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Louisiana
Purchase Bicentennial (1803-2003)
Base Line Walk Expedition
November 9, 2002
(Text
of a message by Bill Ruck, P.E., P.L.S., to those at
the conclusion of the 23.5 mile walk along the Base
Line from the mouth of the St. Francis River at the
Mississippi River to the Initial Point on the Fifth
Principal Meridian in the Louisiana Purchase State Park,
November 9, 2002. This event is an informal beginning
of the observance of the Bicentennial Celebration in
Arkansas as planned by the office of Secretary of State
Sharon Priest.)
________________
Joseph
C. Brown began
on October 27, 1815, at the mouth of the St. Francis
River, 26 miles and 29.82 chains east of here. He passed
by here 7 days later on November 2nd, and continued
west 13 more miles until November 4th. Prospect K. Robbins
also began on October 27th at the mouth of the Arkansas
River, 58 miles and 60.5 chains south of here, and arrived
to intersect Brown's line at this Initial Point on November
10, 1815, after 13 hard days. The monuments they set
are monumental in American history. The witness trees
still standing which we still use today bear witness
to the wisdom of their plan.
These
two surveyors were sworn in as Deputy Surveyors, a trust
granted by the government under oath before God. Their
notes record that each member of the party who actually
measured or marked the land was also sworn in before
God to fairly divide the land for America's benefit
- but more importantly, for the benefit of Americans.
In particular, the land was to be granted first to the
veterans of the War of 1812, then sold to the public
at large. This was a remarkable experiment in governance:
a government which wanted its citizens to own the land
and prosper by its development.
But
this land did not come easily. The lines to this Point
averaged four miles per day. Afterward, Brown would
go west 66 miles to the Arkansas River at Little Rock
and average 50 per cent more, or about 6 miles per day.
Robbins would continue north 317 miles to the Missouri
River in central Missouri, averaging 7 ½ miles
per day, nearly twice as fast as the progress south
of here.
The
surveyors paid for this gift of land in other ways besides
their time. They faced all kinds of dangers, and were
exposed to heat and cold, rains and snows, disease and
accidents, all far from civilization. They came in the
fall and winter to avoid mosquitoes and snakes. There
were no roads, only an occasional Indian trail. They
had no cabin to come home to - only a tent with fellow
workers.
They
had to carry all their supplies with them. A typical
party of 6 took 8 barrels of flour, 3 barrels of salt
pork, 3 to 4 bushels of white beans, 10 pounds of tea,
60 pounds of coffee, 150 pounds of dry sugar, 2 bushels
of dried apples, 25 pounds of oatmeal, 5 pounds of castile
soap, salt and pepper, and any other articles they could
afford.
Their
lifestyle was primitive with only a tent for shelter.
Their covers were mackinaw blankets. They carried water
in a tin pail and washed in a small basin. A few cooking
utensils and a gun to hunt with were about the only
non-surveying tools they could carry on the pack mules
they brought.
The efforts and troubles of the early surveyors were
not written up in history books, nor celebrated in movies,
as are the hardships and trials of the early explorers
and settlers, and the heroic efforts of lawmen to make
settlement possible. Even the exploits of trappers and
traders are better known to modern readers.
But
before any lasting settlement could occur, before anyone
could get legal title to any land, before anyone even
knew much about the natural geographic and ecological
features of the land, the surveyor and his team of about
six workers braved the wilderness to open it up for
settlement. On a total budget of about $2.00 per mile,
they quietly, efficiently, and bravely criss-crossed
and mapped 8 million acres of wilderness land in the
first 4 years. Alone and heading into territory populated
only by Indians-sometimes hostile Indians-these skilled
and hardy men, using inferior and sometimes home-made
equipment, ran the lines that are called for in every
land deed west of the Mississippi. This Initial Point
is called for in land descriptions in six states: Arkansas,
Missouri, Iowa, North and South Dakota, and Minnesota.
Today,
three surveyors walked through this swamp to this monument,
but 9 score and 7 years ago, two other surveyors-Prospect
K. Robbins and Joseph C. Brown-brought forth this new
survey system, conceived as a result of a fight for
liberty-the War of 1812-and dedicated to the proposition
that the courageous men who defended freedom's gates
should be rewarded with a large measure of that freedom.
That is, the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness through private ownership of property,
forever removed from the control of kings and queens,
dictators and despots, and yes, even from the control
of our own government, should it spin out of control.
Indeed, the new inhabitants of this land were allowed
to enjoy this new liberty - only thirty-nine years old
at the time - thus creating the greatest nation the
world has ever known.
We
inherited the land through a blood kinship to those
patriots who gave theirs in exchange for ours.
If
we leave this place the same as we came in, then we
truly came in vain. But if we go with
a renewed appreciation for the American
way of life, a new love for American liberty,
and a renewed pursuit of the pursuit of
happiness, then our 3-day Expedition and your
time here today will not have been spent in vain.
Thank
you!
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