43 2 The National Geographic Magazjne 



monuments ; the running of the line 

 southward from the north end 156 miles 

 and erection of 23 monuments, leaving 

 130 miles between unsurveyed and un- 

 marked. 



SURVEY OF THE NORTHERN BOUND- 

 ARY 



In the following season Clark began 

 work on the looth meridian, where it 

 crosses the Canadian, and accepting, as 

 directed, the monuments set there by 

 Jones and Brown in 1859 to mark the 

 1 00th meridian, prolonged the line north- 

 ward to latitude 36° 30', and there built 

 a monument (A) to mark the northeast 

 corner of the panhandle. To check this 

 position he prolonged this looth me- 

 ridian northward about 35 miles, to the 

 37th parallel, and found that the longi- 

 tude of the northeast corner of Texas on 

 the 1 00th meridian, according to Jones 

 and Brown, was about 1,700 feet east of 

 the 1 00th meridian, according to his 

 own determinations on the 37 th paral- 

 lel in 1857. 



He then ran west on the parallel of 

 36° 30' till forced to leave the line for 

 water. Then he went to the west end 

 and surveyed east till he reached the 

 point where the earlier work ended, thus 

 finishing it. He then disbanded, re- 

 turned to Washington, and proceeded 

 to work up the results, draw the maps, 

 and make final report. The great war 

 cloud was then hanging over Washing- 

 ton ; there was great impatience to close 

 up this work ; there appears to have 

 been friction over seeming slowness in 

 finishing up. Accordingly the work 

 was abruptly stopped, unfinished, in 

 January, 1862. So it remained for 20 

 years. In Januar}^, 1882, the Senate 

 by resolution called for Clark's report. 

 The result is a document of 309 pages 

 of .field-notes, correspondence, maps, 

 etc., which, while giving much infor- 

 mation, leaves much to be desired. 



DISAPPEARANCE OF MONUMENTS SET 

 BY CUARK 



On March 3,1891, Congress confirmed 

 Clark's survej^ of the 103d meridian and 

 of the parallels of 32° and 36° 30'. Of 

 the 26 Dionuments set by Clark on the 

 lojd meridian, only ttvo have been re- 

 ported to the General Land Office. These 

 are on the banks of the Canadian River. 

 The surveyors, Taylor and Fuss, who 

 connected the public land surveys of 

 New Mexico with these monuments, 

 recognized them as boundary monu- 

 ments, but made no determination of 

 their longitude. 



The initial monument at the north-, 

 west corner of Texas has been sought for 

 by subsequent surveyors but without 

 success. Mr. John J. Major sought for 

 it in 1 874, failed to find it, and ' ' reestab- 

 lished " it, setting a new one, which 

 there is excellent reason for believing 

 is more than two miles westoi the Clark 

 monument. Mr. Richard O. Chaney, in 

 1 88 1 , set another monument at the theo- 

 retical northwest corner of Texas, and 

 this without finding either Clark's or 

 Major's monument. Based upon these 

 and other surveys not here mentioned, 

 the I^and Ofiice has concluded that 

 Clark's 103d meridian was laid down 

 between 2 and 3 miles west of its true 

 position, and it is so shown on the lyand 

 Officemapof New Mexico, 1896. After 

 examining with some care the informa- 

 tion on the subject now available, I am 

 of opinion that this conclusion is not 

 sustained by the evidence, and that until 

 the longitude of some monument set 

 by Clark has been telegraphically de- 

 termined the boundary line should be 

 shown on maps as coincident with the 

 103d meridian. 



It is very desirable that this boundary 

 be resurvej^ed, old monuments restored, 

 and additional ones erected, before the 

 discovery of oil or mineral shall provoke 

 a boundary dispute. 



