Special Instructions Issued by the General Land Office (circa 1876 ƒ?? 1886)

Thank you for putting this up for grabs. A little light reading for my travels...

Thank you for sharing.

?ÿ

Sorry for the delay. ?ÿUnfortunately I got busy and havenƒ??t had a chance to get back to this thread to explain the files in the opening post and how they relate to each other.?ÿ

Again, this thread covers special instructions issued from 1876 through 1886.?ÿ Before going further, I want to acknowledge the mentoring of Bob Dahl who suggested that I look at the annual appropriation letters that were often included in the annual reports of the Commissioner of the General Land Office.?ÿ For the above time period I was able to find and download copies of the annual reports from Google Books.?ÿ While I didnƒ??t do a thorough review of the annual reports for previous years, I noticed that the previous Commissioner, the Hon. Samuel A. Smith did not include a sample annual appropriations letter with included instructions in his annual reports.

The Hon. James A. Williamson became the Commissioner of the General Land Office on June 24, 1876.?ÿ Within two months of his appointment (August 23, 1876), ƒ??instructions, modified in accordance with the requirements of the act of appropriation, were issued to the several surveyors-generalƒ??.ƒ??ÿ The survey instructions were included in the annual appropriations letter to each surveyor general (See file ƒ??1877_Report_of_the_Commissioner_Appropriations_Letter.pdfƒ? in the zip file directory ƒ??Reports_of_the_Commissioner_GLOƒ?).?ÿ The third to last paragraph of the instructions gave me a possible source for special instructions.?ÿ It states,

For the information of this office you are required, whenever special instructions are issued by you at the time of contracting for work, to forward a copy of the same with the contractƒ??.

The Denver National Archives has the original contracts for U.S. Deputy Surveyors in Colorado, Utah and adjacent states.?ÿ During my search I found four printed special instructions for Colorado and one printed additional instructions with hand written special instructions for Utah.?ÿ More on these later.

Also, included at the end of the ƒ??Division E, Surveysƒ? section of the 1877 annual report are rules on re-establishing lost corners of the public surveys.?ÿ Prefatory to the rules is a statement that they are based upon the Act of February 11, 1805 (See file ƒ??1877_Report_of_the_Commissioner_Reestablishment_of_Lost_Corners.pdfƒ? in the zip file directory ƒ??Reports_of_the_Commissioner_GLOƒ?).?ÿ The instructions are identical to the instructions I posted on Nov. 4 (page 3 of the Coppƒ??s Land Owner article, ƒ??Survey of the Public Lands - How to Tell Township and Section Cornersƒ?).

https://surveyorconnect.com/community/surveying-geomatics/general-land-office-publications-1873-1874-and-an-article-on-how-glo-corners-are-marked/#post-483763

The appropriations letter (June 29, 1877) included in the 1878 annual report was issued to the Colorado Surveyor General with a note that it is an example of the general character of the letters issued to the other surveyors general, (See file ƒ??1878_Report_of_the_Commissioner_Appropriations_Letter.pdfƒ? in the zip file directory ƒ??Reports_of_the_Commissioner_GLOƒ?).?ÿ It does not include any new survey-specific instructions, but the last paragraph states, ƒ??The instructions of the 23d of August, 1876, to your predecessor in office, will be regarded as still in force, except where they conflict with the foregoing.ƒ?

The appropriations letter (July 15, 1878) included in the 1879 annual report was an example letter that embraced ƒ??instructions pertaining to the duties of the sixteen surveyors general,ƒ? (See file ƒ??1879_Report_of_the_Commissioner_Appropriations_Letter.pdfƒ? in the zip file directory ƒ??Reports_of_the_Commissioner_GLOƒ?).?ÿ As an example of how the instructions were ƒ??repackagedƒ? to U.S. Deputy Surveyors, I included in the zip file the ƒ??Special Instructions to U.S. Deputy Surveyors by the Surveyor General of Californiaƒ?, issued on April 24, 1879 (See the file ƒ??1879_Special_Instructions_California_Surveyor_General.pdfƒ? in the zip file directory ƒ??Californiaƒ?).?ÿ I trimmed the instructions to U.S. Deputy Mineral Surveyors from the copy housed at the Univ. of California Berkeley library that was scanned by Google Books.

For anyone interested in the 1879 instructions to U.S. Deputy Mineral Surveyors, a copy can be downloaded from the Central Valley Chapter of the California Land Surveyors Associationƒ??s web site.?ÿ Their copy was originally obtained from the California State Library in Sacramento by Dave Karoly.?ÿ The instructions were issued as a separate booklet (no date of issuance) from the combined sets of instructions of April 24, 1879.

http://www.californiacentralvalleysurveyors.org/chapter_library/library/1879_CA_Mining_Act_Manual.pdf

In addition to the Google Books scanned copy, Bud Uzes included the combined instructions in his book, ƒ??Chaining the Landƒ? (See Appendix D in his 1977 first edition or Appendix 6 of his 2006 second edition).

Wow in regions devoid of stone they were instructed to drive a marked stake in one of the pits!!!

Dave,

I was able to find one of those wood stakes that was driven into the pit!

It was out in the flat lands in eastern Montana.

Lasted many years!

Keith

Posted by: Keith Williams

Dave,

I was able to find one of those wood stakes that was driven into the pit!

It was out in the flat lands in eastern Montana.

Lasted many years!

Keith

I assume the pit is not the corner, seems like that would cause confusion having the stake in a pit instead of at the corner.

There are lots of pits in Montana, sometimes there will be a bit wood in them. I can't recall ever finding a pit without the stone.?ÿ

Most of the stones in eastern Wyoming had pits and mound of earth, the pits in Wyoming are rare in the eastern half of the state, but you always look, I found a few last year, one set of pits helped me find the stone which was covered with soil, no wooden stakes.?ÿ

?ÿ? Oh BS- none of that old stuff is left, if it even existed in the first place- everyone knows those old timers were just a bunch of drunks and the notes were all just made up in the local tavern. Stop wasting time ?ÿand proportion it all in, that way itƒ??ll finally be right ƒ??cause we can measure much better with GPS...... ??ÿ

I did not say they do or don't exist.

I was just commenting on an instruction which said to set a marked stake in one of the pits in regions with no stones to use for the corner.?ÿ I just thought it odd to put the stake not at the corner like that.

I mean I've had an argument with a Forester that the cap with the giant arrow on it is not the corner, it even has a big RM stamped on it 😀

Instructions of the Commissioner of the General Land Office to the Surveyors General of the United States relative to the Survey of the Public Lands and Private Land Claims. May 3, 1881 (aka 1881 Manual):

Page 33. Sec.14. "In establishing corners, stones should be used wherever practicable; then posts, and lastly, mounds, with stake in pit."

Plat 5, Diagram C, Sheet No.3; shows "pictures" of mounds w/ stakes in one of the pits.

Although I have found a few "pits" over the years, none of them contained stakes, nor were any stakes described in the field notes. They DID however help us find the base of the wood post "corner" monument nearby.

Loyal

?ÿ

Edit: BTW, you can download a fair to middling .pdf of the 1881 "manual" here:

?ÿ https://www.ntc.blm.gov/krc/viewresource.php?courseID=538

Along with lots of other cool stuff.

I was referring to Gene's picture of an instruction page in another thread ( https://surveyorconnect.com/community/surveying-geomatics/general-land-office-publications-1873-1874-and-an-article-on-how-glo-corners-are-marked/#post-483763 ) which he linked in the OP.

the page is (under his heading "Surveys in Regions Destitute of Stone"):

Posted by: Dave Karoly

I assume the pit is not the corner, seems like that would cause confusion having the stake in a pit instead of at the corner.

That's why you need the recipe card to know which pit "accessory" that the stake was placed.?ÿ The dimensions of the stake were only 2"x2" and with the nearby earth mound, the entryman should not have been confused.?ÿ Marking the stake was much better than scratching grooves or notches in the faces of the earth mound.?ÿ

I'll use this as an introduction to the 1879 "Special Instructions to U.S. Deputy Surveyors for the District of Montana for the Establishment of Corners, etc." issued on July 27, 1878?ÿ (See zip file "1879_Special_Instructions_Montana_Surveyor_General.pdf" in the zip file directory "Montana").?ÿ On page 4 is the description for a "mound without post or stone" for a standard township corner.?ÿ It states:

Sec. 6.?ÿ Deposited a marked stone (charred stake or quart of charcoal) 12 in the ground, for Standard Cor. to (e.g.) Tps. 5 N., R's 2 & 3 W., dug pits 24 x 18 x 12 ins., crosswise on each line, N., E. & W. of cor., 6 ft. dist. and raised, a mound of earth 2 1/2 feet high, 5 ft. base over it.?ÿ In E. pit drove a stake 2 ins. square, 2 ft. long, 12 ins. in the ground marked

?ÿ T. 5 N. S. C. on N.

?ÿ R. 2 W. S. 31, on E. and

?ÿ R. 3 W. S. 36 on W. faces, with 6 notches on N., E. & W. faces.

Corners monumented with a mound without post or stone had memorials buried a foot below ground surface to perpetuate the corner.

*****A correction to the opening post, there are 20 PDF files in the zip file, not 26*****

As I mentioned above, I acquired the Montana special instructions via a "happy accident" and never found any instructions from the GLO Commissioner to the Montana Surveyor General authorizing the preparation of the special instructions.?ÿ The inside front cover indicates that the special instructions were written by Col. Walter W. de Lacy.?ÿ At the time, he was a U.S. Deputy Surveyor working in the Montana Territory.?ÿ In 1890, Col. de Lacy compiled at the request of the Montana Surveyor General, Mr. Geo. O. Eaton the "Instructions to U.S. Deputy Mineral Surveyors for the District of Montana."?ÿ I made those instructions available in a post dated June 1, 2015.

1890 Montana Mineral Survey Instructions

Also included in the zip file directory "Montana" is an extract of the establishment of corners section of the 1881 Manual.?ÿ I compared the text of the special instructions to the 1881 Manual and found only two instances where the markings were not identical (I did find a few extra instructions, not related to corner establishment in the Miscellaneous section that were specific to Montana deputies).?ÿ If anyone has the inclination, I'd appreciate hearing what you found to be different between the two.?ÿ Because of the near identical nature of each, one could presume that the Montana 1879 special instructions on corner establishment were a draft of the pertinent sections in the 1881 Manual.?ÿ Also, I have no idea if the special instructions were limited to the District of Montana or whether they were utilized in other western states prior to the 1881 Manual.

One side note regarding U.S. Deputy Surveyor de Lacy.?ÿ In the 1878 annual report of the GLO Commissioner, the Montana Surveyor General, Mr. Roswell H. Mason gave this glowing appraisal (page 297),?ÿ

Walter W. De Lacy, United States deputy surveyor, a gentleman of thorough scientific acquirements and long practical experience as a civil engineer and land surveyor....

The Surveyor General requested that Deputy de Lacy write a letter about the policy in force at the time that pastoral lands were not to be surveyed.?ÿ I attached a PDF file of Dep. de Lacy's written reply that was included in the annual report of the Montana Surveyor General (page 297).

Posted by: Dave Karoly

I was referring to Gene's picture of an instruction page in another thread ( https://surveyorconnect.com/community/surveying-geomatics/general-land-office-publications-1873-1874-and-an-article-on-how-glo-corners-are-marked/#post-483763 ) which he linked in the OP.

the page is (under his heading "Surveys in Regions Destitute of Stone"):

I know Dave, I was just adding some more information concerning "stakes in pits" into the conversation.

Loyal

Another aside:?ÿ I did not include the 1880 annual report of the GLO Commissioner because it did not contain an example of the annual appropriations letter and any included survey instructions.?ÿ However, for those interested in the history of metal monuments I did find this suggestion by the California Surveyor General.?ÿ In the California subsection of the Surveying Division section, the Commissioner notes on page 19 that,

The use of iron monuments to mark the corners of the public surveys should be adopted without delay.?ÿ A design of monument and full data regarding the same are submitted.

In the report prepared by the California Surveyor General, Mr. Theo Wagner are details of the proposed cast iron monument.?ÿ The monument was proposed to be 44" in length with a flared base, set 20" in the ground, leaving 24" exposed at the surface.?ÿ The post had

U. S.

T.

R.

S.

cast on the cylinder and the numbers were to be on separate pieces of cast iron that were then screwed onto the post.?ÿ For the details and a sketch, see the PDF file below.?ÿ It doesn't appear that this design was ever used, but who knows, it might have been "tested" in a contract or two issued in 1879 or 1880 in California.?ÿ Any California surveyors ever see one of these?

Posted by: Loyal

Posted by: Dave Karoly

I was referring to Gene's picture of an instruction page in another thread ( https://surveyorconnect.com/community/surveying-geomatics/general-land-office-publications-1873-1874-and-an-article-on-how-glo-corners-are-marked/#post-483763 ) which he linked in the OP.

the page is (under his heading "Surveys in Regions Destitute of Stone"):

I know Dave, I was just adding some more information concerning "stakes in pits" into the conversation.

Loyal

Okay, I didn't know if I caused confusion by my first cryptic response.

Gene - why didn't they drive the stake into the mound of earth? You know they could've highlighted the scratches in the dirt with spray chalk.

Dave,

I have no idea WHY the GLO did what they did, only the what and how.?ÿ I imagine that the stakes were regarded as a good idea to get entrymen to their respective piece of the PLSS.?ÿ Check the reasoning used by the California SG for going to his light-weight (only 80 lbs.) cast iron monument.?ÿ Maybe the GLO folks thought that corners had been monumented with pits and mounds for so many years that no entrymen would be confused that a stake in a pit marked his corner, esp. since 6 ft. away was a large earthen mound.

Only $6.25 each and they could be coated in asphaltum.

This post is about the Colorado printed special instructions and their sources.?ÿ I found three sets of instructions from 1880, 1883, and 1884 included in the original contracts of U.S. Deputy Surveyors housed at the Denver National Archives.?ÿ I've also included the 1880 Special Instructions for California and the 1885 Additional Instructions for Utah (shows the Utah instructions included in the appropriation letters are the same as the additional instructions).

The 1881 annual report of the GLO Commissioner includes the, "Annual Instructions to Surveyors General of the United States" issued on June 26, 1880 by the GLO Commissioner, the Hon. James A. Williamson (See the file "1881_Report_of_the_Commissioner_June_26_1880_Appropriations_Letter.pdf" in the zip file directory "Colorado").?ÿ The instructions are not signed due to the fact that a new GLO Commissioner, the Hon. Noah C. McFarland was appointed on June 17, 1881.?ÿ Mr. McFarland prepared the 1881 annual report.?ÿ

The undated printed special instructions (See the file, "1880_PrintedSpecialInstructions_Colorado_AlbertJohnson_SG.pdf" in the zip file directory "Colorado") adhere to the instructions issued by Commissioner Williamson on June 26, 1880.?ÿ Oddly, the appropriations letter dated May 9th, 1881 does not include any survey instructions (See the file, "1881_May_9_Appropriations_Letter_to_Colorado_Surveyor_General.pdf" in the zip file directory "Colorado").?ÿ Neither did the?ÿappropriations letter dated August 15, 1882 include any survey instructions (See the file, "1882_August_15_Appropriations_Letter_to_Colorado_Surveyor_General.pdf" in the zip file directory "Colorado").

On October 1st, 1880, the California Surveyor General, Theo. Wagner issued special instructions (See the file, "1880_Special_Instructions_California_Surveyor_General.pdf" in the zip file directory "California").?ÿ I will leave to others whether these special instructions to California deputies follows the Commissioner's annual instructions of June 26, 1880. ?ÿ Theo. Wagner also included in the pamphlet instructions to U.S. Deputy Mineral Surveyors.?ÿ I trimmed that portion out of the file for this thread. Dave Karoly obtained a copy of these combined instructions from the California State Library in Sacramento.?ÿ For those interested in both sets of instructions, the Central Valley Chapter of the California Land Surveyors Association has hosted the instructions on their web site.

1880 Special Instructions to U.S. Deputy Mineral Surveyors, California

Not only did Theo. Wagner want to have U.S. Deputy Surveyors haul around cast iron monuments weighing 80 lbs. to mark corners of the rectangular survey system, the mineral survey instructions include a diagram for a 1 ft. square by 4 ft. long chunk of granite to be used for U.S. Mineral Monuments.?ÿ It weighed in at an estimated 640 lbs.?ÿ Back in April 2007, I mentioned these granite monuments on the old forum. Jeremy Lipke kindly provided a photo of the brass plate affixed to the top of U.S.M.M. No. 3, which is located near Callahan, CA (south of Yreka and included in the PDF file hosted on the Central Valley California Surveyors' web site).

For whatever reason GLO Commissioner McFarland didn't include the annual instructions to surveyors general in GLO annual reports he prepared.?ÿ I did find the annual appropriations to the Colorado Surveyor General dated June 2, 1883 (See the file, "1883_June_2_Appropriations_Letter_to_Colorado_Surveyor_General.pdf" in the zip file directory "Colorado").?ÿ The printed special instructions of June 10, 1883 issued by Colorado Surveyor General N.H. Meldrum are directly copied from the appropriations letter (See the file, "1883_June_10_PrintedSpecialInstructions_Colorado_NHMeldrum_SG.pdf" in the zip file directory "Colorado").

I did not locate the annual appropriations letter for 1884 and only have the printed special instructions (See the file, "1884_July_31_PrintedSpecialInstructions_Colorado_NHMeldrum_SG.pdf" in the zip file directory "Colorado").?ÿ However I did find an appropriations letter for U.S. Mineral Monuments dated October 15, 1884, which authorized an apportionment of $750 along with instructions to establish permanent U.S. Mineral Monuments (See the file, "1884_October_15_Appropriations_Letter_to_Colorado_Surveyor_General_Mineral_Monuments.pdf" in the zip file directory "Colorado").

Lastly, I included a copy of the annual surveying instructions issued on September 15, 1885 and included in the 1885 GLO Commissioner's annual report (See the file, "1885_Report_of_the_Commissioner_September_15_1885_Annual_Appropriations_Letter.pdf" in the zip file directory "Colorado").?ÿ The reason....Noah C. McFarland was replaced by William A.J. Sparks on March 26, 1885.?ÿ The Hon. William A.J. Sparks decided to include this paragraph at the end of his annual instructions to surveyors general.

You will peremptorily refuse to employ or recognize any survedyor who, in his capacity as a deputy surveyor of the United States, has been, or shall hereafter be, known or suspected to have made fraudulent surveys or returns, or to b, or to have been, connected with any frauds upon the public lands or violations of the law in the public land service.

Oops, one last thing, the Utah additional instructions.?ÿ These instructions are informative to anyone interested in the sources because they tag each instruction to the appropriations letter that required it.?ÿ It also includes special instructions for the contract on retracing existing lines and other matters pertinent to that contract (See the file, "1885_Additional_Instructions_Utah_Surveyor_General.pdf" in the zip file directory "Utah").

I hope some find this material of interest in their work.?ÿ My intent in writing about these special instructions is to show that there are often changes that occur between manuals and esp. for the changes in marking corners that knowing when these changes occur can help in evaluating whether a monument is original and marked according to the instructions in force at the time of the survey.?ÿ

I know I went way out in the weeds with this thread, but the bulk of my work involves gathering evidence and evaluating "original" GLO corners.?ÿ For example, in a survey I am finally completing I found 102 original stone corners, accepting 97 as marking the originally established corner positions.?ÿ For the remaining five corners three stones were lying loose on the mountainside.?ÿ For the other two stones, I have clear and convincing evidence that they have "walked" down the mountain at rates of 0.15 ft./yr. and 0.16 ft./yr.?ÿ On my plat I refer to these as ambulatory witnesses to the true corner positions.?ÿ BTW....both are still standing upright.?ÿ The entire area has been sliding en masse.