January 31, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



185 



Frontera of the Mexican boundary survey. 

 Obviously this is a very weak longitude 

 determination. It Avas not checked by 

 astronomical observations originally, nor 

 has it been since. Nor has it been checked 

 in any other way. According to present 

 knowledge the three monuments at the 

 south end are on the 103d meridian and 

 should be so shown on our maps until sub- 

 sequent and better surveys shall find these 

 monuments and show that they are not on 

 the 103d meridian. As to the 130 miles of 

 unsurveyed line north of the short piece, 

 at the south end of the boundary, this part 

 is obviously coincident with the meridian. 

 The longitude of the 23 mounds on the 

 northern part of the line depends upon 

 the one at the N.W. corner of Texas. 

 That corner monument was set in August, 

 1859. Its longitude was obtained by 

 transfer from some point on the 37th 

 parallel, 35 miles to the northward. In 

 1857 a surveying party under Lieutenant- 

 Colonel Johnston measured Avestward along 

 the 37th parallel from the west boundary 

 of Missouri 471 miles to the 103d meridian. 

 Clark was the astronomer in Johnston's 

 party and determined by moon culmina- 

 tions the longitude of the monument set 

 by Johnston to mark the intersection of 

 the 103d meridian and 37th parallel. The 

 longitude of the mound at the N.W. corner 

 of Texas, set by Clark in 1859, therefore 

 depends upon the longitude of a point de- 

 termined by himself, astronomically, two 

 years previously on the 37th parallel. How 

 accurate was Clark's determination? No- 

 body knows. Various surveys under the 

 direction of the Land Office have been 

 made in this vicinity since Clark's original 

 one, but his monument has not been found. 

 Two monuments have since been estab- 

 lished to mark the point which Clark in- 

 tended to mark and which he supposed he 

 did mark. One of these was set by John 

 J. Major, in 1874, and another by Rich- 



ard 0. Chancy, in 1881. Major searched 

 for Clark's monument, failed to find it 

 and ' reestablished ' it, i. e., set a new one. 

 The evidence is conclusive that Major's 

 monument was set more than two miles west 

 of Clark 's. Chaney 's monument is some four 

 or five miles east of Major's. Chaney did 

 not find either Clark's or Major's. Thus 

 three monuments or mounds have been 

 built to mark the N.W. corner of Texas, 

 one by Clark in 1859, another by Major in 

 1874, and a third by Chaney in 1881. 

 Clark 's alone marks the boundary and that 

 one is lost. 



Of the 22 remaining mounds marking 

 the northern part of the boundary two, and 

 only two, are known to still exist. These 

 two are in sight of one another and on op- 

 posite banks of the Canadian River. They 

 were found and reported to the General 

 Land Office by the land surveyors Taylor 

 and Fuss in 18B3. We have no information 

 as to their longitude other than that fur- 

 nished by Clark himself, who reported 

 them on the 103d meridian. 



In the present state of our knowledge it 

 seems highly desirable that the boundary 

 should appear on our maps on the 103d 

 meridian. At the same time it is even more 

 important that topographic surveys be 

 made along this line and as many as pos- 

 sible of the original Clark monuments 

 identified and accurately placed on the 

 map. This done the whole line should be 

 run out, old monuments restored and new 

 monuments built. If this is done before 

 the discovery of oil, mineral or things 

 coveted, a costly and bitter boundary dis- 

 pute can be avoided. 



Since the above was written I have 

 learned of a recent survey which has ma- 

 terially added to our knowledge of the 

 present state of this boundary. Mr. E. D. 

 Preston, U. S. Deputy Surveyor, retraced 

 the Clark line on the 103d meridian from 



