PLSO Oregon Surveyor January/February 2019

24 The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 42, No. 1 I t’s hard for me to let go of some things. Two of those things are surveying and my favorite winery tucked away neatly in the Eola-Amity Hills west of Salem. I may not let go of surveying until you pry the pin finder frommy cold, dead hands, but sadly, I’ll be forced to let go of my favorite winery soon. PLSOconference attendeeswhobid for the wine offerings at the silent auction might guess where this is going. The winery in question is themedonan iconic andhistoric oak tree. The tree, and the vineyard upon which it grows, are called “Witness Tree,” and the tree is iconic because it serves as the logo for thewinery andhistoric because it is an original bearing tree. According to their website, “Witness Tree Vineyard is a small producer of premium-quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.” I will sip to that. My first visit to the winery on NW Spring Val- ley Road happened many years ago on a bicycle ride through theWillamette Valley, and I have been going back ever since. It looks like I’ll be going back just one more time around Thanksgiving (readbelow for a promised reprieve), but it ismymost recent visit on August 14 that this story is about. Before we head out on this project, let’s do the research. Although Witness Tree Win- ery has a Salem address, it actually lies in Polk County—more particularly in the Clai- bourn C. Walker D.L.C. No. 51 and the J.P. SmithD.L.C. No. 52, in the north half of Sec- tion 24, Township 6 South, Range 4West of the Willamette Meridian. The tree itself is one of two bearing trees for the northwest corner of the C. C. Walker D.L.C., which cor- ner is assigned BLM ID 641358. The actual corner lies about 250 feet a little west of north fromthe “witness” tree. Fromthe sec- ond bearing tree, an 18” Fir, the corner lies N64°30’Wabout 110 feet. In 1971 C. Ralph Blanchard, PLS 786, restored the corner N9°45’W250.14 feet from the original oak bearing tree—the “Witness Tree”—which he had cut open to find the scribe “BT.” Blanchard restored the corner by setting a 5/8-inch iron rod with a County aluminum cap. He established two additional bearing trees—one being the fir and the other an oak. This work is documented in Corner Restoration RE D-35. Blanchard returned in 1983 to find his iron rod bent at the top but straight down below. He then restored the DLC corner with a subsurface monu- ment belowa 3-inch County aluminumcap in concrete 14 inches below the surface, as documented in RE F-179. Blanchard only describes the “Witness Tree” and his 1971 fir in the 1983 restoration. The Polk County Surveyor’s records per- taining to the Walker D.L.C. only go back to Blanchard’s original 1971 restoration. However, the original field notes can be brought up on the BLMwebsite. D.L.C. 51 was first surveyed in July 1854 by D. Ray- mond, who set a “post” at the northwest claim corner, “fromwhich an oak 14 in dia bears S9°45’E dist 3.79ch.” Inmy book (and Blanchard’s), that’s 250.14 feet. As an aside, I don’t often do work in Polk County, and I am impressed by the utility of the County Surveyor’s researchwebsite. It is very well designed and user friendly. I easily found the records I needed to re- search this story. From day one on that bicycle ride, I have been interested in (OK, obsessed by) the actual corner monument. Over the years I have visited the Witness Tree Vineyards tasting roommany times, conducting Sur- veying 101 for the long suffering owners behind the counter and purchasing their wine for personal use and for donating to the silent auction. During my visit in De- cember 2017, in preparation for the 2018 PLSO Annual Conference, I obtained per- mission to trek up the hill to the iconic oak, so I could see it up close and sniff around for the D.L.C. monument. That’s when I discovered the second bearing tree and a paddle leaning against the post an- choring the first row of grape vines in the upper vineyard, close to where the corner should be. I also noticed with a bit of trep- idation that the road upon which I walked to the upper vineyard had recently been regraded and graveled. After having paced the record distances from the two bearing trees, I determined that the corner was very close to the upper edge of the road. Having no equipment on that December visit, I could only hope the road improve- ments had not taken out the monument. Corner Search and Taste Featured Article continues T The iconic Witness Tree from the upper vineyard John Thatcher checks out the blaze The “K-Tag” By John Thatcher, PLS