| Original
surveys of Kansas: The Public Land Survey System
First
Guide Meridian East Project
Kansas was originally surveyed using a system first
developed by Thomas Jefferson called the Public Land
Survey System. The different Manuals of Instruction,
such as the one published in 1855, were issued as improvements
on Jefferson’s original idea. The Public Land
Survey System (PLSS) is a legal reference system designed
to ease the description, inventory and transfer of real
property. The PLSS surveys in Kansas were conducted
between 1854 and 1876. Today, a great majority of land
transactions in the 30 western-most states are described
with this section, township, and range system. The Public
Land Act of 1785 stipulated the use of the English mile
as the national distance measurement and required that
it be measured using the 66-foot Gunter’s chain.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of May 30, 1854 defined the
boundaries of the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska
and caused the Commissioner of the General Land Office
to appoint a Surveyor General for the two territories.
The Surveyors General Office consisted of a Chief Clerk,
Chief Draftsman, Draftsmen, copyists, clerks, accountants
and messengers.
Deputy Surveyors (the surveyors who conducted the
actual surveying) were paid by the mile of surveying
at the rate of $12.00 for standard lines (Standard Parallels
and Guide Meridians); $7.00 for exterior lines of Townships
and $5.00 for interior of subdivisions.
All surveys must have a reference point or Point of
Beginning. For Kansas, this point is known as the Initial
Point for the Sixth Principal Meridian. This point was
established by U. S. Surveyors Charles A. Manners and
Joseph Ledlie on June 11, 1855 and is near the present
town of Mahaska, Kansas.
Manners had been ordered by John Calhoun, Surveyor
General for the Kansas and Nebraska Territories (appointed
August 26, 1854), to proceed west on the 40th parallel
of latitude north (now the Kansas-Nebraska border) for
108 miles, from the point of beginning on the west bank
of the Missouri River, to reach this point. Why 108
miles? a surveyor can survey a line for nine miles before
having to resort to using spherical geometry and trigonometry
to correct for the earth's curvature. After nine miles,
the surveyors could stop and make corrections from astronomical
observations, then continue on. The number 108 is divisible
by nine, thence the number was chosen.
It was from this point that the survey of the public
lands in Kansas and Nebraska, most of Colorado and Wyoming
and a part of South Dakota began. The selection of this
particular point has determined the shape of much of
the American West as we know it today.
The Initial Point of the 1st Guide Meridian East was
run before the 6th P.M. and was used as the initial
Meridian for all of Kansas to the East. After determining
this point, located between ranges 8 and 9 east, in
Marshall County, Joseph Ledlie and Charles Manners parted
company; Ledlie went south and Manners headed north
to begin to run the parallels. For those in the eastern
part of Kansas, the 1st Guide Meridian East is actually
more significant than the 6th P.M. which is the primary
guideline for the rest of Kansas. Many KSLS members
are also members of “ Surveyors of the 6th P.M.”
which was responsible for re-monumenting the initial
point of 6th P. M. in 1987.
(Click on the illustration to enlarge)
The surveyors in Kansas generally used a circumferature
or compass (Picture A,) an instrument called a transit
(Picture B). These devices, along with a Burt’s
Solar Compass, or a surveyor’s compass on a Jacob
staff, were used for alignment and determining the astronomical
bearing of a surveyed line. The distances were measured
with a measuring device called a chain. The chain prescribed
for surveying Kansas for the most part was a 4-pole
or 66 foot chain with 100 links. (Picture C.) Instrument
makers like Gurley produced hundreds of surveying compasses
and measuring chains at reasonable prices for use in
the enormous Public Land Survey. For more information
about antique surveying instruments, please go to www.surveyhistory.org
(Click on an illustration to enlarge)
This means the survey party had to measure 80 chains
to obtain a measurement of one mile. The chain had to
be held taut and not allowed to follow the natural contour
of the terrain. If the terrain was too steep, a 2-pole
or 33-foot chain was used.
From the Initial Point, the Sixth Principal Meridian
running true north and south, was established and the
Standard Parallels and Guide Meridians were surveyed.
As the Standard Parallels were completed, the contracts
for the exterior lines of the Townships were let.
Township lines were set six miles apart from each
other going South from the 40th parallel North (for
Kansas) and Range lines were set six miles apart both
East and West of the Sixth Principal Meridian. The Townships
were numbered, starting with One for the first six mile
increment, Two for the second and so forth, giving each
Township in Kansas the subscript of South. The first
Township is called Township One South, the second Township
Two South, etc. The Range lines were numbered from the
Sixth Principal Meridian going East and West, again
in six mile increments. The first Range East of the
6th P. M. is called Range One East, the second Range
Two East and so forth. The same applied for the western
side of the 6th P. M. Every fifth Township line or every
30 miles, a correction for the curvature of the earth
was applied in order to keep things "squared"
up.
(Click on an illustration to enlarge)
Once the Township and Range lines were in place, then
the surveyors started subdividing these areas into one
mile rectangular parcels known as Sections. They would
start at the Southeast corner of the Township, go West
one mile, then North six miles, marking each "half-mile"
and "mile" corner in the manner prescribed
by the Manual of Instructions. At each mile or Section
corner, they would survey to the East and connect to
the Section corner already in place, making any corrections
for alignment, then survey back to the West and place
the "half-mile" marker one-half way in between.
These corners are designated as "mile" and
"half-mile" so the reader can visualize the
placement of these monuments. The "mile" markers
are called Section Corners and the "half-mile"
markers are called Quarter Corners. Each Section has
four section corners and four quarter corners, all of
them being common to the respective adjacent sections.
Monuments were placed every half mile and painstakingly
described in the surveyor’s notebook so that later
surveyors could identify that marker as genuine. Below
is a picture of the first monument laid in Leavenworth
County under PLSS guidelines. Please note, removing
or disturbing a survey monument is punishable under
Kansas law (KSA 21-3724) This marker, was removed many
years ago while the ground was being worked, but had
been replaced and remonumented properly at the time
of its displacement. It is currently in the safekeeping
of Leavenworth County.
Errors in Measurement
Early surveyors were often teased about being “nomads
with sticks, trying to make a curved planet fit into
a flat system.” What happened when the surveyor
connected to the Section Corners on the Township line
along the North of the Township or the Range line bordering
the west side of the Township and did not quite measure
the exact distance when he checked in? It was impractical
to go back and re-survey the previous work and make
any corrections so all error (either short or long)
was thrown in to the last one-half mile along the northern
and western tiers of the Township. These sections commonly
vary from 160 acres.
Even though the sections were surveyed from the South
to the North, the numbering system for Sections begins
with One at the northeast corner, then continues going
West until Section Six is reached, then the first section
to the South of Section Six is numbered Section Seven
and the numbering goes back to the East and continues
in this serpentine fashion until Section Thirty-Six
is reached in the Southeast corner of the Township.
See the diagram below.
(Click on an illustration to enlarge)
What is a section? A section is a parcel of land which
was intended to be one mile square and contain 640 acres.
A section can be divided into halves, quarters, quarter-quarters,
etc. See the illustration below for some of the configurations.
(Click on the illustration to enlarge)
Glossary
of Terms
|
