Fort Bend Museum
  • About Us
    • Staff & Board
    • Employment
    • Press
  • Visit
    • Group Tour Packages
    • Field Trips
    • DeWalt Heritage Center
    • Gift Shop
    • Costume Rentals
  • On Exhibit
    • Pop-Up Exhibits
    • Temporary Exhibits
  • Events
    • Spilling the Tea
    • Hispanic Heritage Tiempo De Celebrar >
      • Open Call
    • Gallery Gatherings
    • Bites and Brews
    • Lectures
    • Candlelight Tours
    • Night in the Garden
  • Explore
    • Event Venue Rental Options
  • JOIN + GIVE
    • Membership
    • Donate
    • Volunteer
  • Blog
  • About Us
    • Staff & Board
    • Employment
    • Press
  • Visit
    • Group Tour Packages
    • Field Trips
    • DeWalt Heritage Center
    • Gift Shop
    • Costume Rentals
  • On Exhibit
    • Pop-Up Exhibits
    • Temporary Exhibits
  • Events
    • Spilling the Tea
    • Hispanic Heritage Tiempo De Celebrar >
      • Open Call
    • Gallery Gatherings
    • Bites and Brews
    • Lectures
    • Candlelight Tours
    • Night in the Garden
  • Explore
    • Event Venue Rental Options
  • JOIN + GIVE
    • Membership
    • Donate
    • Volunteer
  • Blog

 Our Blog: Fort Bend County’s Local History Museum

Surveying in Early Texas

4/7/2020

2 Comments

 
By ALLISON HARRELL
Texian Time Machine & Outreach Coordinator

When Anglo settlers first came to Texas, one of their first orders of business was to obtain a land grant. A land grant is a legal document that details who owns the land, where the land is located and who gave or sold the land. The first land grants were not issued in our part of Texas until 1824, which meant that settlers had been living in Texas for a few years before Stephen F. Austin managed to successfully negotiate the details of land grants.

People will always fight over land -- and Austin learned this truth very quickly. Everyone wants the best land with the most resources, and they also want to be very sure that they are getting the exact amount of land they were promised.

Surveying the Land

In 1821, measuring land was a tricky situation. Obviously, there were no lasers to ensure straight and accurate lines -- so how did they do it? The Texas ten-vara length chain.

The Texas vara was adopted by surveyor James Kerr and was 33 1/3 inches long.

Metal chains were crafted and then linked together to measure land. Each chain link was the same length, so if one link became damaged or broken, it could easily be replaced and the chain would keep a consistent size.
Picture

The Surveying Team

A surveying team included at least two men to work with the chain, but also often involved other people, too:
  • Compass and Flag Men: First, these two men would set up a giant compass on a tripod. Then, using the compass, the flag man would stand far away, forming a line from the compass to the flag. This line is what the chain would measure, and it helped ensure that the lines were straight.
  • The Axe Man: The axe man would clear branches and brush for the survey team and also notch trees to indicate border lines.
  • Other supporting roles included a cook, a mule and a mule minder.​
Picture
At the very least, the whole operation could be done with three people -- two to clear brush/work the chain and one to perform duties of both the compass and flag men.

Detailed & Dangerous

​Every detail of every survey had to be recorded: the location where they started, the trees that they encountered along the way, the number of chain lengths that they went, the direction that they were going, etc. The journal of the all the details was signed by the surveyor, so if anyone had an issue with how their land was surveyed or if they found a mistake – they knew who to go to with their issues. This put a lot of pressure on the surveyors to get everything right.
​
Since the survey teams were going out into the unexplored and undefined wild, it was also dangerous work. Sometimes they encountered Native people groups like the Karankawa and the Tonkawa, who were not pleased to have these foreigners trespassing on their traditional hunting grounds. Other times, the dangers were more standard: wolves, poison ivy, mosquitoes and bears, to name a few.

Now It's Your Turn!

Materials:
  • A large rigid household item (such as a yard stick, milk jug or laundry basket). Don't use items like yarn or string -- those tend to stretch.
  • 10 markers/stakes
  • A journal/paper and a writing utensil to write down all the details
  • ​A compass (most smart phones have a compass app you can download)
Directions:
  1. You are going to measure the land that you have on hand – your backyard! Start in the left hand corner if you have a fence; otherwise, pick a spot that will be easy to find again (against a tree, or item in the yard). Be sure to detail in your journal where you are starting.
  2. Place your rigid item on the ground, flush with your starting point if at all possible.  Place one marker down on the opposite side of the object from your starting point. Now move the item to the other side of your marker and place a new marker. Repeat this process until all ten markers are on the ground.
  3. Pick up all the markers and start the whole process over until all the sides of your yard have been measured. (Make sure you are keeping track of how many times your item has been placed on the ground before you get to a corner, what marks each corner, etc.)
  4. Once you have measured the whole yard, it is time to find the area:
  • If your yard is a square or rectangle, multiply the number of objects wide times the number of objects tall.
  • If your yard/area is not a square, do the following:
    • ​Divide your back yard into different sections for easy calculations. To the best of your ability, try to make sure that the sections are square or rectangular. Then multiply each section's width by length.
    • If you have a circular section of your back yard, you'll need to find the radius. To do that, measure the distance across the center of the circle and divide by two. Then you'll multiply that number by pi (3.14) to determine the area.
    • After you've figured out the different areas for each section, add the totals together to determine the entire area of your yard!

Did you find the area of your yard? Take a photo and tag us on Instagram @fortbendmuseum!

Picture
2 Comments
Mia Evans link
2/16/2023 06:57:34 am

I totally agree when you said that the details in the surveying process has to be recorded form the location where you started and so on. I guess people working on commercial land surveying services would definitely have to undergo proper training to actually know what they need to jot down. It would be more vital for such services, since it would definitely prevent issues that can affect the outcome of the project and the budget of the owner.

Reply
Millie Hue link
3/14/2023 01:55:14 am

I totally agree when you said that people would actually want to have the right amount of land they should be getting according to the agreement. I guess having building surveyors will give us the assurance that we are getting what is ours when we have the property checked. This must be important before we have anything renovated in our inherited place.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Funding has been provided to the Fort Bend History Association from Humanities Texas and the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of the 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020.
    Picture
    Picture

    Author

    Fort Bend Museum Staff

    Archives

    December 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    September 2018
    May 2018
    February 2018
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER
GIVE
BECOME A MEMBER
The Fort Bend Museum is owned and operated by:
Picture
Accredited by:
Picture