12 The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 45, No. 3 Featured Article family worked together on their properties for both of these needs. I remember being quite young and seeing my grandpa get out this small rectangular wooden box, and some strange stand thing that folded up with a stick with numbers and a red and white target on it. I still have the whole set, by the way! I did not know at the time that these moments would push me to be where I am today as a land surveyor. In high school in Mackay, Idaho, it came time as a senior to “plan for your future.” Everyone asked, “What are you going to do?” As I looked through college catalogs, I came across a “Land Surveying Program” continued A map showing Goodale's Cutoff in relation to the Oregon Trail. Used by permission from the National Park Service. Goodale's Cutoff of the Oregon Trail at Lava Lake, west of Arco, Idaho, and east of Carey, Idaho, along US 26, 20, 93. Photo by James Tolbert, licensed under Creative Commons. at Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario, Oregon. I thought, “Hey! That is what grandpa had and was doing with that strange contraption years ago, let’s try that out!” Very decisive right? Little did I know you needed to be good at math. But I applied and went to school to learn surveying and I even survived, barely! Later in my career I got the opportunity to go back and survey my family's homestead. I had to break down four sections in order to do this and enjoyed the satisfaction of great work and heritage when I went to set new 1/16th corners along the western boundary. I had to knock the brace post cross members sideways a bit to set the bars! They knew their boundary lines. Nowmany years later, all this has brought me around to working for the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) for the last 16+ years before recently going to work with David Evans & Associates. In the ODOT position I got to research lots of old deeds and maps and occasionally we got Public Records Requests (PRR) for information. In August 2021, we received one of these PRR’s for information related to the Original Oregon Trail. I looked through our RW maps and did not find anything directly related, but I did find lots of bits and pieces in areas near the highways. Laura Wilt, who is the research librarian for ODOT, had a great find that I will share in a moment! Mike Fallert's grandfather's level.
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