

Manners and Joseph Ledlie on Jand is near the present town of Mahaska, Kansas. For Kansas, this point is known as the Initial Point for the Sixth Principal Meridian.

The Surveyors General Office consisted of a Chief Clerk, Chief Draftsman, Draftsmen, copyists, clerks, accountants and messengers.ĭeputy Surveyors (the surveyors who conducted the actual surveying) were paid by the mile of surveying at the rate of $12.00 for standard lines (Standard Parallels and Guide Meridians) $7.00 for exterior lines of Townships and $5.00 for interior of subdivisions.Īll surveys must have a reference point or Point of Beginning. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of defined the boundaries of the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska and caused the Commissioner of the General Land Office to appoint a Surveyor General for the two territories. The Public Land Act of 1785 stipulated the use of the English mile as the national distance measurement and required that it be measured using the 66-foot Gunter’s chain. Today, a great majority of land transactions in the 30 western-most states are described with this section, township, and range system. The PLSS surveys in Kansas were conducted between 18. The Public Land Survey System (PLSS) is a legal reference system designed to ease the description, inventory and transfer of real property. The different Manuals of Instruction, such as the one published in 1855, were issued as improvements on Jefferson’s original idea. Kansas was originally surveyed using a system first developed by Thomas Jefferson called the Public Land Survey System. Original surveys of Kansas: The Public Land Survey System
