THE DETAILED FIELD-NOTE RECORD

  8-12. The introductory statement includes:
  (1) History of prior pertinent surveys.
  (2)   The surveys encompassed in that book of field notes.
  (3)   Description of unusual survey situations and special methods used.
  (4)   A statement that the survey was executed in accordance with specifications set forth in the Manual of Surveying Instructions and the special instructions.
  (5)    How the directions of lines were determined and that they refer to the true meridian.
  (6)    In the case of a dependent resurvey, a statement to the effect that "Preliminary to the resurvey the lines of the original survey were retraced and search was made for all corners and other calls of the record. Identified corners were remonumented in their original positions; lost corners were restored and monumented at proportionate positions based on the original record. The retracement data were thoroughly verified and only the true line field notes are given herein."
  (7)   The geographic position of a corner of the survey - the southeast township corner if practicable - and how it was determined.
  (8)   The observed magnetic declination.

  8-13. The items of information to be included in the field notes are described in section 3-126. The description required for particular subjects is covered by the following list.

   Amended monuments, section 3-36.
  Base line, method of alining, section 3-11.
  Corner descriptions in general, sections 4-3, 4-6, 8-14.
  Corner descriptions, markings - form to follow
       Iron posts and brass tablets, sections 4-24 - 4-46.
      Stone monuments, sections 4-48 - 4-62.
      Tree monuments, sections 4-64, 4-67 - 4-81.
  Corner descriptions, other references
       Closing corners, sections 5-41, 8-16(4)(5)(6).
      Location monuments, sections 10-32, 10-33, and 10-34.
      Quarter-section corners, sections 8-16(7)(8)(10).
       Sixteenth-section corners, section 8-16(8)(10).
      Use of non-standard monuments, section 4-7.
      Witness corners, sections 4-15 and 4-82.
      Witness points, sections 4-17 and 4-82.
   Corner accessories
      Bearing trees, sections 4-85, 4-86, 4-87, 4-96 - 4-114.
      Bearing objects, sections 4-85, 4-89, and 4-90.
      Memorials, section 4-91.
       Mound of stone, section 4-92.
      Pits, section 4-95.
      Reference monuments, section 4-82.
  Dependent resurvey, sections 6-28, 6-29, and 6-30.
  Field examination, sections 6-22 and 6-50.
   Independent resurvey, sections 6-49(5)(6)(9) and 8-15.
  Magnetic declination, section 2-18 and 3-126(19).
  Meander lines, sections 3-119, 3-121, 3-122, and 3-123.
  Measurement of standard line, section 3-9.
   Metes-and-bounds surveys, sections 7-16 and 9-82.
  Mineral segregation surveys, sections 7-41 and 7-42.
  Parts of sections, section 3-94.
  Recovered monument, sections 3-32, 4-3, and 6-28.
   Report on swamp and overflowed land, section 7-98.
  Resurveys, section 6-1.
  Resurveys prior to extension, section 3-102.
  Resurveys prior to subdivision of township, section 3-32.
   "Small tract" surveys, section 7-37.
  Soil classification, section 7-100 - 7-103.
  Subdivision of sections, section 3-75.
  Subdivision of township, sections 3-53 and 3-67.
   Testimony about corner point, section 5-11.
  Township exteriors, section 3-23.
  Township surveys, section 7-30.
  Triangulation, section 2-6.
  Unofficial marks at corner, section 5-12.

Examples of application are found in the sample field notes in the appendix.

  8-14. A full description of all monuments of the established survey, upon which the new lines are to be initiated or closed, or all monuments of the established survey which is to be resurveyed, is furnished to the surveyor when a field assignment is made. It has been required in previous manuals that such monuments be completely described in the new record only if changes are made in the new survey or if the monument or its accessories do not agree with the record. Since one of these conditions is nearly always the case, the new requirement is that a redescription be made in every case. However, it is not required that the markings on the brass cap of a properly marked regulation monument be repeated. If the year date is added, that information may be placed in the field notes without showing a complete corner diagram. The description of an identified corner should follow the order given in section 6-29. Examples of descriptions are shown in the sample field notes in the appendix.

When it is necessary to refer to a reconstructed corner monument described in another book of field notes of concurrent resurveys, a reference is given to the particular field notes in which the description of that monument will be found. For example: "the cor. of secs. 3, 4, 33, and 34, on the N. bdy. of the Tp., previously described in the field notes of the dependent resurvey of the S. bdy. of T. 24 S., R. 3 W., of this assignment."

The complete description of a monument is entered once only. In subsequent notes the expression "heretofore described" may be employed when referring to a point already occupied in the new survey. All corners recorded in the same book of field notes are referred to by name only, without repeating the description of the monument, as for example: "the cor. of secs. 2, 3, 10, and 11" or "the standard cor. of secs. 33 and 34" or "the cor. of secs. 5, 6, 31, and 32, on the S. bdy. of the Tp."

  8-15. In the record of an independent resurvey the field notes of the metes-and-bounds survey of each valid claim are preceded by a copy of the abstract of entry. A brief statement then follows concerning the principal factors controlling the location of the particular tract, and whether or not the claimant was consulted or communicated with, in the matter of the identification of the boundaries of his claim. The statement should be clear as to whether the location of a claim, shown either as a tract segregation or as conforming to the lines of the resurvey, was controlled by collateral evidence, or by one or more identified corners of the original survey, nearby or remotely located, or by its relation to adjoining tracts. In case all of the tract segregations within a township can be covered by one general statement, the same should appear at the beginning of the field notes of the metes-and-bounds surveys. The field notes should be made to account for each tract shown upon the status diagram.

Historical references to the field notes and plats of the earlier surveys, to the lines more recently resurveyed that form a portion or portions of the plat outline, to lines run and marked by the county surveyor and similar surveys found acceptable for the identification of tract boundaries, etc., should be incorporated in the introductory part of  the field notes of the independent resurvey.

  8-16. It is important to standardize the writing of the field notes or retracements and the subdivision of sections, and to simplify the record so far as possible. In the majority of the work this can be done by adherence to the following rules:

  (1) Complete descriptions are given in those cases where the retracement is not followed by resurvey procedure or the subdivision of a section.
  (2) No detailed description of the retracement is required in the field notes when the retracement is followed by a resurvey. In that case the procedure is described in the introductory statement, and the corner monumentation and lines (corrected to true lines) are described in the field notes of the dependent resurvey. When the section lines are retraced as a preliminary to subdivision of a section, it is usually necessary to resurvey them in order to establish sixteenth-section corners on the section lines.
  (3) The directions and lengths of the true lines; the descriptions of natural objects, stream crossings, principal slopes, and other topographic calls; the descriptions of the physical, collateral, and record evidence or testimony concerning the old monuments and their accessories; and all new monumentation are given in the true-line field notes.
   (4) The descriptions of closing corners of the exterior and subdivisional surveys originally placed on the standard parallels or township exteriors where the record call s for two sets of corners, and similarly within partially subdivided townships where there are offsets to be dealt with, will be given in the field notes of closing lines of the exterior or subdivisional survey that is being retraced or resurveyed.
   (5) When a closing corner monument is found which marks a line that is not being concurrently resurveyed, a connecting course and distance and a complete description of the monument will be given in the field notes of the retracement or resurvey of the line closed upon.
   (6) The new monument for a closing corner in those cases where required, will always be placed at the true point of intersection, and so stated clearly. An off-line monument will be marked AM, connected by course and distance, and fully described in the field notes of the closing line.
   (7) Intermediate quarter-section corners between closing corners will be recorded in the field notes of the closing section immediately following the description of the closing line which completes the survey of the section. A cross reference will be entered in the field notes of the retracement or resurvey of the line closed upon.
   (8) The descriptions of the section, quarter-section, and sixteenth-section corners on the section boundary lines, as required for the subdivision of a section, will be given in the field notes of the retracement or resurvey of the section boundaries.
  (9) Random or trial lines that are required for the subdivision of a section are treated in a prefacing statement concerning the type of work to be performed in one or more sections, but no field-note statement of the detail is necessary.
   (10) The descriptions of the center quarter-section corner, and of the sixteenth-section corners within the section will be carried in the true-line field notes of the subdivision-of-section lines.

  8-17. The character of the land, soil, and forest cover upon the lines surveyed will be summarized at the conclusion of the field notes of each mile. The record of the mile will be closed by a line drawn across the page. A general description of a township as a whole, with regard to topography, soil, forest cover, merchantable timber, native grasses, water supply and drainage, minerals, settlement, and improvements, will be supplied at the conclusion of the subdivisional notes. This general description for resurveys need not be as expansive as that for original surveys.

8-18. Signed statements relating to the positions of lines or corners are placed in the field notes following the general description. The record of the names of the assistants and the certificates of the surveyor and of approval will take the forms given in the specimen field notes in the appendix.