The Ravages of Time

Here's a Closing Corner on a Standard Parallel at the N.E. Corner of a Township, set in 1899, as it looks today.

I tried to "piece" the monument back together, but too many pieces were missing. About 3/4s of the letter 'C' was visible on one corner of the largest piece, but time has taken its toll. I stacked them up in a sad fashion...

A fellow surveyor, now deceased, added the 3/4" IP in 1991. His notes don't mention the 18" piece of leaf spring that was driven down amid the pile of rubble. Man, will that spring steel make a pin-finder sing.

5.72 chs. east of this location is the S.E. Corner of the Township to the North, a 3" by 36" iron pipe. Also set in 1899, it once had a brass monument riveted to the top. I bet the monument is in the possession of the fella that drove the leaf spring down next to the C.C. above.

Interestingly, the notes stated pits and mounds were placed "per instructions" around this monument. I've seen pits in the desert of New Mexico that had survived 100 years, but have never found an existing corner in Oklahoma that also had pits dug. I always wondered if any have survived around here. Sadly, the terrain around the corner bore no evidence of pits or mounds...too much rain, cows and grass over the years.