> > Nope, we call them bearing trees in East Texas and have a lot more of them here than you have in your area, so you probably picked the term up from us.
>
> My understanding is that you while you have a nearly inexhaustible supply of trees for surveyors to cut marks into and measure bearings and distances to, they may not be the *same* trees in many cases. In Central and West Texas, the odds favor the *same* trees still being there. :>
There is a lot of truth in that statement, without the tongue in cheek, but it is due to the industry of the late 19th century through present, being a timber industry. The climate here is different and supports trees dieing and rotting faster than your arid climate. The "workaround" is chasing the trees you've found, back through the record, to prove or disprove the corner. This was once a requisite for a Deed of Acquittance and is habit for us. If we are lucky, the records will have one of the patent trees gone and a new one marked, then 20 years later, the patent tree gone and the new one dead and new ones marked.
