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Transcribed by Elaine Rathmann
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Chapter II
The Land Survey System
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Congressional
Survey.
We have learned that one of the services performed by government is
to protect us in the right to hold property. If you own some land
and some one claims that it belongs to him, you can prove that the
land belongs to you by producing your deed. This deed will show that
the land came into your possession lawfully, and it will describe
the land in such a way that it cannot possibly be mistaken for nay
other land in the country. This description can be mad as easily and
in much the same manner as you would explain to a stranger which
seat in the school room you occupy. You might explain that you sit
in the third row from the north wall and in the fourth seat from the
front. There is only one seat in the room that corresponds to this
description. In 1785 Congress provided a system of surveys for
locating land which is similar to the plan of locating your seat.
This
system is known as the Congressional Survey. By it all government
land that had been surveyed is divided into plots six miles square,
and each of these plots is again divided and subdivided The lines
upon which these large divisions are based are known as principal
meridians, range lines, base lines and township lines.
Principal Meridians and Base Lines. Before commencing the survey
proper, it is necessary to establish two main lines, one extending
north and south and the other east and west. These lines are purely
arbitrary and they are located without special reference to any
other lines of the same kind that may have been surveyed before. The
lines extending north and south and from which the survey is mad are
called principal meridians, and those extending east and west are
called base lines. The principal meridians are numbered westward and
a separate base line is established for each.
The
principal meridians are long distances apart, and so are the base
lines, but lines, but lines parallel with the meridians and base
lines respectively are surveyed six miles apart, thus dividing the
land into townships six miles square. The lines parallel with the
base lines are called township lines, and those parallel with the
principal meridians are called range lines.
Survey in Iowa. The fifth principal meridian forms the basis
of the United States land survey in Iowa. It extends due north from
the mouth of the Arkansas River, crosses Missouri and the eastern
part of Iowa, and passes out of the state at a point between Clayton
and Dubuque counties. The base line extends due west from the mouth
of the St. Francis River in Arkansas, and crosses the principal
meridian forty-eight miles north of its starting point. By surveying
lines six miles apart parallel with the base line, and others the
same distance apart parallel with the principal meridian, the land
is divided into blocks six miles square. Each of these blocks is
called a congressional township.
Townships and Ranges. To locate land by this system of
surveys two sets of numbers are used, one designating the township
north of the base line, and the other the townships west of the
fifth principal meridian. Land may also be surveyed south from the
base line and east from the principal meridian. For convenience the
tier of township east or west of the principal meridian are called
ranges and those north or south of the base line are called
townships. All the land in Iowa is surveyed from the fifth principal
meridian.
In the
diagram the heavy vertical line marked P M represents a part of the
principal meridian. It is crossed at right angles by a heavy line
marked B L representing a part of its base line. The light vertical
lines crossing the base line and parallel to the principal meridian
are range lines, and those parallel to the base line are township
lines.
The Congressional Township. The congressional township is
important only in connection with our system of locating land. It is
a tract of land six miles square, divided into thirty-six square
miles, or sections which are subdivided into half-sections, quarter
sections, etc., as shown in the diagrams.
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