![]() ![]() No matter how accurate the measuring instrument is, one can always strive for the next decimal place, or even whole numbers, depending on what is being measured. According to Ariel and Berger, "No measurement in surveying is correct. (1976:304)įurthermore, even the most sophisticated land surveying methods only provide an approximation of land boundaries. Symbolic (and civilized) in that, from the beginning of the history of surveying, its location will be set down in words and drawings on paper, thence securely deposited in a cadastre, or land-office, for perpetuity, there to be consulted by lawyers, judges, tenants, and landlords alike. Literal, in that it can be at one, and only one, place on the surface of the earth. It is in the nature of a survey line that it is at once both literal and symbolic. Indeed, the survey lines created by land surveyors can be both the source of land boundary disputes but also the means of resolving them. ![]() In this regard, Pacione notes that, "Boundary disputes can arise for technical reasons, sometimes because those involved in negotiations have insufficient training or have not consulted technical experts" (1999:364). Similarly, the modern role of the land surveyor also involves helping resolve boundary disputes. By the 5th century CE, Cuomo reports that, "Land-surveyors could act as main arbitrators in boundary disputes," but there were also laws on the books that provided for severe sanctions against land surveyors who failed to perform their jobs properly (2001:215). According to the definition provided by Black's Law Dictionary, land boundaries are "limits of land holdings described by linear measurements of the borders, or by points of the compass, or by stationary markers" (1991:878). Not surprisingly, then, disputes over the boundaries of land holdings have not been uncommon since land was first divided into definable segments. Geographical Surveys West of the One Hundredth Meridian" and was based in large part on the need of the American military to navigate these previously uncharted territories (Allen 1997).Īn adage has long advised that real estate is a good investment because "they are not making any more it," advice that held true during the time of the ancient Babylonians as well as today. The official title of the Wheeler Survey was the "U.S. The upshot was the creation of the Wheeler Survey in 1871" (1997:510). ![]() The young army officer was called to Washington DC for consultation. As Allen puts it, "When he submitted his report he suggested that the army extend its operations to embrace a general survey throughout the entire American West. Based on his earlier land surveying activities in Nevada, Wheeler was inspired to apply the same methods to the rest of the American frontier. According to Allen, a West Point graduate by the name of First Lieutenant George Montague Wheeler is credited with much of this work. Notwithstanding this lack of historical precision concerning the origins of the features contained in the Land Survey Ordinance of 1785, the land surveying methods it set forth were so efficient and effective that the same techniques were applied to the rest of the country as westward expansion continued, eventually dividing all of the public lands in the United States (Hockett 1940). While the land surveying method used pursuant to the Land Survey Ordinance of 1785 was partially based on techniques that had evolved in New England, the origins of some of the features included in the legislation remain unclear (Hockett 1940). This land surveying method proved to be highly accurate, a feature that was in sharp contrast to the methods that had been used in some American colonies such as Virginia that allowed the use of so-called "indiscriminate locations," a practice that caused an enormous amount of land boundary disputes (Hockett 1940). ![]()
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