SURVEY OF THE BOUNDARY LINE BETWEEN IDAHO AND MONTANA FROM THE INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY TO THE CREST OF THE BITTERROOT MOUNTAINS. By RICHARD U. GOODE. INSTRUCTIONS. The survey of the boundary line between Idaho and Montana was provided for by the Fifty-fourth Congress in the sundry civil act approved June 4, 1897. The following correspondence is self-explanatory: DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, The honorable the SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. SIR: In response to your verbal request, I have the honor to transmit herewith suggested instructions relating to the survey of the boundary line between Idaho and Montana. I am, with respect, your obedient servant, CHAS. D. WALCOTT, Director. INSTRUCTIONS RELATING TO THE SURVEY OF THE BOUNDARY LINE BETWEEN IDAHO AND MONTANA. Included in the act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1898, and for other purposes, is found the following law: For surveying that portion of the boundary line between Idaho and Montana beginning at the intersection of the thirty-ninth meridian with a boundary line between the United States and the British possessions, including the retracing of so much of the international boundary line as may be found necessary for the determination of said intersection, then following said meridian south until it reaches the summit of the Bitterroot Mountains, and for locating points on said meridian by triangulation from the Spokane base of the United States Geological Survey, and on the continuation of said boundary line along the Bitterroot Mountains between Idaho and Montana, seven thousand six hundred and fifty dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to be immediately available: Provided, That the Secretary of the Interior shall direct that the survey shall be executed under the supervision of the Director of the Geological Survey by such persons as may be employed by or under him for that purpose, and such survey shall be executed under instructions to be issued by the Secretary of the Interior: Provided further, That the plats and field notes thereof prepared shall be approved and certified to by the Director of the Geological Survey, and three copies thereof shall be returned, one for filing in the surveyor-general's office of Idaho, one in the surveyor-general's office of Montana, and the original in the General Land Office. In carrying out the provisions of the law above quoted three special processes are involved: First. The accurate location of the thirty-ninth meridian on the ground by triangulation from the Spokane base of the United States Geological Survey, including the retracing of so much of the international boundary line as may be found necessary for the determination of the intersection of the thirty-ninth meridian with the said boundary line, as well as for locating points on the continuation of the boundary between Montana and Idaho along the summit of the Bitterroot Mountains. Second. The marking on the surface of the ground, by proper monuments, of the boundary as determined. Third. The preparation of the necessary plats and field notes. With reference to the above, the following instructions will be observed: LOCATING THE BOUNDARY. The Spokane base of the United States Geological Survey is referred to the meridian of Greenwich, and the thirty-ninth meridian above mentioned has for its initial point the meridian of the old Naval Observatory at Washington. By applying the proper correction and referring the thirty-ninth meridian west of Washington to the meridian of Greenwich, the result is that the meridian to be determined as the boundary line between Idaho and Montana is 116° 03′ 02′′.30 west of Greenwich. The triangulation from the Spokane base will be extended eastward so as to accurately locate the intersection of the meridian above mentioned west from Greenwich with the summit of the Bitterroot Mountains. It may be that this identical point can not be located directly by triangulation, but a point as near thereto as may be possible should be so located, and from this the exact point should be determined by careful traverse based on an astronomic or calculated azimuth and distances determined by direct chaining or stadia measurement, whichever may be most practicable. After the point referred to, namely, the intersection of the meridian 116° 03′ 02′′.30 west from Greenwich with the summit of the Bitterroot Mountains, has been determined, the triangulation is to be extended northward, locating as many points as may be practicable as near as may be to the boundary line between Idaho and Montana until the international boundary is reached. From the points so located by triangulation other points exactly on the boundary will be determined by traverse in the manner hitherto mentioned. The international boundary line is supposedly on the forty-ninth parallel of latitude. It will not, however, answer the purpose to rely on the location of this parallel from the Spokane base, but it must be determined with reference to an existing monument or monuments, being carefully retraced until its point of intersection with the meridian is exactly located. The distance along the international boundary from the nearest monument, or the monument recovered, to the point of intersection will be determined either by triangulation or direct measurement with chain or stadia or a combination of the two methods. After points as above described have been located on the boundary line between Idaho and Montana from the international boundary to the summit of the Bitterroot Mountains, these points will be joined by true meridian lines, so that a sufficient number of points on the boundary in addition may be determined to fulfill the conditions made necessary under the provisions hereinafter mentioned for mark ing the line. Upon the completion of the survey and marking of the portion of the boundary line coincident with the thirty-ninth meridian, the triangulation will be extended in a scutheasterly direction so as to locate points on the continuation of the said boundary line along the Bitterroot Mountains. All triangulation will be executed in accordance with instructions issued by the Director of the United States Geological Survey under date of February 15, 1897. In running lines between points located on the boundary the following instructions will be observed: The instrument used must be a first-class transit instrument, reading to minutes or less, with or without solar attachment, but provided with stadia wires, and must be kept constantly in adjustment. In running the line, double back and fore sights with telescope direct and reversed must be taken, in order to guard against errors resulting from imperfect adjustment of the line of collimation. It is absolutely necessary to follow this method whenever meridian lines are run, in order to avoid errors in the course. When offset lines are necessary, the notes must fully explain the procedure, and a diagram of such offsets must be inserted after the verbal description. Observations on Polaris for azimuth must be taken on the line every night, weather and other circumstances permitting, and the record of such observations must be given in detail in the notes in the manner as described in the Manual of Surveying Instructions for the Survey of the Public Lands of the United States, issued by the Commissioner of the General Land Office under date of June 30, 1894. Temporary marks will be established on the preliminary or random lines between located points, and on reaching a closing point the departure therefrom will be noted. The true line will then be established, and permanent marks placed by shifting the positions of the temporary marks with a swing proportionate to the closure error and distances. Distances along the line will be carried by stadia or chaining, so that it will be possible to locate accurately all monuments established, as well as all topographic and cultural features. The distances thus obtained will be checked in closing from one located point to another. A full description of all monuments, the character of the timber and soil, the distances to the crossing of all bridges, rivers, lakes, outlines of wooded areas, railroads, roads, trails, and other prominent features will be fully recorded in the field notes, and a sketch of the topographic features adjacent to the boundary line will be made, as well as from each triangulation station on or near the line and from any traverse that may be run in connection with the line. Intersections will be made whenever possible on all important objects susceptible of location. The magnetic declination will be determined in connection with each transit observation on the line. MARKING THE LINE. Monolithic monuments will be placed on the boundary at the following places: Near the Northern Pacific Railway, near the Great Northern Railway, and near the north bank of the Kootenai River. These monuments are to be 6 feet long and 10 inches square, minimum dimensions, and are to be placed in a truly vertical position, set 3 feet in the ground and with their faces directed to the cardinal points. They are to be of undressed stone, except for a space sufficient to cut the words "Idaho" and "Montana" on the west and east sides, respectively, which will be dressed smooth, and try letters shall be 2 inches high, of proportionate width and of the style known as Egyptian. The same kind of monuments will be placed on the line at the international boundary and at the summit of the Bitterroot Mountains if it shall be found practicable to transport them in one mass, otherwise they will be prepared in the quarry in every respect similar to those mentioned above and will then be sawed into sections of such size as to be readily transported on pack mules to their destinations. They will then be firmly and securely cemeted with Portland cement and established in the same manner as the other stone monuments. The monument on the international boundary in addition to having the inscription "Idaho" and "Montana" on the west and east sides, respectively, will have "Canada" inscribed on the north. Intermediate between the stone monuments above described will be placed at prominent summits, road, trail, or stream crossings, at distances not exceeding a mile apart, and intervisible whenever possible, wrought-iron posts 6 feet in length, 3 feet of which shall be above ground and 3 feet below the surface, with a brass cap similar in general design to the standard iron posts used by the United States Geological Survey. The cap surmounting the post will be inscribed as below, the line cut on the cap being coincident with the boundary line: IDAHO LINE Under each post will be placed a stone marked with charcoal or a vial filled with ashes. It is assumed that generally a soil surface for the insertion of the stone or iron posts can be found sufficiently near the points it is desired to establish the monuments. If, however, the exact point should fall on rock at the international boundary or the summit of the Bitterroot Mountains, a hole will be chiseled in the rock to a depth of about 8 inches and a little larger than the base of the monument. Into this hole the monument will be firmly cemented with the best Portland cement. If the point for the location of one of the iron posts should fall on a rock surface, a copper plug similar to that used by the United States Geological Survey will be cemented in the rock and a truncated conical mound of stone, not less than 2 feet high and 5 feet broad, will be placed to the north of the point at a distance of 4 feet from it. The copper plug will be stamped as MONT. follows: IDA. and will be properly oriented. When suitable bearing trees are found within a distance of 100 feet of a stone monument or iron post, they must be marked on the side facing the corner in the manner prescribed in the manual for special corners. In addition, each iron post will be witnessed, when possible, by mounds of earth or stone, one in Idaho and one in Montana, the material for the mounds to be taken from pits, one north and one south of the post, dug crosswise of the line. The pits will be 3 feet east and west, 2 feet north and south, and 1 foot deep, and their centers, as well as the centers of the mounds, will be 4 feet from the center of the iron post. PLATS AND FIELD NOTES. Special attention is called to the provisions of the law relating to plats and field notes. All plats and field notes shall be approved and certified to by the Director of the Geological Survey, and four copies thereof shall be returned-one for filing in the surveyor-general's office of Idaho, one in the surveyor-general's office of Montana, one in the office of the Geological Survey, and the original in the General Land Office. All field notes must be transcribed on a typewriting machine. The results of the topographic notes will be embodied in a map which will be drawn on a scale of 1 inch to a mile. Detailed diagrams of the points on the international boundary and at the intersections of the Bitterroot Mountains will be made. |