Tag Archives: retracement

Petaluma and Napa Creeks 1861. Re-issued 1882 with Aids to Navigation corrected to 1885. Credit: NARA C&GS; Collection.

Steeped in History

Recently I spent a few days with my family at the remote cabin in the Sierra Nevada Mountains where I had retraced an 1876 mining claim boundary two years prior. I wrote about that experience here. Humoring the Old Man During this recent visit my daughters and sons-in-law humored me by agreeing to let me...

The rover stands on the original monument, which predates two newer monuments, next to each other 12 feet away, by 100 years. Credit: Warren Ward

The Land Office: Potawatomi and Surveyor History

The Art of Retracement Pictured above: The rover stands on the original monument, which predates two newer monuments, next to each other 12 feet away, by 100 years. Credit: Warren Ward. Igor Kidinski, or Eager (the Kid) as he was known, started to shout “Got it!” when he saw a point on the ground. But then...

Your Local Knowledge Is King

Although the adage, “Your local knowledge is king,” could apply to other professions or even trades, I think it is especially true in our profession. When a surveyor practices in a given area or region, or possibly an entire state, knowledge is gained and lessons learned about many things that determine one’s ability to remain competitive,...

art of retracement

The Beaten Path

Art of Retracement With a set of eyes that had focused on survey lines through several eras, the Old Man (Glenny Dale, also known as Glutton), took one look at the cluster of three monuments along a right-of-way fence line. The site of three pins at a point where there could be only one legal...

The Note

From this crest of the Grand River Basin, near Byers Canyon, Colorado, the survey crew of Igor Kidinsky, aka Eager (The Kid), and Glenny Dale, aka Glutton (The Old Man), can view the same grandeur as the first survey crew who stood here 130 years ago, imagine the same thoughts, and make the same notes:...

The Lot Corner

A large survey-engineering firm had developed a subdivision, bounded by a section line on the north side and a 1950 subdivision and 1/16 line on the east side. By doing so they had exposed a five-foot overlap between the section line as run with GPS and the 1950 subdivision. They sought advice from the county...