The beer can is probably from one of the previous surveyors 😉 B-)
> So you used that as line instead of the rebar you found that was lined up with the pile of rocks . I think that's using your imagination a bit , just saying . To put it .4' away and only reference a cedar stick as the reason . I say pushing it a bit .
Not really. The Cedar Stake and Rock Mound were what was originally set to mark that corner. The other two Iron Rods just showed up without apparently recognizing the stake and mound corner that was already in place. The 3/8" Iron Rod was described as marking the corner that turns out to have already been in place.
The 1949 surveyor claimed to have set the stake and mound on the line of the right-of-way, but he obviously flubbed that one by 1.08 ft. This is actually a pretty clean situation of some trash rebars basically being just distractions.
> What does the original deed reference (if anything) for the corner?
The 1949 surveyor was the first to describe that tract in the record. He described the corner as being marked by a stake and rock mound set. One of his stranger habits was to report that he had set an "iron pipe" when actually he had set a rebar. In all of his work I've examined over the years, I don't think he ever set a pipe.
> The beer can is probably from one of the previous surveyors
Actually, it's a steel can with church key marks and the 1949 surveyor was a guy who by every report I've heard, former employees, colleagues, and clients, never let surveying get in the way of his drinking.
> Well Kent, don't you think it'd be appropriate to memorialize it in kind for 2014 with your current selection of beer can?
Actually, it's just down the highway from Blanco where the Real Ale Brewing Company is in business. Their Hans' Pils would be a good choice although I sort of hate to update the amazing collection of steel beer cans from the 1940's through the 1960's that cover the edge of the highway, among them being cans that originally had pressed steel mouths like a regular beer bottle and sealed with the usual crown to be opened with a regular bottle opener.
> It's just hard to take an unmarked 3/8" rebar seriously.
That whole area became a sort of twilight zone of surveying after the original surveys.
A well respected Austin surveyor who did some work in that county said that one local surveyor got quite irate when he discovered that Austin surveyor was setting iron pipes as monuments. Apparently, local surveyor thought wood stakes would be better. Why? If you set iron stakes, sooner or later everything will have been surveyed and surveyors won't have anything to do. I didn't hear this conversation, but I can easily believe it from what I've seen. It is on the rough end of things.
Tricky Dickey
This is really where the rubber meets the road and my first reaction was one of knee jerk to not using the wood stake or the 3/8" re-bar, BUT without everything in front of you it is impossible to make any kind of real opinion. This is one of those cases where all of the documents versus all of the evidence may take a while to think about and explore different possibilities. The fact that your corner hit inside an apparent cairn, that has since fallen in disrepair, is confirming. Thanks for posting. Always thought provoking Kent.
> I'm thinking you should've held the beer can as the corner. Did you check it with your cloth tape? 😉
I'd certainly check this out as a possibility. It's likely that beer can was full when he started the survey. If you want to be sure, my suggestion would be to walk in the footsteps of the original surveyor and see if you end up with an empty in about the same spot. Might take a few tries of shortening or lengthening your pace before you can make a determination.
So, is there actually litigation going on over this Surveying 099 extend the line to the boundary case? Geeze, if so what happens when something is really wrong?
> So, is there actually litigation going on over this Surveying 099 extend the line to the boundary case?
There is a dispute, but it centers around where a line was originally run in 1882 that isn't directly related to the corners I've posted in this and another example recently. Those were just for discussion since it is clear that the folks who want to consider just any old iron stake as something controlling would probably reconsider those views in Real World situations such as these.
In the case of both corners, the evidence is quite clear where the line was originally marked. The monuments are still there, if possibly not recognizable or able to be accurately tied by the average RTK user in a big hurry to get'er done.
Don't let Lucas hear ya !
