PLSO Oregon Surveyor January/February 2019

26 The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 42, No. 1 Featured Article I amfinishing up this story on the day after Thanksgiving. I noticed that theWitness Tree Vineyardwebsite is still active, so I called to inquire about the sale of the vineyard and whether their “Claim No. 51” and “Bench- mark” Pinot Noirs are available. To my delight and relief, I was told that the “clos- ing” has been extended—perhaps through Spring—and that the 2013 and 2014 Claim No. 51 and Benchmark Pinots are available by the case, half case, and bottle. I said “to my relief” because the wine I bought in Au- gust, earmarked for the 2019 silent auction, got consumed at Thanksgiving. In conclusion, on this day after Thanksgiv- ing, I will add four things tomy list of things to be thankful for: 1. My friendship with Gary Johnston, without whose company on this project I would have little reason to tell this tale, and in whose company, I have enjoyed, and hope to continue to enjoy, the fruits of Oregon’s grape and hop harvests. 2. We found the corner. When I was supervising field crews, I would tell them “Don’t come back without it” (I can still see their eyes roll). I got to practice what I preach, and I have a witness. 3. Oregon wine country. 4. Surveying, which gave me a fabulous career and keeps on giving.  x continued T So, I tookmy newly-purchased wine home and promised myself to return someday with research, shovel, and pin finder. Enter Gary Johnston. Somehow, I per- suaded Gary to meet me at Witness Tree Vineyards, do somewine tasting, and bring enough gear to find and expose the cor- ner in question. I had this persistent itch to confirmthat the road improvements hadn’t taken out the corner, plus, it sounded like fun. Gary must have agreed, because on August 14 of 2018, Gary met me in the Witness Tree tasting room, where we con- ducted yet one last class of Surveying 101, did some tasting and buying, then head- ed out to the rigs to get gear. I grabbed my Schonstedt, Gary grabbed his shovel and tape, and off we trekked up the road to the beautiful Oak Witness Tree. Impos- sible to miss from below, the tree looks just as good as it does on the wine labels. Up close, one is confronted with damage done to the trunk by the axeman in expos- ing (and sneaking away with?) the original blaze. It is my theory, as yet unsubstanti- ated, that somebody decorates a mantle with a slab of oak scribed “BT.” Upon arriving up top, we triangulated the most likely spot fromthe two existing bear- ing trees, whereuponmy Schonstedt sang its sweet tune. To Gary’s credit (and tomy good luck) he offered to domost of the dig- ging. He must have thought I was a Party Chief or something. And it took some dig- ging—it was August, the soil was dry and hard packed, and Gary had to dig down a whole 14 inches. You knowhowsometimes you get down there deep enough, then you must start digging sideways because of all the “accessories” planted over the years? You get my drift. There were two or three iron rods planted around the corner and old traces of surveyors flagging everywhere in our hole, so we (well, Gary mostly) kept digging horizontally until we felt a hard, flat surface. Spitting on my handkerchief, I was able to wipe enough soil off the disk to expose it. This old spitting technique ac- complished three things: it confirmed the existence of the D.L.C. corner, it perma- nently stained the kerchief, and it smeared dirt over the disk so we couldn’t read it. It being a warm August day, we were low on both water and spit. Not to be defeat- ed, my crew mate walked over to a large water tanker parked in the area, found a valve and returned to the site with plenty of cool, clear monument-washing water. The rest is history. Not enough spit D. Raymond’s field notes for the NW corner of Claim No. 51. More reason to carry water on a hot day.