NATIONAL SURVEYOR’S WEEK The Louisiana Society of Professional Surveyors will recognize March 16-22, 2014, as National Surveyors Week, in conjunction with the National Society of Professional Surveyors and the National Council of Engineering Examiners. In recognition of this special week, let’s take a look back at surveying’s rich, honored and varied history, and see how it continues to be an honored profession today. Surveying, and the marking of and honoring property boundaries have been around for thousands of years. The Bible itself, in the book of Deuteronomy, says that one who moves the “boundary mark of his neighbor” is to be cursed. Later on, Kind Solomon reminded Israel of that same fact with the admonition to not move the boundary that had been set by his ancestors. Several years ago, a friend and colleague, J. Anthony Cavell, PLS, said at a meeting of LSPS, District 8, “Surveyors are first and foremost, historians.” That is so very true. We, as surveyors are charged with protecting the health and welfare of the public, as well as retracing the “footsteps” of our predecessors. At least three presidents of the United States were surveyors, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. Benjamin Banneker, an African-American self-taught mathematician, and surveyor began laying out Washington D. C. He was also known for his almanacs. The Mason-Dixon line is still recognized as the line of demarcation between the “North” and “South”, but why is named as it is? It’s named for the surveyors who started surveying the boundary line. Lewis & Clark were both surveyors. Mostly known for their explorations, they also mapped much of the new found land West of the Mississippi. Lewis and Clark were taught how to survey and locate their positions very accurately by a man named Major Andrew Ellicott. Ellicott finished the projects started by Banneker as well as Mason and Dixon. He was the first to measure the height of Niagara Falls as well. He said of the experience of first approaching the falls that one could not approach it without horror and adds, “Down this chasm the water rushes with a most astonishing velocity, after it makes the great pitch. In going up the road near the chasm, the fancy is constantly engaged in the contemplation of the most romantic and awful prospects imaginable, till, at length, the eye catches the Falls:--the imagination is instantly arrested, and you admire in silence.” He left his home and family in Philadelphia in the autumn of 1796 with the assignment by President Jefferson to survey the line between Spain and the United States (the North line of Spanish Florida). He arrived in Natchez, MS, on February 24, 1797, and immediately met with the Spaniards who had their fort there, and arranged for their assistance in surveying this line. Spain stonewalled Ellicott for nearly a year before acceding to the fact that the treaty was in place and work could proceed. So, imagine this. It’s early winter, 1797. You’re on the East bank of the Mississippi River at its intersection with the 31st parallel of North latitude, and you’re ready to survey to…the Atlantic Ocean. Daunting task, don’t you think? Ellicott and his crew, including one of his sons surveyed along this latitudinal line, stopping at every mile to set up a mound of earth to mark their position, and in some places he placed stones. The stones and many of the mounds remain to this day. Just a little over two years later they completed their survey. Ellicott returned to his family early in 1801, just a little over 3 years after having left. Ellicott’s journal can be found in the Library of Congress, along with his celestial, and atmospheric observations and ultimately a map showing the adjustments made from his random line to the true line of latitude. Early in the 19th century the Deputy Surveyors for the United States were charged with laying Louisiana out in a series of townships, each being 6 miles by 6 miles, containing 36 sections, being 1 mile by 1 mile, and containing approximately 640 acres each. They, as did Ellicott, endured untold hardships, and for any of you who have ventured into the woods of central and north Louisiana or the marshes of the south, you may have some idea of their leather. It had to be a horrible situation to make these guys quit, however, in Township 7 North, Range 6 East, an area just East of Jonesville, Catahoula Parish, there’s an area known as “Dismal Swamp”. The Deputy Surveyor’s notes simply stated, “Impassible swamp. Abandoned survey”. Another deputy who was surveying in the marshes of South La, drew a picture of himself in his notes, sitting on a stump surrounded by nothing but marsh grass. His caption reads, “Well here I am. Now where in the heck am I?”. This profession is steadily morphing, or evolving, if you will, with the technology of today, and with positioning being of paramount importance. A. J. Brouillette, PLS, (deceased), is quoted by Clarence Bruce, PLS, saying he was afraid that we were becoming a generation of ‘button-pushers’. Ellicott used a zenith vector, the early deputy surveyors used a compass and a 2-pole (33-foot long chain). When I started surveying we used a compass; a transit and a 100-foot long tape, and eventually a two-piece theodolite/electronic distance meter, and a paper field book. Mr. Bruce, quoted above, surveyed in the Gulf of Mexico, using radios, measuring the length of time it took the radio waves to reach the next target. This, of course, was the pre-curser of today’s Global Positions Systems. Today EVERYTHING is surveyed electronically, either with an electronic total station with its electronic data collector or via GPS. Our charge yet has not changed. No matter what tools we have at our disposal, we still have to follow in the footsteps of those whom we follow. This is quite tricky sometimes. However, if we are going to follow the surveyors who precede us, we certainly have to know how they did what they did. I would opine that 90% of all surveys performed today are re-surveys. There are, of course, estate partitions and subdivisions, which create new parcels. But pretty much everything else is a reproduction of a previous survey. The “footstep” rule cannot/must not change. If it does, we’ll actually produce an entire generation of button-pushers. Doing so would reduce our honored profession to nothing more than GIS specialists. But that’s another thought for another day. Submitted by Mark H. Tooke, LA PLS 4722, MS PS 2720, TX RPLS 6474.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 16:24:30 +0000
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