SECTION IX.

SUBDIVISION OF SECTIONS.

222. Subdivisions of sections are original surveys to be made in the following manner:

1. Section and quarter-section corners set by the government surveyors, and the boundaries actually run by them, as well as the length of all lines as returned in their field notes, are to be taken as correct. (See Sec. 2396 R. S., First and Second. P. 246, Sec. 100.)

2. The corners of half and quarter sections which were not marked on the government surveys, must be placed as nearly as possible equidistant from those two corners which stand on the same line. (Sec. 2396, First. P. 246, Sec. 100.)

This applies to the quarter-posts on the north and west lines of the township which were surveyed previous to 1846; also to those townships which, under the act of 1796, were surveyed into blocks of two miles square, (P. 244, Sec. 99, Third), and to those surveyed under the act of 1800,* where no quarter-section corners were planted on the lines running from south to north.

* No. 21.-An Act to amend the act entitled "An act providing for the sale of the lands of the United States, in the territory northwest of the Ohio, and above the mouth of the Kentucky River."

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the surveyor-general shall cause the townships west of the Muskingum, which by the abovementioned act are directed to be sold in quarter townships, to be subdivided into half-sections of three hundred and twenty acres each, as nearly as may be, by running parallel lines through the same from east to west, and from south to north, at the distance of one mile from each

3. The boundary lines of sections, (see Page 244, Sec. 99, Third), and of half and quarter sections, which were not actually run and marked, are to be ascertained by running straight lines from the established corners to the opposite corresponding corners. Where no such opposite corners have been or can be fixed, the line should be run from the established corner due north and south or east and west, as the case may be, to the water-course or other external boundary. (P.246, Sec. 100, Second.) These due lines are to be found by trial of the boundary lines of the section, as actually run by the government surveyor, and the subdivision line, run on a course interiediate between the courses of the section lines which lie parallel with it. (See Instructions of 1881, p. 259.)

The following figure illustrates the manner of subdividing sections. It shows sections 5, 6, 7, and 8, repre

other, and marking corners, at the distance of each half mile on the lines running from east to west, and at the distance of each mile on those running from south to north, and making the marks, notes, and descriptions prescribed to surveyors by the above-mentioned act: And the interior lines of townships intersected by the Muskingum, and of ali the townships lying east of that river, which have not been heretofore actually subdivided into sections, shall also be run and marked in the manner prescribed by the said act for running and marking the interior lines of townships directed to be sold in sections of six hundred and forty acres each. And in all cases where the exterior lines of the townships, thus to be subdivided into sections or half-sections, shall exceed or shall not extend six miles, the excess or deficiency shall be specially noted, and added to or deducted from the western and northern ranges of sections or half-sections in such township, according as the error may be in running the lines from east to west, or from south to north; the sections and half-sections bounded on the northern and western lines of such townships shall be sold as containing only the quantity expressed in the returns and plats, respectively, and all others as containing the complete legal quantity And the President of the United States shall fix the compensation of the deputy surveyors, chain-carriers, and axemen: Provided, The whole expense of surveying and marking the lines shall not exceed three dollars for every mile that shall be actually run, surveyed, and marked.

senting the four different cases which occur in a township surveyed previous to 1846. In the later surveys, the de

fer a little, ow

ing to the fact

that the section

and quarter-sec

tion corners on township

the

and range lines

are common to

the township on each side of and adjoining those lines. The principle of subdivision is, how

ever, the same.

FIG. 125.

CASE 1.-Section 8. All the quarter posts are at equidistant points from the section corners which are on the same line.

CASE 2.-Section 5. Quarter posts on the north and the south are at equidistant points. Those on the east and the west are 40 chains from the south line of the section. The fraction is on the north half of the section.

CASE 3.-Section 7. Quarter posts on the north and the south are placed at 40 chains from the east line of the section. Those on the east and the west are at equidistant points. The west half of the section is fractional.

CASE 4.-Section 6. The quarter posts on the north and the south are placed at 40 chains from the east line of the section. Those on the east and the west are 40 chains from the south line of the section. Fractional both on the north and west.

NOTE.-In 1856, Thomas A. Hendricks, then Commissioner of the General Land Office, gave the following rule for locating the center of a section: "Run a true line from the quarter-section corner on the east boundary, to that in the west boundary, and at the equidistance between them establish the corner for the center of the section."

This was in harmony with an opinion previously given by the Surveyor General of Missouri and Illinois, and was very generally followed by the surveyors in those States. This rule has not been sustained by the courts, nor by any other ruling of the Land Office, so far as we can learn. It was expressly overruled by the Secretary of the Interior in 1868.

Quarter-sections are to be subdivided into half-quarters by lines running north and south.

The corners which were not marked are to be placed as nearly as possible equidistant between the two corners of the quarter-section which stand on the same line. Then run straight lines from the established corners to the opposite corresponding corners, (Page 247, Sec. 101.) Half-quarter sections are to be subdivided into quarter-quarters in a similar manner, by east and west lines. (P. 247, Sec. 101.)

It may be well to remark here, that the instructions from the General Land Office have not been uniform in regard to the proper manner of subdividing quarter-sections, and, as might be expected, the practice is not uniform among good surveyors. Commissioners Wilson and Edmunds held that half-quarter and quarter-quarter lines should be "straight lines running through the section" to points on the section line. (See Hawes's Manual, p. 142, and Dunn's Land Laws, p, 19.) The foregoing rules are those of the statute, and are endorsed by Commissioners Drummond, Williamson, and McFarland.

Commissioner Drummond's instructions are as follows:

"In the subdivision of quarter-sections, the quarter-quarter posts are to be placed at points equidistant, and on straight lines between the section and quarter-section corners, and between the quarter-corners and the common center of the section," etc. The difference in the two methods occurs when, as very often happens, the quarter-posts are not in line between the section corners.

223. Fractional sections are to be subdivided according to the Fifth paragraph of Sec. 2395 of the Revised Statutes, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior. (Sec. 99, Ex. Land Laws, and U. S. Instructions, 1881, p. 39.)

Under these regulations,* the fractional quarter-sections lying next to the north line of the township are divided

* NOTE.-" Circular to Surveyors-General, Nov. 9, 1821.-SIR: By the first section of the act of April 24, 1820, all the public lands of the United States shall be offered at public sale in half-quarter sections; and

into half-quarters by lines running east and west, parallel with and twenty chains distant from the quarter-section line. (See Keasling v. Truitt, 30 Ind. 506.)

The quarter-sections lying next to the west line of the township are divided into half-quarters by lines running north and south, parallel with and twenty chains distant from the quarter-section line.

224. Section 6 adjoins both the north and the west lines of the township, and is subject to both rules. The north half is divided into half-quarters by an east and west line, and the south half by north and south lines.

The quarter-post on the north side of section six should be placed on the township line at a point 40 chains of original measure west from the northeast corner of the section.

The quarter-post on the west line of section six should be placed at a point on the range line 40 chains of original measure north from the south west corner of the section. By original measure is meant such measure as was actually laid down on the ground by the deputy surveyors who made the original survey.

fractional sections containing one hundred and sixty acres and upward shall, as nearly as practicable, be divided into half-quarter sections, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury; but fractional sections containing less than one hundred and sixty acres shall not be divided, etc. By the act of May 10, 1800, section 3, the excess or deficiency of regular sections or quarter-sections in any township is to be thrown on the north and west sides of the township, making fractional sections more or less than one hundred and sixty acres. In subdividing such fractional sections to form a half-quarter section, viz., 80 acres, the Secretary of the Treasury directs that the subdividing line for such fractions as lie on the north side of a township shall be an east and west line, forming the half-quarter section on the south side of the fraction; and for such fractions as lie on the west side, the subdividing line shall be a meridian, forming the half-quarter section on the east side of the fraction. This mode of subdivision will preserve the compactness of the tracts with the general divisions, and will not interfere with the rule adopted relative to fractions formed by a stream, a river, etc."