INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBDIVIDING SECTIONS AND RESTORING Illustrated with Forms, Diagrams and Maps; CONSTITUTING A COMPLETE TEXT-BOOK OF GOVERNMENT SURVEYING. FOR THE USE OF U. S. DEPUTY SURVEYORS, COUNTY SURVEYORS, and all TO WHICH IS ADDED AN APPENDIX CONTAINING INFORMATION IN REGARD TO ENTERING, LOCATING, By J. H. HAWES, LATE PRINCIPAL CLERK OF SURVEYS IN THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE. PHILADELPHIA: J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by J. H. HAWES, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States in and for the District of Columbia. PREFATORY REMARKS. THE following pages have been prepared to supply a want which is widely known and felt. The General Land Office is constantly receiving letters from county surveyors and others, soliciting information in regard to the system of government surveying, how to subdivide sections, restore missing corners, etc. etc. It is the custom of the department, in answer to these varied inquiries, to furnish as explicit directions as can be given within the ordinary limits of an official communication; but it is quite impracticable in such a communication to set forth in detail the principles and the laws, with their multifarious bearings and applications, which affect or control the surveyor in restoring obliterated public surveys, or running and marking the boundaries of legal subdivisions not before established in the field; and yet this information is essential to the surveyor who would execute his work correctly and in accordance with law. In view of the great number of inquiries of this character received by the General Land Office, the writer, who for several years had especial charge of the department of government land surveying, commenced the preparation of a circular to be printed for the use of the office, which should be sufficiently comprehensive to meet the class of inquiries referred to. The examination and reflection incident to the preparation of such a circular continued to develop new complications, and suggest new points to be explained, enlarging the scope of the work and ultimately inducing a change in the original design. It became apparent that the only plan which would afford surveyors all the information necessary to enable them to discharge their duties properly, was not only to lay down specific rules in particular cases, but to give a full and complete exposi 3801 tion of the surveying system, and the laws and instructions relating thereto. To give directions how to restore a lost corner without also affording some insight into the laws and practice under which it was originally established, would be like giving a theoretical explanation of a difficult field operation in civil engineering to one not conversant with that branch of mathematical science. The government system of surveying is in some respects peculiar and unlike any other, and no adequate facilities have been afforded surveyors not employed in the public service to make themselves acquainted with its rules and principles. Hence it is in many cases impracticable to make instructions intelligible to the local surveyor, without first giving some explanations as to the manner in which the public surveys are executed. The writer has been frequently and forcibly impressed with this truth, when endeavoring to relieve correspondents of embarrassments occasioned by a want of the proper knowledge in regard to the laws and practice of the government surveying system. Where these are understood the instructions become comparatively simple and are readily comprehended. In 1855, a manual of instructions to regulate the field operations of United States deputy surveyors, was prepared and printed under the direction of the General Land Office. Other instructions had been printed at earlier periods, but the manual prepared in 1855 embraced all the improvements suggested by the experience of the surveying department up to that time, and was much more comprehensive and complete than anything of the kind which had preceded it. By the second section of an act of Congress, approved May 30th, 1862, it is provided: "That the printed manual of instructions relating to the public surveys, prepared at the General Land Office, and bearing date February 22d, 1855, the instructions of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and the special instructions of the Surveyor-General when not in conflict with said printed manual or the instructions of said Commissioner, shall be taken and deemed to be a part of every contract for surveying the public lands of the United States." A supplemental pamphlet containing many recent changes authorized by the department was prepared by the writer for the use of the office, and printed July 1st, 1864. The modifications and additions contained in this pamphlet are now made a part of every surveying contract, subject of course to such subsequent changes as may from time to time be found necessary. These rules and instructions are only intended to be furnished by the department to persons in the government service, and the aim of the writer has been to embody them in a practical form for the use of the student and the general public; he has endeavored to furnish a TEXT-BOOK which will enable surveyors to fit themselves for the public service. To this end the present work has been systematized and arranged in convenient divisions and subdivisions under appropriate heads, and illustrated by examples, forms, diagrams and maps. To the Manual proper are added instructions for restoring extinct lines and corners of the public surveys, and for subdividing sections. These directions are based upon the laws of Congress and the well-established precedents of the General Land Office, and are very complete, embracing, it is believed, the principles at least, of nearly every case that will arise in practice. County surveyors in the public land states know well the difficulties experienced in executing this kind of surveys, and will find these instructions a great aid in performing their work. The manner of proceeding to have certain public lands surveyed in advance of the regular progress of the public surveys, under the provisions of the 10th section of the act of May 30th, 1862, known as the deposit system, is explained; also how to proceed to get certain small islands surveyed. An Appendix is added to the work containing instructions, forms, and rulings of the General Land Office, in regard to entering, locating, purchasing, and settling lands under the several acts following, to wit: Pre-emption Laws, Homestead Laws, Military Bounty Act, Agricultural College and Revolutionary Land Scrip, Mining Laws, etc. Also in regard to the adjustment of public grants of land to states and corporations, for railroads, canals, schools, universities and other purposes, and the survey and settlement of private |