2.12 Knowledge Check Chapter 6

A surveyor should not read any and all notes available before any subsequent surveys or retracements are conducted or undertaken. True False

False

After the public lands within a section have been disposed of by the federal government, any rights that were acquired can still be affected by a corrective survey. True False

False

Anytime there is a problem between a US agency and a parcel of land in private ownership, the case is litigated in the local courts, using the local rules, and applying local law to survey issues and state federal relative to real property rights. True False

False

Corner names don't depend on the date of subdivision. They are all the same. True False

False

From the Act of May 18 1796 until 1805 there were many major acts in nature. True False

False

In 1839, William Austin Burt, a US deputy surveyor in Michigan, invented the solar compass, which relied on the moon for determination of the true bearings. True False

False

In the Act of May 18, 1796 every other township was to be surveyed by lines run every 4 miles in each direction. True False

False

It was not until 1988 (the year that the Seven Ranges were completed) that the Continental Congress required the following: "That each surveyor, upon making any survey, shall project and lay the same down in a general map, to be kept and preserved, and shall make a record of each survey in a book to be kept for that purpose ... etc True False

False

Land owned by the government and once subdivided cannot be resubdivided by the government at any time in accordance with the manner prescribed by law. True False

False

Of all the land acts enacted since 1785, the Act of February 11, 1805 is perhaps the fourth most important to the surveyor, in that it sets out the basic principles for future retracements of public lands. True False

False

Once a property right is created, then all lines are legally open and can be altered at will. True False

False

The Act of February 11, 1805 established the basic principle that surveys are "without error" in that original corners are where surveyors find them and that the original measurements recorded in the field are the "true" measurements, error and all. True False

False

The Supreme Court of California held that the Land Act of February 11, 1805, controls, in that the half‐mile post has no legal significance. In fact, they even recommended that the surveyor remove them and resort to the ¼ as being equidistant between the two section corners. True False

False

The first known written instructions, General Instructions to Deputy Surveyors, were issued by John F Kennedy in August 1804 and applied to the Northwest Territory. True False

False

The initial legislation for the survey of public lands was proposed by a committee headed by George Washington. True False

False

The lines and corners of an original survey don't control the location of a parcel. The lines are presumed to have been established in accordance with law, the special instructions, and the BLM Manual in force as of the date of the original survey fieldwork and the date on the signature of the plat. True False

False

The making of original surveys by the United States is and was strictly controlled by the judicial body and its courts; how to interpret and locate an existing conveyance is controlled by the legislative body. True False

False

The system and the laws relative to the GLO system state that the original survey crews in the field have errors in the original measurements thus resurveys and new monuments to replace measurement error is legal. True False

False

The year 2004 was important in that the federal government, by law, made smaller parcels of public domain sections available to more people. Lands could be sold either in entire sections, in half sections, or in quarter sections. True False

False

There can be more than one original survey. Other surveys of an original survey can alter the original corners or rights or section lines. True False

False

A corrective approved survey made prior to the issuance of a patent is also an original survey. True False

True

A surveyor who conducts retracements of the GLO/PLSS boundaries should be acquainted with historic and current court decisions. True False

True

A wise surveyor will not use a federal government section or quarter corner until satisfied that the location was approved as part of an official survey. True False

True

According to the Louisiana instructions and statues the posts used in forming the corners of townships must always be larger (for the sake of distinction) than those which denote the Sectional and quarter Sectional corners, and should be neatly squared off at the top to correspond with the cardinal points. True False

True

After 1803, Mansfield laid out the Indiana baseline and the second principal meridian. He devised a system for taking care of the convergence of the meridians; he also started our present range and township numbering system: townships are numbered north or south from the baseline, and ranges are numbered east or west from the principal meridian. These features were not enacted into law; they were rules and regulations of the department. True False

True

Although the Act of May 10, 1800, provided for placing errors of measurement and convergence in the last half mile of the northern and western tiers of sections, this was not done in parts of Louisiana and Florida. In Louisiana, the errors were placed equally in each half mile of the last mile. True False

True

Although the first US Congress met in March 1789, the first sectionalized land act was not passed until 1796. True False

True

Any retracing surveyor must consider that half‐mile posts in these two states can be treated in either of two ways: (1) the half‐mile post is treated as a quarter corner, or (2) the half‐mile post is used as a point for line determination and placement of the quarter corner by proportioning or by a direct measurement from the half‐mile post. True False

True

Because field notes of the original surveyor have superior standing to Manual instructions, deviations from Manual instructions as found in field notes are accepted. True False

True

Before a surveyor attempts to retrace a fractional section or township, he or she should become totally familiar with the specific methodology described in the BLM Manual of Instructions for the Survey of the Public Lands as well as the booklet entitled The Restoration of Lost or Obliterated Corners. True False

True

Before the discontinuance of the compass, surveys were extended into the iron ore belt of Michigan. Many local areas are known to deflect the needle as much as 10° to 20° with resulting distorted sections and surveys. This same problem existed in many of the metes and bounds. True False

True

In 1796, the chain was identified, by law, as being a "chain of two poles, or 50 links." It did state that all measurements would be kept in "measurements of four poles." Even though the law is still valid today, surveyors now use electronic distance measurements and global positioning. True False

True

In 1851, a book titled The Manual of Surveying Instructions for the Survey of the Public Lands of the United States (now known as the Oregon Manual) was the first attempt to provide uniform instructions to all surveyors. True False

True

In 1855, except for instructions about correction lines, a reprint of the Oregon Manual with all the illustrations was issued (now known as the 1855 Manual). True False

True

In 1855, the first complete Instructions to the Surveyors General of Public Lands was issued, and it soon became a part of contracts by instructions. True False

True

In all measurements the level or horizontal length is to be taken, not that which arises from measuring over the surface of the ground when it happens to be uneven and hilly; for this purpose the chainmen ascending or descending hills must alternately let down one end of the chain to the ground and raise the other to a level as nearly as may be, from the end of which a plumb should be let fall to ascertain the spot where to set the tally rod or stick; and where the land is very steep, it will be necessary to shorten the chain by doubling the links together, so as to obtain the true horizontal measure. True False

True

In most instances, meander lines do not control boundaries, but they do control area determination. True False

True

In some cases, the surplus or deficiency was placed in the south part of a section instead of the north as required presently. True False

True

In some editions of the Manual, the original surveyor's permitted tolerance of error in setting a corner was about 3 feet in 1/2 mile. True False

True

In the Act of May 18, 1796 field notes were to be made in field books. True False

True

In the Act of May 18, 1796 lines were to be run with a chain containing 2 perches (33 feet) subdivided into 50 links each. (This law is the same as it exists today! It is not obeyed.) True False

True

In the United States, there is no pure system; however, within GLO states a surveyor can find metes and bounds surveys, and in metes and bounds states one can find rectangular systems. True False

True

In the public land states, to practice in the modern technical world, the surveyor must have an intimate knowledge of the historic legislation that created the Public Land Survey System. True False

True

Ludlow made two on each side. Ever since that time, the practice of requiring two notches on each side has been approved. True False

True

Mansfield laid out the first baseline in Indiana that had townships numbered northward and southward from the baseline. He also initiated the first correction line (standard parallel), located near the city of Indianapolis. True False

True

One may find as many as 47 sections in a township, township lines that are broken, and lots against these broken lines because surveyors at the time the lines were created were left to their own devices as to how the lines should be run. True False

True

One must realize that in 1785, all American land interests stopped at the Mississippi River as a result of the peace treaty with the British. True False

True

Special instructions or manuals instructed the original surveyors on how to survey the land; courts interpret the laws and how patented parcels of land shall be resurveyed or retraced. True False

True

The Act of April 24, 1820, provided for dividing land into half‐quarter sections (80 acres). The act of April 5, 1832, provided for selling land into quarter-quarter sections (40 acres). True False

True

The Act of February 11, 1805 provided for the completion of surveys already made by running alternate mile lines under the Act of 1796. It also provided the method of dividing sections into quarter sections by straight lines connecting opposite corners. True False

True

The Act of February 11, 1805 provided that each section or subdivision of section, the contents whereof have been returned by the surveyor general, shall be held and considered as containing the exact quantity expressed in such return, and the half‐sections and quarter‐sections, the contents whereof shall not have been thus returned, shall be held and considered as containing the one‐half or the one‐fourth part, respectively, of the returned contents of the section of which they may make part. True False

True

The Act of February 11, 1805 provided that the boundary lines which have not been actually run and marked shall be ascertained by running straight lines from the established corners to the opposite corresponding corners. True False

True

The Act of March 1, 1800, did establish the important principle that corners regularly set by the original surveyor are to be held as the true corners even though later surveys may show the measurements to be in error. True False

True

The Act of May 10, 1800, provided for placing errors and convergence in the north and west tiers of sections and authorized the sale of lands in half sections. True False

True

The GLO or PLSS states are those whose lands were subdivided by the federal government according to the various federal laws, beginning with the Land Act of 1785. True False

True

The Land Act of 1784 was in turn replaced by the Ordinance of May 20, 1785. True False

True

The Land Act of 1785 provided that Lots (sections) were to be 36 in number and 1 mile square. True False

True

The approved original survey does not ascertain boundaries; it creates them. An original monument is one that was created, identified, called, and recovered on an approved original survey. True False

True

The basic system was created by statute in 1785, modified in 1796, and finally solidified on February 11, 1805, in one of the most important pieces of land legislation ever enacted by Congress. True False

True

The courts have repeatedly held that an original survey of public lands does not ascertain boundaries but creates them. True False

True

The edition of the BLM Manual that applies to a retracement is the Manual that was current at the time the retracement was performed. True False

True

The federal laws that created the GLO system, beginning in 1785, are still recognized and are consulted and interpreted by all courts, from the various state courts to the Supreme Court of the United States. True False

True

The modern surveyor must know what the basic federal land laws created and what principles were identified. True False

True

The primary reference for surveying the public lands is the BLM Manual which was designed and created for in‐house use of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). True False

True

The second most significant legislation of the public land laws was the Act of February 11, 1805, and it is probably the most quoted of all the acts in terms of identifying the surveying principles that have made the GLO system so unique. True False

True

The smallest legal size recognized by federal statute for homestead purposes was one‐quarter of one‐quarter; however, smaller parcels are commonly designated to identify portions of homesteaded holdings True False

True

The surveyor must understand that a basic requisite of this system is that no land would be patented to any person until it had been surveyed and a plat prepared and approved. True False

True

The two areas that are probably the most litigated sections are the center‐section definition and the fact that the area recited is the "official area," which should not be questioned and is without error. True False

True

The word chap became known as blaze or hacks. True False

True

There can be only one original survey. Any other survey of an original survey is a retracement and cannot alter the original corners or rights or section lines. True False

True

Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is the only agency of the federal government with the statutory authority and responsibility for surveying public lands. True False

True

Under the Ordinance of 1785, a geographer, Thomas Hutchins, was in charge; under the Act of 1796, a surveyor general was provided for. True False

True

Under the law, to have a fractional township, it must border lines that terminate at a meandered water body, impassible object, state line, reservation, Indian reservation, or grant boundary. True False

True

Unless created by state regulations, the BLM Manual is not mandatory for private surveyors but can be used as guidelines for private registered surveyors. True False

True

Until 1803, lands available for survey and subsequent distribution were limited to the Mississippi River on the west and the Canadian border on the north. The boundaries of the United States were fixed. The system exploded; this one signature would ultimately provide survey work for thousands of surveyors and their successors, many fathers and sons, and at times entire families were public surveyors, for more than 200 years. True False

True

Upon the signing of the Treaty of Peace with Great Britain, one of the first acts that Congress adopted was the rectangular land survey system. This system, with the stroke of a pen, cast aside a system of land survey and description that was over 1000 years old and was universally accepted and adopted, and then that single stroke of a pen terminated and discarded the old system and created an entirely new system. True False

True

Using mounds in prairie country didn't work because the mounds in prairie country are destroyed entirely in a few weeks, owing to the herds of cattle seeking them to protect themselves from the fly and other insects—with their horns and hoofs they soon obliterate all the marks placed at a township corner in connection with a mound—and in two or three years it cannot be distinguished from the surrounding plain or prairie. True False

True

Valid grants and valid possessions made prior to 1803 were surveyed and excluded from the public domain after the Act of 1806. True False

True

When creating the seven ranges, square townships were created, 6 miles on a side, on cardinal directions and were laid out with 36 lots numbered. No interior section or quarter corners were set. True False

True

Where an entryman patented a parcel of land by the original township plat, no resurvey or retracement is supposed to be executed so as to impair the bona fide rights or claims of the entryman. True False

True

Whether the student will practice in the GLO states or in the metes and bounds states, each student should have an understanding of how the system evolved and its strengths and weaknesses that the surveyor of today must work with and understand. True False

True

When published, the Manual of 1855 allowed survey districts to practice irregular procedures until 1973. True False

False

Congress initiated the largest land survey in the history of the world when creating the PLSS. True False

True

The GLO is probably the least understood by surveyors in private practice. True False

True