I
)
I*
•V
8
1
DATE
i
■
--
ss=a>fa
I
!
. ■ - . >
____
as it is not known for its
; scenic beauty and is located-
OKLAHOMA JOURNAI
OKLA. CITY, OKLA.
Circ. 61,955
10-1-7 J
•< h-‘
’ *-’r
*
i:
i
I
V. J
,   „ If you asked each of Okla<
f homa’s 2,500,000 residents
• road at the north edge of the
Arbuckle Mountains approxi-
mately 1.5 mile south of the
site of historic Fort Arbuckle, base • line
and north of the Ohio.
Rev. McCoy was one of the
projectors of the proposed
Indian Territory in the west-
ern wilderness and was large-
ly instrumental in persuading
a number of the tribes to
move to new reservations
west of the Mississippi and in
\ This place is atop a small
hill on the boundary line be-
tween Garvin and Murray
counties, and is marked by a
sandstone monument 54 inch-
es high set in a mound of
stones six feet in diameter
and three feet high. ,
This monument marks the
most important spot in the
state, the “Initial Point.”
------J                     ‘W uivic. MU11I a 11J Will
Surveyors know the answer , place in Oklahoma. Not an
inch of land in the vast area
can be located without refer-
0‘'’OKLAHOMA PRESS
CLIPPING BUREAU
Oklxhoiu* City, Oklahoma
-Point In State Sets ’
/Property Boundries
the Indian Meridian, and to survey of the boundaries of
...   --------- toi number, ranges north and ’ ‘
name the most important5 south from the Base Line.
tial Point” of the public land
surveys of the present State
of Oklahoma was erected7in
or about the year 1870 follow-
ing the original official sur-
vey of the Indian Meridian as
executed by Deputy Surveyor
“Initial Point.” E. N. Darling for the Com-
From that point every foot of missioner of the General Land
Office in Washington, D.C.
The sandstone monument
measures 54x18x18 inches.
Inscribed on the north side of
the monument is “1870,” the
lettering “Ind. Mer.” on the
east side and “I.P.” on the
west side.
Records of the Oklahoma
Historical Society show that
the first land survey in Okla-
land in an immense area, in-
cluding all of Oklahoma ex-
cept the three panhandle
counties, is described in legal
documents. The area includes
Kansas and Nebraska.
The "Initial Point” marks
the intersection of the Indian
Meridian extending north and
south, and the Base Line ex-
tending east and west. With                      
establishment of this point it homa was that of the southern
became possible to number boundary of the Cherokee
townships east and west from Outlet. The contract for the
able tracts of land for such
occupancy. ., . . •v
Congressiona 1 records,
show the work of surveying
the boundaries of the Chero-
kee Outlet was performed by
his son, John C. McCoy in
1837.
In 1851 and 1852, the boun-
the Cherokee Outlet was un-
'-place in,the state, it is doubt-  Ranges and townships are  Coy^otSd SptisU^sstm
. j=ful as many as 1,000 could  sunilar  areas, each being ■ ary who spent a large part of ;
;                    anTev \ SL\mileS Wide- ' - ' his active life 10 kbor Snong
216 ™emb€rs of 1116 • 1116 “Initial Point”’is . re-   the Indian tribes mostly liv-
i.AOklahoma Society of- Land,  ferred to more than any other ring east. of the Mississippi
Surveyors know the answer place in Oklahoma. Not an and north nf th* hm* - PP ■
: and they will hold their first
annual convention in Okla-  
. homa City on Friday and Sat- ence’to this "I P.” The ref-
urday, Oct. 2-3, proclaimed ercnce, direct or indirect, is
• by Gov. Dewey F. Bartlett as; in every deed or lease ever
“Oklahoma Society of Land written to describe Oklahoma
Surveyor Days.” . -            real estate, and will continue
The most important place to appear thoughout the histo-
. ;is one which is rarely visited, ry of civilization.                 helping them to select suit-
Tbe Indian Territory was so ' *
remote from established base ■'
•'near-a winding private ranefi. lines and medians—which had
formerly been set by Eng-
land—that the surveyors de-
cided to establish a fictitious
----- —; and a fictitious
meridian, the meridian to be
known as the Indian Meridian. '  Mvluli_
•J/e monument at the ‘‘Ini- dary between the Cherokee
*’          '  ’ Outlet and the Creek Nation
was surveyed by Capt. Lor-
enzo Sitgraves and Lt. Israel
C. Woodruff, both of the Corps
of Topographical Engineers.
In 1857, Jones & Brown
were employed to survey sev-
eral lines in the Indian Terri-
tory, including the Ninety-
eighth Meridian from Red
River to the Cherokee Outlet-
Creek Nation boundary, an-
other re-survey of the latter
line and also the boundary
line between the Chickasaw
and Choctaw nations.
The Kansas-Oklahoma
boundary line was surveyed
by a party under escort of
troops commanded by Lt. Col.
..Joseph E. Johnston of the
1st Cavalry, in 1857.