Evidence, Monuments, and Boundary Retracement
The weight hierarchy
Courts weigh boundary evidence in a settled order: natural monuments, then artificial monuments, then courses and distances, then area. A call for an adjoiner (a neighbor's line or corner) carries great weight because it is a monument by reference. This hierarchy resolves conflicts inside a deed; it does not resurrect a monument that never existed.
Original versus subsequent evidence
Only original evidence of the government survey controls: the original stone, bearing tree, or pit, or the record that describes it. A pipe or stake set later by a surveyor is evidence only of that surveyor's opinion and must be tested, not obeyed. A call that is impossible, inconsistent, or a manufactured "false call" is rejected.
Retracement, not resurvey
Retracement follows in the footsteps of the original surveyor: the original position, however erroneous, is the boundary. The retracing surveyor re-establishes lost corners from the best available evidence and does not "correct" an original survey. Possession, improvements, occupation lines, and parol testimony are admissible to explain ambiguity and to identify monuments.
Traps in questions
Treating any found iron as an original corner; applying "monuments prevail" without identifying provenance; letting area control a closed deed; ignoring a call for an adjoiner; confusing admissibility of evidence with its weight.
Rule of thumb
Follow the footsteps: natural monument, artificial monument, course, distance, area. When a later monument conflicts with the original record, the record wins until the later monument is proven to perpetuate the original.