Montana Oil And Mining Journal

several points of as much as nearly half a mile. How Error Was Made This error is explained by Bandy as follows: "These offsets are due to the fact that when, in the course of the original survey, astronomical observations for latitude and longitude indicated that the line was not on the true 45th parallel the surveyors set over the necessary amount. They seem to have made no effort to correct the line back of these astronomical stations and no mention is made of the offsets in the official field notes."

In the retracement made by Bandy's party in 1936 it was difficult to find many corners left by the first party because many of them had rotted away. Bandy's men had to be pretty good detectives in many cases, as witness this one: "An idea of how the corner monuments have deteriorated can be gained from the fact that all we were able to find at the 67-mile corner was a chip of cottonwood about four inches long lying on the ground. Since there were no trees or fences within a mile or more, we were quite sure that this chip was a part of the original corner post. We then discovered traces of the old pits by observing that the fine surface gravel was thicker in two slight depressions. After skimming off the surface of the ground we were able to definitely identify the old pits by the difference in texture and color of the soil."

True Position Unknown "But," concludes Bandy, "the true position of the state boundary of Wyoming from the 63-mile corner to the 90-mile corner is still unknown. This part of the line has not been retraced. It passes through a very rough and mountainous country that is entirely uninhabited and it is probable that no one has seen many of the corners since they were established 60 years ago. This area is traversed by the famous Cooke City highway and is being developed into quite a recreational region.

"However, because this line has not been retraced and the corners found, national forest officials, game wardens and others interested in administering the laws in this area do not know in which state certain camps, fishing streams and lakes are located. In fact, latitude determinations made to the west and east of this part of the line indicate that there is a latitudinal difference of close to half a mile between the 63 and 90-mile corners. Therefore, it is possible that there is at least one jog of close to a half mile somewhere along this part of the line."