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JOSEPH PRATTE SURVEY NO. 3037
U. S. Survey number 3037, dated 1837, consists of parts of Township 35 North, Ranges 3 and 4 East and parts of Township 34 North, Ranges 3 and 4 East. The first surveys of the area were executed by deputy surveyors Hempstead and Elliot in 1816, running the Township and Range lines. In 1817, Lionel Browne was contracted to subdivide the Townships into sections. The first Township subdivided was 34 North, Range 3 East. It is apparent by viewing the original plat that Browne was finding considerable excess distance when closing onto the Township and Range lines. When he continued on to Township 35 North, Range 3 East, he resurveyed the South and East boundaries without any explanation, but did note the amount of excess distance he was measuring and his resurvey was adopted by the General Land Office. Why only these two lines were resurveyed has not been answered but it is very possible that the remaining Township and Range lines by Hempstead will contain three or more chains of excess distance per mile.
The next survey record in existence was performed by Mason Frissell in 1837 for the Joseph Pratte, U. S. Survey number 3037. He was instructed to begin at the corner of Sections 14, 15, 22, and 23 in Township 35 North, Range 3 East near the Northwest corner of the tract as surveyed by John Hawkins in 1817. No record of the Hawkins survey was found nor did Frisell mention in his notes of there being any of the Hawkins corners located on the ground. The Frissell survey was to follow along the section lines East for five (5) miles, thence South along the lines to the Township line between 34 and 35 North, and continue South into Township 34 North so as to contain 20,000 arpents, or 17,013.88 acres.
The Frissell notes clearly describe the corner stones set and that he found all of the section and quarter section corners along the lines that were established by Lionel Browne in 1817 and 1818. A considerable difference was noted on the Range line between the corner of Sections 13 and 24 in Township 35 North, Range 3 East and the closing corner of Sections 18 and 19 in Township 35 North, Range 4 East. When Browne closed on the Range line, he recorded a falling North of 156 links; Frissell records this distance as being 305 links which is also shown on the government plat. Along the remaining lines in Township 35 North, Ranges 3 and 4 East, Frissell does not note any considerable differences; they vary from 40 links long to 30 links short.
The next record of a survey in Survey 3037 is an unofficial document by H. D. Ahrens in 1917 for the Iron Mountain Company. No field notes or instructions were found describing the purpose or the procedures for this survey. The Ahrens survey does indicate considerable difference with the surveys by deputy surveyors Browne and Frissell, both on the plat and on the ground as determined by a field inspection. Along the North boundary of 3037, the Ahrens survey describes found stones and stones with the same description as those set by Frissell, but it does not verify the 156 links or the 305 links discrepancy mentioned above. The Ahrens survey shows an excess of 6 to 7 chains in the North half of Sections 23 and 24 in Township 35 North, Range 3 East and in Sections 19, 20, and 21 in Township 35 North, Range 4 East. The value of the bearings on the Ahrens survey are shown to the nearest minute of arc indicating the survey was performed with a transit or the values were determined by inverse calculations from a coordinate system. The field inspection has revealed that the monumentation is exactly as described on the plat and the stones were set with a triangle chiselled into the top. It is apparent that Ahrens was performing a very precise and well monumented survey but it appears that, for the most part, it was done independently of the original government surveys executed by Browne and Frissell.
It is noted on the original government plat that part of the ground had been sold prior to the 1837 survey by Frissell; therefore, the property would have been described by Section, Township, and Range. According to the St. Francois County Abstract Company, all of the property has been described by the government rectangular system and no reference has been made to any subdivision of the Joseph Pratte Survey Number 3037. The abstract company has in its possession, a copy of the Ahrens survey of U. S. Survey 3037 divided into 40 acre tracts, more or less, with designated tract numbers assigned, but this is not an official county record. In 1917 the tract of land belonged to the Pleasant Valley Development Company from Kansas City. It is our opinion that the Ahrens survey was executed for this company as a land development but they owned it only one year and the plats were never recorded.
The field inspection along the East boundary of U. S. Survey 3037 in Township 35 North, Range 4 East reveals that Ahrens utilized the stone set by Deputy Surveyor Frissell at the corner to Sections 33 and 34 on the Township line. The distances North from this corner shown on the Ahrens survey are exactly those recorded by Frissell except the last one half mile which he shows being seven (7) chains longer than record. The quarter corner between Sections 21 and 22 was not searched for, but at the corner to Sections 21, 22, 27 and 28 the original government corner was found 5.83 chains North of the corner set by Ahrens. The original government corner was not found at the corner to Sections 27, 28, 33, and 34, but the corner by Ahrens disagrees with the recorded General Land Office creek ties at this location by 2.5 chains. The distance was measured between the corner of Sections 33 and 34 on the Township line to the corner of Sections 21, 22, 27, and 28, Township 35 North, Range 4 East along the East boundary of the Pratte survey. The total distance is four (4) chains longer than the distance recorded by Browne. It is our opinion that - Frissell adjusted his chain to agree closely with the previous surveyor, but Ahrens did not, and placed all the excess distance in the North part of U. S. Survey 3037. A proportionate distance using this excess agrees with the creek which could not have changed locations since 1818.
The West boundary of the Pratte survey also contains conflicting corner locations in Township 35 North, Range 3 East. At the quarter corner of Sections 26 and 27, the Ahrens' stone was recovered and 6.41 chains North of its position is a pile of stones with a stumphole at the location of one of the original witness trees. At the corner of Sections 34 and 35 on the Township line, this 6 chain difference shows up again. In 1870, 47 years before the Ahrens survey, property South and West of this corner belonged to, then Governor B. Gratz Brown. It is reported that Governor Brown used prison inmates to construct a rock wall around this property. The rock wall is still in existence today. The original government conrners were found at the South quarter corner of Section 34, and the closing corner of Sections 2 and 3 for the Township South along this rock wall. At the Northeast corner of the wall, the original gum witness tree is still standing for the corner to Sections 34 and 35, Township 35 North, Range 3 East, 3.57 chains North of the Ahrens corner for Sections 34 and 35. Viewing the interior portions of the Ahrens survey in Township 35 North, Range 3 East, one sees all the distances to be 40 chains except the northerly most half-mile. The bearings are straight without any deflection at the corners and all the longitudinal lines are recorded as West. This situation does not exist on a dependent resurvey where the original lines were not straight. The Ahrens survey shows this same condition in Township 35 North, Range 4 East except the bearings are not parallel, but are recorded as being straight for three miles East and West.
It becomes apparent from these observations that the Ahrens survey was not performed according to any recognized procedures for reestablishment of original government corners. It is also apparent that a dependent resurvey of the twenty-four sections of ground embraced by the Ahrens survey would cause considerable impact and possible litigation for the hundreds of property owners in the area. The well monumented Ahrens survey has been recognized by both surveyors and property owners since it was performed. There is a large subdivision and lake development around the old Iron Mountain Lake along with numerous fences and possession lines throughout Survey 3037 which were built with respect to the Ahrens Survey.
In 1983 and 1984 the Missouri Conservation Department executed an extensive survey in Township 35 North, Range 3 East. This survey consisted of property adjoining and within U. S. Survey 3037. Both the government corners and the Ahrens corners were utilized for property outside and inside U. S. Survey 3037 respectively. Apparently this is the adopted procedure for surveying property along the boundaries of U. S. Survey 3037, though it does not agree exactly with the Missouri statutes.
It is not the intent of this report to establish rules for surveying in the area of U. S. Survey 3037, but to create an awareness that an unusual situation exists.
We, the undersigned surveyors, do hereby certify that the foregoing instrument was filed for record with the STATE LAND SURVEY on the 29th day of July, 1985.
{signed} Robert E. Myers, Date: 7/26/85
{signed} Orvis D. Lashley, Date: 7/26/1985
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Transcribed by Steven E. Weible
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For additional information pertaining to the confirmation of General Series Survey No. 3037, see American State Papers, Public Lands, Volume 7, page 773, No. 1336 and then go to Decision No. 158 on page 793.
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For additional information pertaining to the confirmation of General Series Survey No. 3037, see American State Papers, Public Lands, Volume 7, page 773, No. 1336 and then go to Decision No. 158 on page 793.
