System of Surveys.—Meridian and Base Lines.—Townships.—Diagram of a township
surveyed into Sections.—Land Districts and Offices. —Pre-emption rights.—Military
Bounty Lands.—Taxes.—Valuable Tracts of country unsettled.
In all the new states and territories, the lands which are owned by the general government, are surveyed and sold under one general system. Several offices, each under the direction of a surveyor general, have been established by acts of Congress, and districts, embracing one or more states, assigned them. The office for the surveys of all public lands in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and the Wisconsin country is located at Cincinnati. The one including the states of Illinois and Missouri, and the territory of Arkansas is at St. Louis. Deputy surveyors are employed to do the work at a stipulated rate per mile, generally from three to four dollars, who employ chain bearers, an axe, and flag man, and a camp-keeper. They are exposed to great fatigue and hardship, spending two or three months at a time in the woods and prairies, with slight, moveable camps for shelter.
In the surveys, "meridian" lines are first established, running north from the mouth of some noted river. These are intersected with "base" lines.
There are five principal meridians in the land surveys in the west.
The "First Principal Meridian" is a line due north from the mouth of the Miami.
The "Second Principal Meridian" is a line due north from the mouth of Little Blue river, in Indiana.
The "Third Principal Meridian" is a line due north from the mouth of the Ohio.
The "Fourth Principal Meridian" is a line due north from the mouth of the Illinois.
The "Fifth Principal Meridian" is a line due north from the mouth of the Arkansas. Another Meridian is used for Michigan, which passes through the central part of the state. Its base line extends from about the middle of lake St. Clair, across the state west to lake Michigan. Each of these meridians has its own base line.
The surveys connected with the third and fourth meridians, and a small portion of the second, embrace the state of Illinois.