Land Surveyors Dictionary

C Terms

             CA (Land Status Records)  – Communitization Agreement.
             CA  – California.CAD (Land Status Records)  – Cadastral.
             CALIF.  – California.  See California Land Surveyors
             CANC (Land Status Records)  – Cancellation, Cancelled.
             CBWR (Land Status Records)  – Coos Bay Wagon Road.
             CC (Land Status Records)  – Cash certificate.
             CC  – Closing Corner.
             CDI (Land Status Records)  – Control Document Index.
             CDS (Land Status Records)  – Coal declaratory statement.
             CE (Land Status Records)  – Cash entry.
             CERT (Land Status Records)  – Certificate.
             CFR (Land Status Records)  - Code of Federal Regulations.
             C & GS  – (United States) Coast and Geodetic Survey.
             CH, CHS (Land Status Records)  – Chain, Chains.
             CHE (Land Status Records)  – Commuted homestead entry.
             CHG (Land Status Records)  – Change.
             CHIC MER (Land Status Records)  – Chickasaw Meridian.
             CHOC MER (Land Status Records)  – Choctaw Meridian.
             CIM MER (Land Status Records)  – Cimarron Meridian.
             CIRC (Land Status Records)  – Circular.
             C/L (Land Status Records)  – Commissioner of Lands.
             CL (Land Status Records)  – Classification.
             CO (Land Status Records)  – Company.
             CO  – Colorado, Colo.
             C of E (Land Status Records)  – Corp of Engineers.
             COLO.  – Colorado.
             COMM P (Land Status Records)  – Community Pit.
             COMM S (Land Status Records)  – Communication Site.
             CONDEMN (Land Status Records)  – Condemnation.
             CORP (Land Status Records)  – Corporation.
             CPG (Land Status Records)  – Campground.
             CRE (Land Status Records)  – Credit entry.
             CR MER (Land Status Records)  – Copper River Meridian.
             CR PER (Land Status Records)  – Crossing Permit.
             C/T (Land Status Records)  – Color of Title.
             CT  – Connecticut.
             CUR PAT (Land Status Records)  – Curative patent.
             CWS  – Community watershed.
             CADASTRAL ENGINEER      – A former title of a Cadastral Surveyor or Land Surveyor in the Bureau of Land
               Management and the General Land Office.
             CADASTRAL ENGINEERING STAFF OFFICER         – Former title of the Chief, Division of Cadastral Surveys.
             CADASTRAL SURVEY      – A survey which creates, marks, defines, retraces or reestablishes the boundaries and
               subdivisions of the public land of the United States.
             CADASTRAL SURVEY APPROVAL AUTHORITY           – Prior to becoming an official cadastral survey the field notes
               must be approved and the plat, field notes and survey must be accepted on behalf of the Director of the Bureau of
               Land Management by the officer to whom he has delegated this responsibility. See OFFICIAL CADASTRAL
               SURVEY.
             CADASTRAL SURVEY AUTHORITY         – The authority derived from the statutory directive (43 U.S.C. 2) that  “The
               Secretary of the Interior or such officer as he may designate shall perform all executive duties appertaining to the
               surveying … of the public lands.”  Other statutory declarations affecting the cadastral survey program are: 25 U.S.C.
               29 and 30; 43 U.S.C. 52-60, 751-775 and 1364.
             CALL  – A reference to, or statement of, an object, course, distance or other matter of description in a survey or grant
               requiring or calling for a corresponding object, or other matter of description, on the land. See PASSING CALLS.
             CANAL GRANT    – A grant made to a State to aid in the construction of canals.
             CANCELLATION     – The annulment of a former accepted survey. This action may be taken only by the Director of the
               Bureau of Land Management. It requires ample justification such as the showing of gross irregularities. The
               unreasonable distortion of section boundaries in both length and direction and/or lines which are shown on the
               record without ever having existed in fact may be deemed justification for cancellation. This action applies to the
               public land, and has no bearing on the identification of the alienated subdivisions described in terms of the prior
               survey.
             CANCELLATION (Lands)    – An abrogation of a right in the public lands because of noncompliance with the public
               land laws or because of expiration of time limits. See ABROGATE.
             CARDINAL   – The cardinal directions; north, south, east and west.
             CAREY ACTS   – The acts of August 18, 1894 (28 Stat. 372), and March 15, 1910 (36 Stat. 237, 43 U.S.C. sec. 643),
               which provide for grants of desert lands to States for disposition to bona fide settlers.
             CASH CERTIFICATE    – A final certificate issued in connection with a cash entry.
             CASH ENTRY    – An entry that covered public lands for which the entryman paid cash or its equivalent.
             CEDED INDIAN LANDS     – Public lands, Indian tribal title to which was relinquished to the United States by the
               Indians on condition that part or all of the proceeds from their sale or other disposition would be covered in the
               Treasury in trust for the Indians.
             CEMETERY-SITE ENTRY      – A cash entry of public lands which are to be used for cemetery purposes.
             CENTERLINE    – The line connecting opposite corresponding quarter corners or opposite subdivision-of-section
               corners or their theoretical positions. Applied to a street, right of way or any other strip of land of uniform width
               “centerline”  defines the line midway between the side lines of said strip. See END LINE, SIDE LINE.
             CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL      – A written statement certifying that the field notes of a cadastral survey have been
               critically examined and found correct, and are thereby approved. It is a statement that follows, and is a part of the
               same document as, a  “certificate of survey.”   It is dated and signed by the Chief, Division of Cadastral Survey. See
               CERTIFICATE OF SURVEY and CERTIFICATE OF TRANSCRIPT.
             CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE       – See FINAL CERTIFICATE.
             CERTIFICATE OF SURVEY     – A document containing a statement dated and signed by a cadastral surveyor to the
               effect that a survey has been executed in strict conformity with the special instructions, the Manual of Instructions,
               and in the specific manner described in the field notes with which it is filed. See CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL
               and CERTIFICATE OF TRANSCRIPT.
             CERTIFICATE OF TRANSCRIPT      – A statement dated and signed by the Chief, Division of Cadastral Surveys as to
               the accuracy of the transcript of the original field notes of a particular survey. The certificate is a part of the same
               document as the  “certificate of survey”  and the  “certificate of approval.”  See CERTIFICATE OF SURVEY,
               CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL.
             CERTIFICATION    – The act of final approval of a State selection by the Director of the BLM; also, the document
               which passes title to the selected lands to the State; also, a document which attests to the truth or authenticity of
               papers attached to it.
             CERTIORARI    – A written instruction issued by a higher court to a lower court requiring the records of a trial be
               submitted for review or inquiry. If such higher court finds no reason to re-examine the records based on arguments
               submitted by attorneys, the ruling of the court is  “Certiorari denied.”
             CESSION OF PUBLIC DOMAIN      – See ORIGINAL PUBLIC DOMAIN ACQUISITIONS.
             CHAIN  – The unit of length prescribed by law for the survey of the public lands of the United States. The chain is
               equivalent to 66 feet or 4 rods, poles or perches. 10 square chains equals one acre.
              CHAINING  – The operation of measuring a distance on the earth, using a chain or tape. The corresponding operation,
               in private surveys, is taping.
             CHAINMEN    – Those who measure and record the distances in chaining.
             CHAIN OF TITLE   – A term applied metaphorically to the series of conveyances, or other forms of alienation,
               affecting a particular parcel of land, arranged consecutively from the Government or original source of title down to
               the present holder, each of the instruments included being terms a  “link.”
             CHANCERY    – See EQUITY.
             CHANNEL (T. R. No. 4)  – 1) A natural or artificial waterway of perceptible extent which either periodically or
               continuously contains moving water, or which forms a connecting link between two bodies of water; 2) The part of a
               body of water deep enough to be used for navigation through an area otherwise too shallow for navigation; 3) A
               large strait, as the English Channel; 4) The deepest portion of a stream, bay, or strait through which the main volume
               or current of water flows. See CHANNEL, MAIN; GRADIENT BOUNDARY; THALWEG; RULE OF
               THALWEG.
             CHANNEL, MAIN    – As called for as a boundary between Nations or States, the  “main channel”  of a navigable stream
               refers to the deepest and most navigable channel as it existed at the time the boundary was surveyed. In the Red
               River case of Oklahoma vs. Texas in 1923 (260 US 606, 261 US 340, 265 US 493), which involved a non-navigable
               river, the Supreme Court of the United States declared by unprecedented action that the Texas-Oklahoma boundary
               was to be determined by a medial line between gradient lines on each bank. It was decided that  “… channel
               extending from one cut-bank to the other, which carries the water in times of a substantial flow… was the only real
               channel and therefore the main channel.  So its medial line must be what was designated as the boundary.”                                                –
               (Oklahoma vs. Texas, 258US574). If the river had been navigable, the  “rule of thalweg”  would have applied, but
               that section of the Red River is, in fact, not navigable. See MEDIAL LINE, RULE OF THALWEG, GRADIENT
               BOUNDARY, RED RIVER CASE.
             CHICKASAW MERIDIAN      – The principal meridian which governs surveys in the northern part of Mississippi; it was
               established in 1833.
             CHIEF, DIVISION OF CADASTRAL SURVEYS       – The current title of the BLM officer charged with the survey of
               the public lands. The title of this officer has changed and evolved over the years since the passage of the Ordinance
               of May 20, 1785. It has been Geographer of the United States; Surveyor General of the United States; United States
               Supervisor of Surveys; Chief, Branch of Cadastral Surveys and Cadastral Engineering Staff Officer.
             CHOCKTAW MERIDIAN       – the principal meridian governing surveys in the central part of Mississippi; it was
               established in 1821.
             CHORD   – In surveying and geometry; a straight line joining any two points on an arc, curve, circumference, or surface.
             CIMARRON MERIDIAN      – The principal meridian which governs surveys in the Oklahoma panhandle; it was
               established in 1881.
             CLAIMANT    – An individual, corporation, association, State or local government, etc., asserting title to, or rights in,
               public lands.
             CLAIM JUMPING    – Illegally taking possession of a mining claim previously staked by and in legal possession of
               another. Prior to the passage of statutory laws governing mining claims, claim jumping sometimes took the simple
               form of staking over another person’s claim and then holding it by force. See RELOCATION.
             CLASSIFICATION    – Designation of public lands as being valuable or suitable for specific purposes, uses, or
               resources. See LAND, MINERAL, POWER SITE, and SMALL TRACT.
             CLASSIFICATION WITHDRAWAL        – A withdrawal of public lands which is made pending examination of the
               lands to determine their suitability for certain purposes and for classification for those purposes.
        &nbnbsp;    CLEAR LIST   – A selected list of public lands which has been prepared for approval by the Secretary of the Interior or
               the Director of the Bureau of Land Management; also, an official statement from an interested Federal agency or
               official which indicates that no apparent objection exists to a proposed action with respect to public lands.
             CLEAR LIST, APPROVED     – An approved clear list or certification is used to convey legal title to lands under certain
               grants made by Congress. An approved clear list conveys a fee-simple title to public lands identified in a selection
               list made by a State and approved by the Bureau of Land Management.
             CLINOMETER    – A hand held instrument used to measure vertical angles or the inclination of a slope. Also called an
               Abney Level.
             CLOSED LAND STATES     – The public-land states in which records have been turned over to the State except for the
               State of Washington wherein the records are kept in Portland, Oregon, viz., Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois,
               Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio,
               Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
             CLOSING CORNER     – A corner established where a survey line intersects a previously fixed boundary at a point
               between corners. The closing corner is located by law at the actual point of intersection without regard to its
               monumented location. See CLOSING SUBDIVISION OF SECTION CORNER, CLOSING TOWNSHIP
               CORNER, CROSSING CLOSING CORNER.
             CLOSING ERROR    – See MISCLOSURE.
             CLOSING SUBDIVISION-OF-SECTION CORNER         – A corner set where a subdivision of section line closes on a
               State, reservation, grant or private claim boundary or on some other previously established survey which is irregular
               as to plan.
             CLOSING TOWNSHIP CORNER       – 1) The point of intersection of a guide meridian or a range line with a previously
               fixed standard parallel or base line. 2) The point of intersection of any township or range line with a previously fixed
               boundary at a point between previously established corners.
             CLOSURE   – The process of measurement in a closed figure for a check on horizontal or vertical precision. See
               CLOSURE*.
             CLOUD ON TITLE    – An outstanding claim or encumbrance which, if valid, would affect or impair the title of the
               owner of a particular estate. A mortgage judgment or tax levy may in some cases constitute a cloud on title.
             COAL DECLARATORY STATEMENT          – An affidavit filed by a claimant under now obsolete laws, describing
               lands known to contain coal deposits. The filing segregated the lands. A Cash Entry patent was issued, giving the
               surface and the minerals to the patentee.
             COAL ENTRY    – A cash entry, under laws now repealed, covering public lands which contain valuable coal deposits
               or covering such coal deposits only.
             COAL LANDS    – Surveyed public lands chiefly valuable for their deposits of coal.
             COAL LICENSE    – An authorization to mine coal on the public lands free of charge for local domestic use.
             COAST  – The zone of land of indefinite width (perhaps 1 to 3 miles) that extends inland from the shore to the first
               major change in terrain features. See BEACH, BACKSHORE, FORESHORE, SHORE.
             COASTAL SALT MARSH      – A marsh located along or near the sea coast, the surface of which lies below the
               elevation of mean high water. See SWAMP, SWAMP AND OVERFLOWED LANDS, MARSH, TIDELANDS.
             COASTLINE   – Technically, the line that forms the boundary between the coast and the shore and marks the seaward
               limit of the permanently exposed coast. The U.S.C.&G.S. (now N.O.S.) uses the words  “coastline”  and  “shoreline”
               as synonymous and defines these as being the mean high water line. In the Submerged Lands Act, 43 U.S.C.
               1301(c):  “The term “coast line” means the line of ordinary low water along that portion of the coast which is in
               direct contact with the open sea and the line marking the seaward limit of inland waters.”   When using the term
               “coastline”  the user should specify what line is intended. See BEACH, SHORE, SHORE LINE, FORESHORE,
               BACKSHORE, MEAN HIGH WATER, TIDELANDS, INLAND WATERS.
             CODICIL  – A supplement or an addition to a will.
             COLLATERAL EVIDENCE       – Additional or auxiliary evidence. Accompanying or acting as secondary evidence.
               Evidence which supports or reinforces evidence already in hand. See EVIDENCE.
             COLLATERAL EVIDENCE (CADASTRAL SURVEY)           – Such things as acts and testimony of interested
               landowners, competent surveyors, other qualified local authorities or some acceptable record evidence that may be
               used along with other evidence in identifying the true original position of a corner.
             COLOR OF TITLE    – If a claim to a piece of real property is based upon some written instrument, although a
               defective one, the person is said to have  “color of title.”  A claim which has as its basis that which the law considers
               prima facie a good title, but which, by reason of some defect not appearing on its face, is not in fact a title. Federal
               withdrawn land is not subject to the Color-of-Title Act. See COLOR-OF-TITLE ACT, COLOR-OF-TITLE
               ENTRY, and PRIMA FACIE.
             COLOR-OF-TITLE ACT     - The Act of December 22, 1928 (43 U.S.C., sec. 1068), as amended. Under the terms of
               and provisions of this act, a patent may be issued for a parcel of not more than 160 acres of public lands. The land
               must have been possessed in good faith by a claimant, his ancestors or grantors for a period of more than 20 years.
               See ADVERSE POSSESSION, COLOR OF TITLE, COLOR-OF-TITLE ENTRY.
             COLOR-OF-TITLE ENTRY     – A cash entry made by an entryman relying upon erroneous evidence of title. The
               Color-of-Title Act provides for this type of entry. However, land attaching to Federal withdrawn land by accretion
               becomes withdrawn and is not public land subject to color-of-title applications even when later separated from the
               withdrawn land by avulsions. See COLOR OF TITLE, ACCRETION, AVULSION, COLOR OF TITLE ACT, and
               WITHDRAWAL.
             COMMISSIONER OF THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE          – The official who was the head of the General Land
               Office. See GENERAL LAND OFFICE.
             COMMUNITIZATION AGREEMENT         – A contractual arrangement which combines separate land holdings for
               purposes of drilling for oil and gas.
             COMMUNITY WATERSHED        – An obsolete term which identified watershed planning areas. An area selected for
               such study is now simply a  “Watershed Area.”
             COMMUTED HOMESTEAD ENTRY          – For certain classes of homestead entries it was possible to substitute
               payment of the minimum statutory price for part of another form of  “payment”  which consisted of residence for a
               certain number of years and/or other requirements. This substitution of one form of payment for another is called
               commutation.
             COMPASS SURVEY     – A survey, which was executed using the magnetic compass.
             COMPASS RULE    – See NON RIPARIAN BROKEN BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.
             COMPLETION SURVEY      – Executed to finish a partially subdivided township or section, or to finish parts of
               boundaries of townships or sections which are unsurveyed. See EXTENSION SURVEY and COMPLETION*.
             CONDEMNATION      – In real property law, the process by which property of a private owner is taken for public use,
               without his consent, but upon the award of payment of just compensation. It has the nature of a forced sale and the
               condemner has the position toward the owner of a buyer toward a seller.
             CONFLICT   – 1) The overlap of the exterior lines of a claim onto a prior survey or other senior claim. 2) A variance or
               disagreement between what is written in the field notes and what is represented on the plat. 3) An apparent
               disagreement or ambiguity between various parts of the field notes. 4) A different representation on one plat
               compared to hand drafted copies thereof or compared to plats of adjacent surveys. 5) Any factor in the land status
               which serves as a bar to approval of an application, particularly an application or entry for similar rights on the same
               land.
             CONFLICTING EVIDENCE      – A contradiction or disagreement of the actual ground conditions compared to the
               record, usually regarding topographic calls or characteristics of corner monumentation. See EVIDENCE.
             CONFLICTING TESTIMONY       – A contradiction or ambiguity of facts, evidence, or statements made previously or
               made by other witnesses. See TESTIMONY.
             CONFLUENCE     – Literally, flowing together. The joining of two or more streams of water. Considering two major
               streams, the precise point of confluence is where the flow direction of water along the thread of the smaller stream
               reasonably parallels and joins the flow in the larger stream. In field notes the point where the thread of a smaller
               non-meandered stream crosses the meander line of the larger stream is the confluence.
             CONFORMED ENTRY      – Used in independent resurveys to indicate that an entry according to the original survey
               agrees with the subdivisional lines of the resurvey, or that the entryman will accept the subdivisional lines of the
               resurvey as properly locating his claim.
             CONNECTED SHEETS      – Sometimes called  “Connection Sheets,”  they are diagrams drawn from the official record
               on a section by section basis, but with peripheral overlap between diagrams. In this way the continuous relationship
               between irregular land line conditions, particularly mining claims, is shown. These diagrams are not official
               documents; they are a working index tool of the Bureau of Land Management.
             CONNECTING LINE     – 1) A survey line connecting one survey to another. Generally used on the older plats and in
               mineral surveys. 2) A line calculated from beginning to end of a traverse.
             CONTERMINOUS UNITED STATES        – The 48 contiguous States and the District of Columbia; all of the States
               which have common boundaries and are not separated by foreign territory or the high seas. The United States,
               exclusive of Alaska and Hawaii. See CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES.
             CONTEST   – To make defense to an adverse claim in a court of law; to oppose, resist, or dispute the case made by a
               plaintiff. To strive to win or hold; to controvert, litigate, challenge; to defend, as a suit or other proceeding.
             CONTIGUOUS LAND     – Generally speaking, two parcels of land having a common boundary line. See CORNER
               CONTIGUITY.
             CONTINENTAL CONGRESS       – Either of two assemblies of representatives from American colonies during the
               Revolutionary period. The first of these was held in 1774 to express grievances against British colonial policy; the
               second convened in 1775, created the Continental Army, issued the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the
               Articles of Confederation (1778). It operated as the legislative body of the United States for several years.
             CONTINENTAL DIVIDE     – The ridge in the Rocky Mountain system which divides the waters of the continent.
             CONTINENTAL SHELF     – The part of a continental mass extending from the shore outward beneath the shallow seas
               to the continental talus where the bottom slopes down rapidly to the ocean depths. See CONTINENTAL SHELF*.
             CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES       – Includes the Conterminous United States and the State of Alaska. Hawaii
               alone of the 50 States is not a part of the continental of North America. See CONTERMINOUS UNITED STATES.
             CONTOUR*.
             CONTRACT    – A binding legal relationship obligating the seller to furnish personal property or nonpersonal services
               (including construction) and the buyer to pay for them. Contracts include all types of commitments obligating the
               Government to an expenditure of funds, and are usually in writing.
             CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION        – The activities involved in enforcing the terms of the contract, and in carrying
               out the Government’s responsibilities as stated in the contract.
             CONTRACTING OFFICER      – The employee delegated contracting authority who signs a contract in behalf of the
               Government.
             CONTRACTING OFFICER’S AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE             – The employee designated in writing by the
               Contracting officer to provide contract administrative services.
             CONTRACT SYSTEM      – The contracting of the public land surveys. Between 1796 and 1910 the public land surveys
               were executed by deputy surveyors who had entered into contracts with the Surveyors General for the performance
               of the field work and preparation of the field notes of the surveys. See DIRECT SYSTEM OF SURVEYS.
             CONTROL DOCUMENT       – Any legal document which affects the ownership or use of the public lands and resources.
               See LAND STATUS RECORDS, PATENT.
             CONTROL DOCUMENT INDEX        – A reference file consisting of microphotographic copies of legal documents
               mounted in aperture tabulating cards arranged by State, meridian and township. See LAND STATUS RECORDS,
               CONTROL DOCUMENTS, SERIAL REGISTERS.
             CONTROL, GEODETIC     – A system of monumented stations having known, precise positions established by
               geodetic methods. See CONTROL SURVEY CLASSIFICATION*.
             CONTROL LINES    – The primary control of the public land surveys of the United States consists of base lines,
               standard parallels (correction lines), principal meridians and guide meridians. Among field surveyors a control line
               is a survey line to the nearest identified corner in directions necessary for restoration of a corner. See
               OUTBOUNDARIES.
             CONTROLLING BOUNDARIES        – See OUTBOUNDARIES.
             CONTROVERTED      – Disputed; denied; opposed or contested.
             CONVEY   – The act of deeding or transferring title to another.
             CONVEYANCE     – In real property law, a transfer of legal title to land. An instrument, such as a deed, by which
               interest in real property is created or by which title to real property is transferred from grantor to grantee.
             COORDINATES    – A set of numbers used in specifying the location of a point.
             COORDINATE SYSTEM      – A mathematically defined method for specifying the locations of points. Distances or
               angles from suitable references locate the points within the system. See STATE COORDINATE SYSTEMS,
               STATE PLANE COORDINATES, GEODETIC COORDINATES, UNIVERSAL TRANSVERSAL MERCATOR,
               GEOGRAPHIC COORDINATES, PLANE COORDINATES, SPHERICAL COORDINATES.
             COOS BAY EXCHANGE      – See O&C EXCHANGE.
             COOS BAY HOMESTEAD ENTRY        – A homestead entry, not exceeding 160 acres, on Coos Bay Wagon Road lands
               which are agricultural in character.
             COOS BAY WAGON ROAD LANDS        – Public lands in western Oregon which were granted to the State of Oregon to
               aid in the construction of the Coos Bay Military Wagon Road, but which were later forfeited and returned to the
               Federal Government by reconveyance. See OREGON AND CALIFORNIA REVESTED LANDS
               ADMINISTRATION.
             COPPER RIVER MERIDIAN      – The principal meridian governing surveys in the southeastern part of Alaska; it was
               adopted in 1905.
             COPPERWELD     – A brand-name for a copper coated steel rod with a brass cap which may be authorized for use in
               monumentation of corners in certain areas where the use of a regulation iron post is not practical.
             CORNER   – A point on the surface of the earth, determined by the surveying process, which defines an extremity on a
               boundary of the public lands. See CLOSING CORNER, CLOSING TOWNSHIP CORNER, DOUBLE CORNER,
               EXISTENT CORNER, FOUND CORNER, LOST CORNER, MEANDER CORNER, OBLITERATED CORNER,
               QUARTER-SECTION CORNER, SECTION CORNER, SIXTEENTH-SECTION CORNER, STANDARD
               CORNER, TOWNSHIP CORNER, WITNESS CORNER. Also see MONUMENT.
             CORNER ACCESSORIES      – Nearby physical objects to which corners are referenced for their future identification or
               restoration. accessories include bearing trees, mounds, pits, ledges, rocks and other natural features to which
               distances or directions (or both) from the corner or monument are known. Such accessories are actually a part of the
               monumentation. See BEARING TREE, BEARING OBJECT, MOUNDS AND PITS and LANDMARK.
             CORNER CONTIGUITY      – When parcels of land or mining claims have angle points (corners) in common – though
               they do not share a common boundary line – they are said to have  ”corner contiguity.”
             CORNER DESCRIPTION      – The specific data (both old and new) about a corner monument and its accessories which
               include marks, positions, and physical characteristics. Corner monument markings – letters, numerals, lines, grooves
               or notches used to mark corner monuments. The markings usually indicate the location of the corner.
             CORNER MOVE     – The computed directions and distances FROM a temporary point TO the true point for a corner as
               computed from the retracement data. See RANDOM LINE.
             CORNER OF MAXIMUM CONTROL         – A section corner of maximum control fixes the position of, or controls, the
               position of four sections; likewise, a township corner of maximum control, controls four townships. A quarter-
               section corner of maximum control, controls the subdivision of two sections. See CORNER OF MINIMUM
               CONTROL.
             CORNER OF MINIMUM CONTROL         – A section corner of minimum control fixes the position of, or controls less
               than four sections; likewise, a township corner of minimum control, controls less than four townships. A quarter-
               section corner of minimum control fixes the subdivisions of one section only.
             CORPOREAL PROPERTY       – Property which may be seen and touched, as distinguished from incorporeal property
               which exists only in contemplation. A house is corporeal, but annual rent which may be payable for its occupation
               by another is incorporeal. See INCORPOREAL.
             CORRECTION LINE     – See STANDARD PARALLEL.
             CORRECTIVE RESURVEY       – A survey made to correct an erroneous omission of original corner evidence
               discovered after a survey has been approved.
             CORRESPONDING CORNERS        – Opposite, like corners of a subdivisional unit which control the subdivision of that
               unit.
             CORROBORATING EVIDENCE        – Evidence supplementary to that already given and tending to strengthen or
               confirm it. Additional evidence of a different character to the same point. see COLLATERAL EVIDENCE and
               COLLATERAL EVIDENCE (CADASTRAL SURVEY).
             COUNTRY ROCK     – The rock beyond the walls of a lode. The strata between or across which the lode is found.
             COURSE   – In surveying; the direction of a line with reference to a meridian; also, the direction of flow of the water in
               a stream. See BEARING.
             COURTHOUSE-SITE RESERVE       – A reservation of public lands in Alaska in territorial days for use as a Territorial
               Courthouse site.
             COURTS OF CHANCERY      – See COURTS OF EQUITY.
             COURTS OF EQUITY     – Courts which administer justice according to the system of equity, and according to the
               rules, principles and procedures of chancery; as distinguished from a court having the jurisdiction, rules, principles
               and practice of the common law. The terms  “chancery”  and  “equity”  and  “court of chancery”  and  “court of
               equity”  are used as synonymous in the United States, probably because the jurisdiction exercised by courts of equity
               is similar to that of the English chancery courts. In some States, courts called chancery courts possess general equity
               powers.
             CROSSCUT   – Something that cuts across or through. Specifically: a mine working driven horizontally and at right
               angles to an adit, drift or level.
             CROSSING CLOSING CORNER      – A term used to describe a corner set where a township or section line intersects
               (crosses) the line of a surveyed mineral claim, forest claim or the like. Crossing closing corner monuments are
               usually not set at these intersections unless such corners are required to provide an interval of monumentation of at
               least one-half mile. In instances where they may be required for operational or litigation purposes they will be
               provided for in the Special Instructions.
             CURATIVE PATENT     – See PATENT, CURATIVE.
             CURTESY   – The right which a husband has in his wife’s estate at her death. The state to which by common law a man
               is entitled, on the death of his wife, in the lands or tenements of which she is seised in possession in fee-simple or in
               tail during her coverture, provided they have had lawful issue born alive which might be capable of inheriting the
               estate. It is a freehold estate for the term of his natural life. See DOWER.
             CUT  – In mining, a surface opening in the ground intersecting a vein. See CUT*.