ÿ
That is more a function of the difficultly in finding original monuments, the speed for which many townships were run, the many sections that may or may not have been surveyed and the differences in applying theories to resurvey the lines.?ÿ
....the difficultly in finding original monuments, the speed for which many townships were run...
I often chuckle to myself during the lengthy and ardent task of finding an original corner.?ÿ I've spent literally days looking for something that was deposited and (hopefully) referenced in only a short period of time.?ÿ The original surveyor crew chained up there, did their thing and was gone in minutes.?ÿ Only to leave us anguishing for days searching for evidence of their very brief moment.?ÿ
I was surveying in a partly wooded township, the original notes declared that it was surveyed Dec 20-22, 18xx.
The three shortest days of the year, maybe frozen ground, and some deep timber to cut through. Those guys were busy. Wink, wink.
Almost no corners have ever been found except a handful along roads in the few open valleys. Wonder why that is?
I guess a fella had to make rent, even back then.?ÿ And around here there are several names that come up on the GLO plats that aren't to be trusted due to the speed with which they "surveyed".
I have a copy of some old notes (somewhere) in which Ehud Darling (one of Oklahoma's original GLO surveyors) caught wind of a sub-standard crew under his contract.?ÿ The brief notes chronicle him following their work (about a day behind them) and was very disappointed with their work.?ÿ When he caught up with them the entire bunch was 'relieved of their duties' on the spot.?ÿ
Although the notes we merely short comments it told a grand story.?ÿ I'm guessing things back then weren't all that much different than they might be today.?ÿ
Similar work at about the same time of year a couple of counties west of here.?ÿ Fiction writers.
While surveying a couple of parcels around the Watauga River last week, I realized that I've grown to prefer boundaries with vague or incomplete descriptions. The ones I get in the NC Mountains go something like, ??Thence in a westerly direction 13 poles to a chestnut stump, cornering, thence in a northerly direction 19 poles to a cluster of willows? etc.. When there is no map, the description doesn't close by a hundred feet, and every corner is a ??point? there is no conflict between math and the evidence on the ground. Earlier in my career these types of surveys scared the crap out of me, but now I appreciate the time spent interviewing land owners and investigating.
I started, got licensed and, 20 years later, ended my survey career in a western PLSS state.?ÿ About 9 years in, I put in a couple of years in an eastern metes and bounds state that utilizes descriptions similar to those mentioned by @murphy.?ÿ I found that experience to be quite refreshing and liberating.?ÿ Going along stone walls in a general direction for a general distance to another feature, and so on....
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While colonial surveying was not necessarily easy, the differences between these systems opened my eyes quite a bit.
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What drove me crazy were the descriptions that started with "Beginning at a stone bound to be set on the northwest corner of THIS road and THAT road, thence...." My takeaway:?ÿ a lot of local knowledge is required to survey in the colonial states.
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I am glad that I wasn't the licensed PLS in charge of that work.
a lot of local knowledge is required to survey in the colonial states.
Indeed. Descriptions seem to read like this:
Beginning at the end of a stone wall on the west bounds of [ROAD NAME THAT HASN'T BEEN USED FOR A CENTURY] near the intersection [WHICH DIRECTION FROM THE INTERSECTION?] with the road to the station in [VILLAGE THAT WAS RENAMED IN 1895]?ÿ N 57 W [WHOLE DEGREES, MAGNETIC, AND NO IDEA WHICH DECADE DECLINATION] about 3 chains [GIVE OR TAKE A HALF CHAIN] along the bounds of [PERSON WHO PROBABLY DIED 50 YEARS AGO] to a stone pile [POSSIBLY NOW SCATTERED, AND THE WHOLE AREA IS LITTERED WITH STONES] thence [MORE COURSES OF THE SAME FLAVOR], thence southerly along the road to the point of beginning [NO DISTANCE OR BEARING TO CHECK CLOSURE], Excepting the lands sold by Smith to Jones in [ANOTHER DEED TO LOOK UP].
With an omitted course or reversed bearing in one out of ten descriptions.?ÿ You need to be a historian and a mind reader.
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Had a neighbor with an exceptionally annoying habit of ending most sentences with "you know what I mean".?ÿ I can't help but think every call in such descriptions was written by someone who had the same habit as my neighbor, only those words weren't written into the description.?ÿ They must be assumed.
