6 The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 45, No. 6 From the Publications Committee Tim Kent, PLS FIELDNOTES FROM THE PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE I have searched far and wide for a woody species called caribou with no luck. I have seen many caribou with antlers but never one that has scribing for a bearing tree. The General Land Office field survey notes can seem pretty mundane in their repetitiveness in describing the land being surveyed. The corner descriptions are usually complete in regards to the type of monuments established and the accessories marked. At times the apple cart is disrupted and the results can be simply confusing. This is a description of one of those times. A father and son from Wasco County, William E. and George R. Campbell, were very successful with their GLO contracts. They came from a long line of U.S. deputy surveyors. In 1899, they were awarded contract number 699, which was for the subdivision survey of T. 3 N., R. 41 E. The field work occurred during the summer of 1899 and George surveyed the majority of the section lines. In the review of the nearly 100 pages of field notes, it is apparent that they knew how to mark and describe the corner post monuments. They also knew the tree species of fir, pine, spruce, tamarack, etc. to scribe for bearing trees and were knowledgeable of the undergrowth of huckleberry, alder, willow, and meadow grass. In the mid-1990s, I was contacted by Dennis Gaylord, who was the Umatilla National Forest land surveyor stationed in Pendleton. He was told of the description in the field notes of bearing trees labeled caribou. A portion of the description for the corner of sections 10, 11, 14, and 15 can be seen in photo 1. Photo 1
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