PLSO The Oregon Surveyor Sept/Oct 2020

11 Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon |  www.plso.org However, the well-defined narrative re - quirements in ORS 209 weren’t codified until 1973 when Eaton was 24 years into his 37 year professional career. Old hab- its die hard. His surveys can be extremely valuable to today’s surveyors because they note where he found original wood stakes marking lot and block corners. He would perpetuate these corners with metal monuments, such as iron pipes, iron bars, or steel spikes (Photo 1). It is common knowledge that Eaton often misidentified monumentation that he set. If he said he set an 80-penny spike in an original wooden lot corner, it’s not surprising to find an old pipe or iron bar at the corner. The original wooden stakes that Eaton documented and perpetuated are gold- en in my book. Locking onto one of them is as good as finding the original. “Proper Monumentation” and Early Oregon Laws Unlike modern subdivision plats, 1800s and early 1900s plats in Oregon do not have exacting legends showing mon- uments found and set. Most of them will have a surveyor’s affidavit, similar to today’s surveyor’s certificate, that of - ten state that they have “surveyed and marked with proper monuments” the lands represented on the plat. In many cases, the affidavit will describe a mon - ument at the initial point, but no other monumentation will be described or shown on the plat. In Deschutes County, an occasional section corner, one-quarter corner or one-sixteenth corner will be identified on the map as a boundary monument or they may be called out in the plat’s description. After a cursory review of available online Oregon platting laws from 1887–1920, I have come to the conclusion that setting wooden stakes for lot and block corners was an accepted standard of practice in Deschutes County (and most likely state- wide) but “proper monuments” were not defined in state law: • 1887 Laws, Chapter LXXIX concerns recording Town Plats but it gives no instruction as to the format of the plat or monumentation on the ground. • 1901 Oregon Laws Vol. 2, Chapter VI is titled “Of Plats, Additions, and Streets,” but it is also silent to plat Photo 5: Detail of Survey CS10244 legend. Photo 4: Survey CS10244 by Aubrey Perry. Undated, barely legible black and white copy of a tax map with some random symbols. No distances, bearings, or narrative. Featured Article format and monumentation. There is a section specific to plats in Benton and Clackamas counties requiring an attached affidavit by the surveyor stating that “he has correctly surveyed and marked with proper monuments the land as represented” and that a proper stone monument was planted at the initial point. • 1920 Oregon Laws Vol. 2, Chapter XVII is titled “Of Plats, Additions, and Vacations” and now has the 1901 Benton and Clackamas require- ments for an affidavit and initial point codified for all of Oregon. But as before, nothing in the statutes describes what constitutes “proper monuments.” • 1953 ORS 92.060 is similar to today’s 92.060: requiring setting permanent monuments in plats at the initial point, boundary angle points, lot and block corners, and continues on page 12 T