The 1890 Sandstone and the 1965 Pipe: Weighing Conflicting Corner Evidence
You are retracing the west half of the northwest quarter of Section 14, MDB&M, in El Dorado County. The 1890 GLO plat calls 40.00 chains between the northwest corner of Section 14 and the quarter-section corner. The field notes describe a sandstone 18 x 12 x 4 inches with "1/4" cut on the north face and a bearing tree, a black oak 14 inches in diameter, scribed "BT," bearing N 62 E at 11 links. You find the stone at the position and depth described. Three and two-tenths feet southwest of it sits a 1-inch iron pipe with a brass cap stamped "LS 4102 1965." The black oak is gone but a decayed stump lies 12.4 ft from the stone on the recorded bearing. A fence with a 1972 barn and a paved driveway runs 8 ft east of the pipe and has been maintained as the boundary for 52 years. Both neighbors claim to the fence.
1. Which object marks the corner, and what evidence must you evaluate before accepting it?
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The 1890 sandstone is the corner if it can be authenticated; the 1965 pipe is only one surveyor's opinion about where the corner was.
Evidence to evaluate before accepting the stone:
- Character of the monument: dimensions, material, and the character and depth of the "1/4" cut must match the notes; a genuine GLO quarter-section stone is hand-cut, not machine-dressed.
- Position: it must be reasonably close to the proportioned position between the found section corners - but proportionment is subordinate to a verified original monument.
- Corroboration: the stump at 12.4 ft on the N 62 E bearing is strong independent confirmation, especially if species and diameter are consistent. The 0.4-ft difference from 11 links (~7.26 ft) is well within the tolerance of a loose chain and rough terrain.
- Accessories: look for the pit, mound, and any other bearing trees on the plat.
If those checks pass, the stone controls and the pipe is a perpetuation monument that happens to be 3.2 ft wrong - a not-uncommon outcome when a later surveyor accepted a fence or a computed position.
2. How much weight do the 52-year fence, barn, and driveway carry?
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Occupation is evidence, not a conveyance. In California a fence alone does not move a boundary.
- Boundary by agreement requires an uncertain or disputed line, an agreement fixing it, and acquiescence in the agreed line - and the modern statutes contemplate a written agreement between adjoining owners. Fifty-two years of a fence supports the acquiescence element but does not supply an agreement.
- Adverse possession requires, among other things, payment of the property taxes for the statutory period; rural parcels are frequently lost on this element. Check the tax rolls for both parcels before giving any opinion.
- Estoppel may be argued where a neighbor improved in reliance on the fence, but that is a court's call, not a surveyor's.
Practical handling: hold the stone, show the occupation as a line of occupation, and advise the parties that the disagreement is a title question for settlement, quiet title, or a written boundary line agreement - not something you can resolve by choosing the fence.
3. The owner wants the boundary set at the fence. What do you show on the Record of Survey, and what do you tell him?
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You must disclose, not conceal. Under the Professional Land Surveyors' Act (Bus. & Prof. Code §8762), the map must show all monuments found, set, reset, or replaced; the manner in which the survey was made; the basis of bearings; and the relationship of your survey to the record. A 3.2-ft conflict between a verified original monument and a later pipe is exactly the kind of discrepancy the statute is aimed at.
Show:
- The sandstone as the corner you hold, with ties and the stump tie.
- The 1965 pipe as found, with dimensions and the distance/bearing from the stone.
- The fence, barn, and driveway as lines of occupation.
- A note that the pipe disagrees with the original monument and that occupation does not agree with the monumented line.
Tell the owner plainly that you cannot set the line where the evidence does not put it; the fence question is a legal dispute, and you will supply the facts for it.