Restoring a Lost Four-Section Corner on a Retracement in Bingham County
While retracing Section 14, T. 4 S., R. 39 E., B.L.M., you find the original 1911 GLO stone at the NE corner of Section 14 and the original stone at the SE corner of Section 23, but no evidence of the SE corner of Section 14, which is common to Sections 13, 14, 23 and 24. The 1911 field notes give 80.00 chains for the east line of Section 14 north of the lost corner and 80.00 chains for the east line of Section 23 south of it. To the west, the original stone at the SW corner of Section 14 is found, and the original stone at the SE corner of Section 13 is found to the east; the notes give 80.00 chains for the south line of Section 14 and 80.00 chains for the south line of Section 13.
Measured straight-line distances between found monuments are 10,572.40 ft (NE corner, Section 14, to SE corner, Section 23) and 10,548.10 ft (SW corner, Section 14, to SE corner, Section 13). Standing 4.1 ft from your preliminary position is a 5/8-inch rebar with an aluminum cap stamped "PLS 1234," set in 1998, with no corner record on file and no ties. No bearing trees survive.
1. State the method you will use to restore the SE corner of Section 14 and compute the position from the controlling monuments.
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This corner is lost, not merely obliterated: no original monument and no acceptable collateral evidence (bearing trees, mound, pits, accessories) survive, and the 1998 rebar is not original evidence. A lost corner is restored by proportionate measurement, never by holding a record bearing and distance.
Because this is a four-section corner, the restoration is double proportionate - measure in both cardinal directions and proportion the record distances.
North–south: controlling corners are the NE corner of Section 14 and the SE corner of Section 23. Record total = 80.00 + 80.00 = 160.00 ch = 10,560.00 ft. Measured = 10,572.40 ft. Distance from NE cor. Sec. 14 = (80.00/160.00) x 10,572.40 = 5,286.20 ft, laid along the measured bearing between those two found monuments.
East–west: controlling corners are the SW corner of Section 14 and the SE corner of Section 13. Record total = 160.00 ch. Measured = 10,548.10 ft. Distance from SW cor. Sec. 14 = (80.00/160.00) x 10,548.10 = 5,274.05 ft.
The corner is the intersection of those two proportioned lines. Two cautions: the record bearing is used only for the mathematical check, never to set the position over the measured line; and before accepting the intersection, test it against every other found corner in the section, because a consistent offset in one direction usually reveals a blunder in a controlling corner rather than a true proportion.
2. How should the 1998 aluminum-capped rebar be treated in your determination?
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The rebar is evidence, not control. The hierarchy of evidence places original government monuments and their accessories first; a monument set by a later surveyor at a position that conflicts with the original evidence cannot move the original corner.
Before dismissing it, though, investigate it. Check the county recorder for a corner record, record of survey, or filed plat by PLS 1234; check whether the cap is a standard one for that surveyor, whether there are ties on a filed map, and whether the 1998 position was computed from a different controlling set (for example, from the quarter corners instead of the section corners). A 4.1-ft offset is large but not random - 1998 surveys in this area often used the section corners of the adjoining township line, and if a controlling monument has since been found to be non-original, the 1998 position would be systematically displaced.
If no record explains the offset, accept the proportionate position, set a new monument with a proper cap and at least two ties, show the 1998 rebar and the 4.1-ft offset on your map, and state in a note that it was not accepted and why. That note is what protects the next surveyor from repeating a bad assumption.
3. What must be filed and documented, and what would you communicate to the adjoining owners?
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Idaho's corner recordation statute requires a corner record (or a record of survey, if your map also discloses a discrepancy) whenever a corner is re-established or a survey reveals a conflict. The filing should contain:
- descriptions of every found monument and its condition;
- record versus measured distances along both controlling lines, with the proportioning arithmetic shown;
- the accepted corner, the new monument, and two or more ties;
- the 1998 rebar, its cap, and the 4.1-ft offset with a note that it was rejected;
- the basis of the re-establishment, the coordinate datum and epoch, and the statement that the restored section corner controls the subdivision of the section.
Notify the adjoining record owners in writing before or at filing - this is a four-section corner that will be relied on by four tracts, and an unnotified owner who later litigates is the expensive outcome. Keep the raw field notes, the residual analysis, and the computation package in the project file permanently. Also flag to the clients that the surveyor has restored a position from record evidence and has not adjudicated title, and that any occupation (a fence, a crop line) that conflicts with the restored corner must be evaluated by counsel, not by the surveyor.