1-1. The Manual of Surveying Instructions describes how cadastral surveys of the public lands are made in conformance to statutory law and its judicial interpretation. This chapter summarizes the various Acts and the general plans of surveying based on them.
1-1. The Manual of Surveying Instructions describes how cadastral surveys of the public lands are made in conformance to statutory law and its judicial interpretation. This chapter summarizes the various Acts and the general plans of surveying based on them. Previous editions of the Manual were issued in 1855 (reprinted as the Manual of 1871), 1881, 1890, 1894, 1902, 1930, and 1947.
1-2. Surveying, in general, is the art of measuring and locating lines, angles, and elevations on the surface of the earth, within underground workings, and on the beds of bodies of water. A "cadastral survey" creates (or reestablishes), marks, and defines boundaries of tracts of land. In the general plan this includes a field-note record of the observations, measurements, and monuments descriptive of the work performed and a plat that represents the cadastral survey, all subject to approval of the Director, Bureau of Land Management.
1-3. Details of the plan and its methods go beyond the scope of textbooks on surveying. The application to large-scale areas requires an understanding of the stellar and solar methods for making observations to determine the true meridian, the treatment of the convergency of meridians, the running of the true parallels of latitude, and the conversion in the direction of lines so that at any point the angular value will be referred to the true north at that place. These subjects are therefore explained and examples given with specific relation to the approved surveying practice. The use, care and adjustments of the solar transit are fully treated because of its wide use in public land surveying. The applications of photogrammetry and electronic instrumentation to public land surveying are covered for the first time in the addition of the Manual.
1-4. Extended treatment is given to subdivision of sections, restoration of lost or obliterated corners, resurveys, and special surveys of many kinds. These now make up the major part of the surveying program of the Bureau of Land Management. Stress is placed on thoroughness in the identification and perpetuation of the surveys already completed.
Development of the Manual
1-5. The surveys of public lands have been conducted since 1785, when a beginning point was established where the west boundary of Pennsylvania crosses the north bank of the Ohio River. The first surveys, covering parts of Ohio, were made under supervision of the Geographer of the United States in compliance with the Ordinance of May 20, 1785. Detailed instructions were not needed in these initial surveys, because only the exterior lines of the townships were surveyed, and only mile corners were established. Township plats were marked by subdivisions into sections or "lots" one mile square, numbered from 1 to 36, commencing with No. 1 in the southeast corner of the township and running from south to north in each sequence to No. 36 in the northwest corner of the township.
1-6. The Act of May 18, 1796, provided for the appointment of a Surveyor General, whose duty was to survey the public lands northwest of the Ohio River. Half of the townships were to be subdivided into two-mile blocks, and the rule for numbering of sections within the township was changed to that practiced today. Subsequent laws called for additional subdivision, and the system of surveys was gradually refined to its present form. In the early period advice and general instructions were given the Surveyor General by the Secretary of the Treasury, then in charge of land sales, and later by the Commissioner of the General Land Office. Instructions to deputy surveyors were issued by the Surveyor General. A Surveyor of the Lands of the United States South of Tennessee was appointed in 1803 with the same duties as the Surveyor General, and eventually a surveyor general was appointed for each of many public-land States and Territories.
Figure 1. - The States created out of the Public Domain (See page 2 of the Manual)
1-7. In 1831 the Commissioner of the General Land Office issued detailed instructions to the surveyors general concerning surveys and plats. The applicable parts were incorporated by individual surveyors general in bound volumes of instructions suitable for use in the field by deputy surveyors. From these directions evolved the Manual of Surveying Instructions. The Act of July 4, 1836, placed the overall direction of the public land surveys under the principal clerk of surveys in the General Land Office. The immediate forerunner of the Manual series was printed in 1851 as "Instructions to the Surveyor General of Oregon; Being a Manual for Field Operations." Its use was at once extended to California, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, and New Mexico. In a slightly revised version these instructions were issued as the Manual of 1855.
The Manual Supplements
1-8. The following supplements to this Manual are for sa