The temperature was 2°, but I could not resist probing at the calculated location for an 1889 Missouri River Commission stone triangulation station in south central South Dakota. A newer 1934 C&GS bronze disk in concrete was nearby in order to assist with the measurements. There is no moisture in the ground, so I could still probe despite the freezing temperature. At a depth of 2.25' I heard the "tap-tap" of that familiar hard stone sound. This will be a nice spring remonumentation project.
We reallllllllly need to help you find another hobby in the Winter months.
Something warmer like chess or stamp collecting or...........
Why didn't you dig it up while you were there?
Was the ground frozen solid?
Sorry - we just don't see those sort of conditions so just curious.
Probably it was so cold ....
that he was afraid his wash water would freeze and his camera wouldn't work. If he couldn't clean it and photo it for us, what's the point? 🙂
The monument is on my father-in-laws land. I mainly wanted to determine if it was still there before digging. A nice spring day will be better suited for the full recovery.
You were obviously visiting family for the holidays. Just needed something to do to get out of the house for a while, heh? 🙂
I'm certain we will see a full report on that 2.2' deep stone, as weather permits. Happy Holidays!
Oh come on, I was digging up corners in a frozen gravel road not too long ago.....of course I was using a jack hammer to do the initial digging!
> .....of course I was using a jack hammer to do the initial digging!
Back when I worked in Nebraska, all we had to dig with was a tile spade!
Radar
Any sympathy for having to keep restarting it? 😛
No problem starting it; keeping it going was the hard part..;-)
Awesome, as always Jerry.
I am sure that you have addressed this question in the past:
Why is the stone so far underground, so you suppose?
... never mind, I re-read the post more carefully, I see that this is a triangulation station, sorry.
But I still do wonder why section corner stones out in the open pasture like that would be so deep sometimes?
Here is a link showing the anatomy of a Missouri River Commission triangulation station with top monument (pipe/cap) and lower stone. In many cases the pipe/cap have been stolen. It makes for a very interesting adventure trying to recalculate where the lower stone is located. In most cases the stones are still there.
http://www.penryfamily.com/surveying/blackbird.html
Section corners were typically buried 2/3 of their length by the GLO surveyor. The dust bowl through the center of the United States buried many of them. Just as snow drifts along fences in winter time, dirt made huge drifts along fences during the dust bowl.
Thank you very much.
Would you say that most are buried when you find them today?
That answer is really tough to draw a conclusion upon. It typically depends upon the area. One I found two weeks ago was still partly sticking out of the ground. Others have been over 5 feet below. Stones are fun because the have to be somewhere even if they are not where they were placed. Sometimes we have found them thrown in nearby trees.
