Hugo Neighborhood Association & Historical Society
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Hugo Neighborhood Association & Historical Society |
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HUGO APPLEGATE TRAIL FIELD NOTES General Land Office Survey Plats Among the most useful and readily available documentary resources for western emigrant trails are the General Land Office (GLO) survey plats produced from the 1850's through the early 20th century.1&2 These are the original federal township surveys, now available in the western states on film at BLM state and district offices (both the plats and surveyor notebooks). Although most GLO plats were the result of conscientious surveys by competent surveyors, some of the plats are not trustworthy. There are historical records of large-scale fraudulent surveys and smaller-scale, so called "hotel room surveys" where no actual field survey was ever conducted. The researcher must compare what is seen on these old plats with other sources. As a general rule, on GLO plats accuracy will exist only where the trail intersects a section line. Even the most competent GLO surveyors only recorded features along section lines within a township. A section is one mile square, with 36 sections in a township. Surveyors were required only to walk along section lines and record in their survey books what features they encountered along the section line. Thus, in most cases, field surveyors did not record features within the sections when surveying along section lines.Hugo Applegate Trail Field Notes The Hugo Emigrant Trails Committee has transcribed the field notes for the GLO’s 1856 Map for T. 34 S., R. 6 W., Willamette Meridian (General Surveyor Office of Oregon)3 and tested them on the 1998 USGS Merlin Quadrange to be accurate. The following are examples of the transcribed field notes.
More Information When completed, a surveyor’s field notes were sent to a draftsman who then transposed the recorded features from the survey notes to the plat, but could only estimate where the trail was located between section lines. Therefore, unless the surveyor either followed a trail between section lines or could see it clearly (and provided that information in his survey notes), the trail route drawn between section lines may be inaccurate. This is usually not a problem in areas where the trail is coursing through sections of flat terrain in a relatively straight line. But the possibility of inaccuracies should be considered when judging the reliability of a trail route appearing between section lines in mountainous and forested terrain. As a general rule, on GLO plats accuracy will exist only where the trail intersects a section line. Want more information? Contact an officer of the Hugo Neighborhood, or a member of the Trails Committee on how you can become involved in this trail project. |
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© 2011 Hugo Neighborhood Association & Historical Society |