Lost Quarter Corner and Proportionate Measurement
A surveyor is retracing the north line of Section 7, T80N, R25W, Iowa. The original 1855 government survey record gives the distance from the northwest section corner to the north quarter corner as 40.00 chains and the total north line as 80.00 chains. The northwest and northeast section corners are found in place, but the north quarter corner monument is lost. The measured distance between the two found section corners is 5,318.6 ft. The client's abstract describes the west half of the northwest quarter, and the client wants the surveyor to set the lost quarter corner at exactly 2,640.0 ft from the northwest corner because 'a quarter corner is always halfway.' A previously recorded survey by another firm shows the quarter corner at 2,651 ft from the northwest corner. The county recorder has no corner certificate for the lost corner. The adjoining landowner has a fence at the 2,651-ft position.
1. Reestablish the lost north quarter corner. Give the correct distance from the northwest section corner and explain the method.
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Use single proportionate measurement between the two found section corners. The record distance to the quarter corner is 40.00 chains and the record total is 80.00 chains. Therefore:
Distance from NW corner = 5,318.6 ft × (40.00 ÷ 80.00) = 2,659.3 ft.
Set a monument at that proportional position on the line between the two found section corners. The correct distance is not 2,640.0 ft merely because a quarter corner is nominally halfway; the original government survey created the corner at the record proportion. Here the record proportion happens to be one-half, so the result is the midpoint of the measured line. The 2,651-ft position from the prior survey is about 8.3 ft short of the proportionate position and should not control unless it is an original or accepted corner with independent legal significance.
2. The client insists on 2,640.0 ft. How should the surveyor explain and document the decision?
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Explain that a lost corner is reestablished by accepted proportionate measurement, not by assuming the nominal aliquot distance. The original record called the quarter corner at 40.00 chains on an 80.00-chain line; applying that ratio to the measured 5,318.6-ft line gives 2,659.3 ft. Using 2,640.0 ft would create an error of about 19.3 ft and would mislocate the corner.
Document the record citation, the found section corners, the measured distance, the proportion formula, and the monument set. Note the prior survey and the reason its position is not controlling. If the prior surveyor set a monument at 2,651 ft, that monument may be evidence, but it does not become the legal corner merely because it was recorded. If the landowners have accepted and relied on the prior line, investigate whether a boundary agreement or acquiescence issue exists and disclose it.
3. The adjoining landowner's fence is at the 2,651-ft position. What is the surveyor's responsibility?
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The surveyor must not ignore the fence. The fence is not a public-land-survey corner, but it may be evidence of a practical boundary or a boundary by acquiescence between the adjoining owners. The surveyor should show the fence, the reestablished quarter corner, and the distance between them, and explain that the PLSS corner location and the possessory boundary are separate questions.
Recommend that the landowners obtain legal advice or a written boundary agreement if they want to resolve the discrepancy. File the required corner record or certificate for the reestablished corner. The survey should state the basis for the corner position and should not imply that the fence has been judicially determined to be the boundary.