he State of California has a rich and diversifiedhistory of surveying. The variety of tasks per-formed includes cadastral surveying, propertysurveying, municipal, geographic, mining, hydro-graphic, road and railroad surveying to namesome. Some early California surveyors werenotable figures, some were ordinary citizens, and

some were even crooks. It is not known when the state’s earliest surveys were per-

formed. The Anasazi native people in nearby New Mexico

engaged in a rather sophisticated type of surveying as early as850 A.D. Substantial evidence exists among numerous ancientruins in the Chaco Canyon area to confirm that particularalignments were made, ranged out, and replicated. The angularaccuracy of their work using primitive methods was one or twominutes of arc. Distances were likely measured with cordsmade of yucca fibers. With this surveying capability theAnasazi built pueblos according to a predetermined plan. Theyalso constructed sophisticated astronomical devices that indicat-ed important solar and lunar events. For the same period,

T>> Francois D. “Bud” Uzes, LS

Diseño of Rancho San Joaquin, California, c. 1841. One of the conditions for gaining a free land grant in Spanish or Mexican Californiawas the submission of a diseño depicting the boundaries of the lands sought. The Spanish word for boundary is lindero, and sitiomeans “place”. This diseño was submitted to the governing Mexican authorities for a grant of 48,803 acres of coastal property inOrange County. The wetland area in the lower left portion is Upper Newport Bay. Playa (bottom center) is the Pacific Ocean. Source: National Archives, RG 49.

Surveying in California

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nothing like that type of advanced sur-veying activity has been found inCalifornia. It would be shortsighted tosay, however, that early inhabitants ofthe West Coast did not engage in someform of rudimentary surveying activity.Nine centuries would pass before recog-nizable surveying activity would beperformed in California.

Apart from some early coastal mappingperformed by visual observation from apassing ship, the first notable land meas-uring occurred near Monterey and SanFrancisco during the late 1760s by MiguelCostansó of the Spanish Royal Corps ofEngineers. It was at that time, toward theend of the Seven Years War in Europe,that Spain began to actively assert controlover Alta California. Presidios were estab-lished for military purposes in what istoday San Diego, Santa Barbara,Monterey, and San Francisco; twenty-onemissions were built and a few private landgrants were issued. Little if any surveyingwas performed for these activities. The

first land surveying inconjunction with anurban real estate devel-opment occurred in1797 when AlbertoCórdoba staked out thetown of Branciforte near theSan Lorenzo River in part ofwhat is today Santa Cruz.

Mexico took control of Californiaas it obtained its own independencefrom Spain in 1821. The new govern-ment soon initiated liberal land policiesincluding the granting of ranchos, (largetracts of land) to prospective settlers.One element in obtaining title to a ran-cho was the requirement of arudimentary survey. This often consist-ed of two men on horseback measuringdistances with a lariat or rope of fiftyvaras in length, the equivalent of about1371⁄2 feet. The lariat was connected tothe bottoms of two long staves that wereheld by the horsemen. Work progressedin a leapfrog fashion and the mostly cer-

emonial operation was sometimesattended by the interested parties,including neighbors. The bounds of thesurvey were typically geographic fea-tures or landmarks, such as rivers,ridges, large stones or trees, etc. Theland grants were issued free of chargeand limited in size to 11 leagues, orabout 48,712.4 acres (Figure 1).

The arrival of the American period inthe late 1840s corresponded to historicevents like the conquest of the land by

Figure 1 Method of measuring a Mexican Land Grant byhorse-mounted vaqueros. From California Rancho Days byHelen Bauer.

Figure 2 Wm. Schmolz Surveyor’sTransit c. 1860. Author’s collection.

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Portion of an 1879 GLO map ofCalifornia. Pink tracts are privategrants recognized by the GLO as itwent through the region.

war with Mexico, the Gold Rush, and in1850, statehood. Those events broughtskilled surveyors to the Golden Statewith more precise instruments, includinga number of dealers and manufacturers.The instrument makers who relocated toSan Francisco during the 1850s includedJohn Roach, Thomas Tennent, WilliamSchmolz, Charles Knus, and M. Engel.

The sudden influx of immigrantsbrought about an immediate need forland development and accurate coastalsurveys. Arriving quickly were geodet-ic surveyors from the U.S. CoastSurvey, private surveyors subdividingthe public lands, and public works sur-veyors in the rapidly developing cities.Complicating the surveying of the pub-lic lands were the hundreds of Mexicanland grants that were poorly surveyedand generally unmarked as to bound-aries. The private titles were affirmedthrough treaty efforts with Mexico, butnobody knew the exact location of theboundaries. The fact that the private

lands occupied the best andmost fertile lands within thestate further complicated theissue as squatters challenged

the unconfirmed titles. Their bound-aries had to be established according toAmerican standards before the adja-

cent public lands couldbe subdivided and

sold. This task wasnot an easy one as

the private titleshad to first beproven by theMexican own-ers to a specialU.S. land com-mission andthen, ultimate-ly, to the

courts. It wasnot easy for the

claimants to makeproof to officials

who spoke a different

Figure 3 (Above) John A. Benson, (1847-1910) leader of the infamousBenson Syndicate that fraudulentlysurveyed nearly a thousand townshipsin California.

Figure 4 (Left) George Davidson(1825-1911) was California's preemi-nent geodetic control surveyor anddirector of coastal mapping. CourtesyNOAA, B.A. Colonna Album.

Measuring the General Grant Tree in Kings Canyon National Park. The giantsequoia is 267 feet tall and 40 feet across the base. It was proclaimed a NationalShrine on March 29, 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as a living memorialto the men and women of the United States who gave their lives in service to theircountry. A large wreath is placed at the base of the tree each year during the annual Christmas ceremony. Photo from author’s collection.

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language and worked under unfamiliarrules. The process was further compli-cated when some individuals filedfraudulent claims. On the other hand,there were likely a number of validclaims that were rejected by theAmerican authorities. The pressure ofidentifying and subdividing public landcombined with the difficulty in provingthe private titles caused much difficultyfor the rapidly expanding Californiapopulation.

Instrument TechnologyOne of the earliest San Francisco instru-ment makers, William Schmolz, beganoffering a surveyor’s transit that wasadvertised as especially designed forretracing the Mexican land grant surveys(Figure 2). This instrument has thestandards attached to the lower horizon-tal plate instead of the upper. Thesespecial instruments were constructed sothat the compass card and needle ringremain stationary when the transit isrotated in azimuth with the lower plateclamped. For the first time, this designallowed bearings of lines to be carrieddirectly on the instrument circles. A fewother makers including the popular

Gurley firm, made instruments of similarpattern. An article “The First Surveyors’Transits, 1852-1862” by Robert C.Miller describes the construction of thesetransits. It was published in the August1993 issue of Rittenhouse journal.Schmolz also invented the method forsecuring the Burt solar attachment to thesurveyor’s transit instrument thatbecame the industry standard. It was thestyle widely marketed by the W. & L.E.Gurley Company.

California has another claim toinstrument technology in the “FriscoRod.” The 3-section leveling rod wasdeveloped by the Keuffel & EsserCompany shortly after it opened abranch office in San Francisco. It wasdesigned to be light and compact inorder to be conveniently carried “inrailroad or trolley cars, in a buggy, etc.,where rods of the usual pattern wouldbe inconvenient to carry.”

Scoundrels & Role ModelsThe public land surveys started inearnest with the establishment of the Mt.Diablo Initial Point in 1853. To hastenthe progress of surveys, additional InitialPoints were also set on Mt. San

Bernardino in Southern California andin the Humboldt area of NorthernCalifornia. Meridians, baselines andtownship exteriors were immediately laidout followed by the cadastral subdivisionsurveys. Speed was essential to meet thedemand of the many new settlers; unfor-tunately, it also opened the door to thosewho took advantage of the laxity of gov-ernment officials.

Subdividing the government publiclands was done by private surveyorsworking under contract with the U.S.Surveyor General for California. Thecontracted individuals were given thetitle of U.S. Deputy Surveyors. Theprogram operated fairly well until theearly 1870s when a family of surveyorstook over both the awarding of con-tracts and execution of the work. Thatoperation was eventually halted by theadministration’s ouster of the SurveyorGeneral, however, a precedent had beenset. Now, a bigger dilemma was toevolve from the loose governmentalsupervision. The new problem was ofcombined land and survey fraud. Thisoperation extended throughout the 10western states, courtesy of the infamousgroup known as the Benson Syndicate,led by John A. Benson (Figure 3). Themid-1880s brought the scandal to lightand punitive action was initiated against

Being a member of this early California survey crew required more than chainingskills when the party started. Courtesy of California State Library, Sacramento.

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the perpetrators. Strict enforcement ofthe contract provisions through inde-pendent check surveys was also astrong factor in bringing about higherstandards of work. (Editor’s note: Lookfor a future article on Benson, who isarguably the biggest crook in the history ofAmerican surveying.)

Surveying ProgressOne branch of government surveys, theU.S. Coast Survey (later the U.S. Coast& Geodetic Survey), has always per-formed to a high degree of excellence.Much of that can be attributed to the19th century leader in California,George Davidson (Figure 4). Davidsonwas an extraordinary individual whoalways adhered to the highest standards

of competence, performance and ethics.He was a principal participant in thetranscontinental triangulation of the late1890s that established the first chain ofgeodetic control stations across the con-tinent and terminated in centralCalifornia. The closing figures of thatproject were named the DavidsonQuadrilaterals in his honor. Under hisdirection numerous coastal surveyswere performed along the nearly 1,500miles of California coastline. Theimportance of this project was enor-mous because much of the earlycommerce was carried on by seagoingvessels.

Other government surveys were per-formed to a lesser degree of accuracy.These included the topographic sur-

veys of both the U.S. GeologicalSurvey and those done for military pur-poses under the direction of Lt. GeorgeMontague Wheeler. There was muchcompetition between the various agen-cies about who could produce the bestproduct, both economically and techni-cally. Actually, some elements of themapping programs were wastefulbecause the competing agencies chosenot to work together. In the LosAngeles area, two separate baselineswithin sight of each other were meas-ured for geodetic control by the Armyand the Coast Survey.

Surveys for urban development, otherthan the Branciforte survey of 1797, gener-ally began during the late 1840s. A smallnumber of individuals were given militaryappointments to work as surveyors during the brief period of military rule following the surrender of Mexican forcesto Lt. Col. John C. Frémont in January1847. The appointments provided exclu-sive authority to designated surveyors towork in defined districts. One such project was the survey of San Francisco in1847 by Jasper O’Farrell; another was thesurvey of Los Angeles by Lt. E.O.C. Ordand Chester Lyman in 1849. An interest-ing element of the Los Angeles surveyincluded comments by Lyman about thedifference in magnetic north as deter-mined by their individual transits. Themilitary appointments of surveyors con-tinued in effect until civil rule becameestablished in 1849 through the adoptionof a constitution by selected delegatesmeeting in Monterey.

Private surveying practice wasrestricted in the state’s early laws to theindividual county surveyors or theirdeputies. As a result, there was a sub-stantial amount of politics involved inbeing able to work as a surveyor duringthe early California period. This restric-tion was never formally repealed,although the duties of the county sur-veyor were redefined in 1870 and thenew language did not provide for suchexclusive authority. The surveyingwork performed by the county survey-ors and their deputies during the earlydecades usually failed to follow the let-ter of the law. The subdividing ofgovernment townships typically didn’tinvolve anything more than stubbing inwith record dimensions from a singlerecovered corner. Modern surveyorssometimes fail to take this into accountwhen performing retracement surveysof government sections.

Portion of a BLM map showing the Principal Meridians and Baselines Governing theUnited States Public Land Surveys.

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Much new private surveying work fol-lowed the general opening up of thepractice beginning in the 1870s. Thestate’s rapid population growth resultedin large numbers of new land divisionsin the urban areas, many of which werecarelessly surveyed and mapped. A num-ber of 19th century recorded tract mapsfail to provide sufficient dimensions toenable other surveyors to locate the indi-vidual lots. This of course presents themodern surveyor with a difficult situa-tion and oftentimes some sizeableheadaches. The numerous defects in sub-division surveys led to the establishmentof the first Land Surveyor RegistrationAct in 1891. That legislation helpedtighten up some of the early surveyingwork, but not all. New state laws werealso added regarding the recording ofresidential subdivision maps, somethingthat was previously undefined in thestate codes.

The late 19th and early 20th centuriesbrought even more changes. Instrumenttechnology continued to progress withlighter metals and advancements indesign. The large surveyor’s compassfaded into oblivion, while the Smithsolar transit quickly became the standard

instrument for cadastral surveys. In addi-tion, the steel tape replaced thecumbersome link chain. Besides theadvances in equipment, educational facil-ities also appeared with dedicatedsurveying programs; two of the moreprominent schools were the Van derNaillen School of Engineering andHeald’s College. These and otheradvancements resulted in a more quali-fied California land surveyor, one whowas better trained and used superiorinstruments.

Fence Lines and Case LawDespite the advancements in technologyand training, the property corners placedby the pioneer California surveyors contin-ue to challenge the judgement of modernsurveyors. They are often confronted withhow to locate property boundaries in areaswhere earlier corners were set according toinferior standards of practice. The pioneerowners frequently built fences along theproperty lines identified to them by countysurveyors during the 19th century. Thedisparity in locations between historicfences and current aliquot-part subdivisionguidelines becomes critical as recent caselaw moves toward not recognizing long-

standing fences for boundary purposes.Thus the modern surveyor is challenged tomark property based upon current surveymethodology that results in differing cor-ner locations than those set under thehistoric standards of practice. Some survey-ors have suggested that fences in Californiaheretofore be mounted on wheels ratherthan by setting posts in concrete.

Bud Uzes has 51 years of surveyingexperience and currently operates aconsulting business that specializesin boundary litigation. He is active insurveying history and is the author ofChaining the Land, A History ofSurveying in California. He oncepublished a price guide for antiqueinstruments and books, and hasbeen a contributing author toBrown’s Boundary Control and LegalPrinciples. He is a graduate of theUniversity of San Francisco and aFellow and Life Member of ACSM.

Author’s Note: A variation of this articleappeared in Turning the Horizon, pub-lished by the Michigan Society ofProfessional Surveyors Foundation,Issue 1, Vol. 2, Fall 2003.

Lt. George M. Wheeler surveying party in Yosemite Valley, c. 1878. Courtesy of Denver Public Library, Western HistoryCollection, Carleton Watkins, Photographer, Z-7900.

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