The System of Land Surveys. 107 



map was produced on a scale of 4 miles to an inch in approxi- 

 mate contour lines. 



Public Land Surveys. — In the latter part of the last century a 

 system was devised for the subdivision of the public lands held 

 by the United States, for the purpose of cutting them up into 

 convenient parcels for sale or other mode of disposal. The system 

 then devised has been extended with little modification over all 

 the states, with the exception of the thirteen original colonies, 

 together with Maine, Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas. 

 Many of the states have been surveyed entirely under this sys- 

 tem, while the others have been in greater part surveyed. 



The method of subdivision is a very simple one, and is learned 

 by every western child in connection with the alphabet. An 

 initial point is selected from which a base line is run east and 

 west and a principal meridian is run north. At intervals upon 

 this base line, ranging from twenty-four miles U]3ward, other 

 lines are run north, known as guide meridians, and at similar 

 intervals on the principal meridian secondary east-ancl-west 

 lines are run, known as correction lines. The blocks of country 

 thus laid out into a]3proximately rectangular shape are sub- 

 divided into approximate squares by running lines northward, 

 eastward, and westward at intervals of six miles, forming what 

 are known as townships. Each township is then subdivided by 

 means of lines. run at every mile in both directions, forming sec- 

 tions, each section being approximately a mile square. The 

 north lines are theoretically run on true meridians and therefore 

 converge, the convergence increasing from the base line north- 

 ward until a correction line is reached. Upon the correction line 

 a new start is made, the townships and sections resuming their 

 former bases of six miles and one mile respectively. 



The principal and guide meridians, the base lines and correc- 

 tion lines, as well as all other toAvnship lines in this work, are 

 run by solar compass, and distances are measured by chain with 

 considerable care. The subdivision of townshij^s into sections is 

 generally done with a compass, and the chaining is executed with 

 less care. The accumulated errors in the survey of a township 

 are thrown into the northern and western tiers of sections, cul- 

 minating in the northwestern corner. 



In the prosecution of these surveys no attention has been paid 

 to geographic positions. The initial points have been selected 

 arbitrarily, and it is only by connecting these surveys with posi- 



