“How about it, Ted?” smiled the agent.
“I have one in mind. After I have examined the water supply I shall know whether or not it will work.”
“Good! Now we’ll turn some more soil.”
At the north and south ends of the quarter section other tests were made which gave results almost similar to the first, though the soil was not quite so moist.
“See that tree with the cross blazed in the bark?” Andy asked, as he pointed to a tree a rod away.
“Yes,” answered the boys.
“That’s your corner mark. If you go close, you will see an E 1, N.E. cut below the blaze. That means that your section is mapped as E 1 and that this is the northeast boundary. You’ll find marks at the three other corners. Don’t cut those trees down or deface the marks; there’s a fine of two hundred and fifty dollars or six months’ imprisonment, or both, for destroying a corner mark placed by the government. Where there are no trees, stone posts are set up.”
“Do you mean that all this region has been surveyed?” asked Phil.
“It has, and mapped as well. At the Land Office you can buy maps of all the lands open for homestead entry, marked even into forty-acre lots, with a list of all the people who have filed entries and the locations of their claims.”
“That’s some job, surveying and running lines,” commented Ted.