The Recorded Rebar vs. the Original Bearing Tree
Deschutes County. You are retracing the east line of Section 14, T18S, R12E, W.M., on a 40-acre parcel under contract. The 1876 GLO notes call for a stone 18x12x4 inches with three grooves on the north face, and a 14-inch ponderosa pine bearing S 41°15' E, 22 links, scribed "14 BT." The stone is gone. The pine stands and still shows a healed axe blaze with a legible "14." A 1962 U.S. Forest Service survey map shows a 2-inch iron pipe with a USFS cap located 12 feet from that pine. In 1998 a private surveyor set a 5/8-inch capped rebar 4.3 feet northwest of the pine and recorded a map stating the corner was "established by single proportionate measurement from found accessories." The owner to the west has grazed and mowed to the 1962 pipe for 25 years. Your client is buying the east parcel, points to the 1998 map in the deed chain, and asks you to hold the 1998 rebar because it is "the corner of record."
1. Which position controls the corner, and what evidence hierarchy supports that conclusion?
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Original GLO evidence controls over everything else. The hierarchy runs: (1) the original monument; (2) original accessories to the monument, including bearing trees; (3) collateral evidence such as a later surveyor's remonumentation that is consistent with the original; (4) proportionate measurement, only when no original evidence survives.
Here the stone is gone, but the scribed pine is an original accessory with a bearing and distance in the field notes. A corner position derived from an original bearing tree is direct evidence, not a guess. Single proportionate measurement is expressly a last resort - the 1998 surveyor used it in 1998 while the pine was still standing, so that monument perpetuates an error rather than restoring a corner.
The 1962 USFS pipe sits 12 feet from the tree, which is consistent within the tolerance you would expect of a mid-century remonumentation, and 25 years of occupation to that line reinforces it. The controlling corner is at or near the 1962 pipe, refined by a tie from the pine using the 1876 bearing and distance. The 1998 rebar is rejected.
2. The client directs you to hold the 1998 rebar. What is your response, and what do you do if they insist?
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Explain, in writing if necessary, that a recorded survey map is evidence - not a conveyance - and that recording does not make a monument correct. A deed chain full of maps that agree with each other proves only that surveyors copied one another.
Tell the client plainly what holding the rebar would cost them: the west neighbor's occupation and the original bearing tree both contradict it, so the position is vulnerable in any later dispute, and a lender's title insurer may take exception. You would be certifying a location you believe to be wrong, which is a negligence exposure and a professional-conduct problem.
If the client still insists, do not set a monument at the 1998 position. Options in order of preference: decline the engagement; or complete the survey showing the correct corner and document the client's instruction, your explanation, and their decision in your file and report. Never let the instruction change the line silently - a note on the map that "the client requested" an unsupported corner protects no one and misleads the next surveyor.
3. What must you document and file, and how do you show the rejected and accepted monuments on the map?
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Show everything, labeled by status, so the next surveyor can retrace your reasoning without redoing it:
- The pine, with species, diameter, blaze description, scribe, and your measured tie (bearing and distance) to your corner position.
- The 1962 USFS pipe, as "found - accepted as consistent with original accessory."
- The 1998 rebar, as "found - not accepted; see note," with the 4.3-foot offset and the basis for rejection.
- The 1876 record bearing and distance to the tree, and your computed position versus both found monuments.
Add a note explaining the rejection and the evidence relied on. Oregon requires monumented boundary surveys to be documented and filed with the county surveyor under the applicable statutes (ORS 209.250 and related provisions - verify the current text and local county-surveyor requirements before filing). Provide the client a written report, keep complete field notes, and consider a professional courtesy call to the 1998 surveyor; it often resolves the conflict without litigation.