Dominion Land Survey
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The Dominion Land Survey (DLS) is the method used to divide most of Western Canada into one-square-mile sections for agricultural and other purposes. It is based on the layout of the Public Land Survey System used in the United States, but has several differences. The DLS is the dominant survey method in the Prairie provinces, and it is also used in British Columbia along the Railway Belt (near the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway), and in the Peace River Block in the northeast of the province. These regions were surveyed using the DLS with the consent of the British Columbian government, since unlike the Prairie provinces and Northwest Territories B.C. controlled its own public lands upon entering Confederation.
The survey was begun July 10, 1871, shortly after Manitoba and the Northwest Territories became part of Canada. Covering about, the survey system and its terminology are deeply ingrained in the rural culture of the Prairies.
The most important north–south lines of the survey are the meridians:
- The First (or Principal) Meridian at 97°27′28.41″ west, just west of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
- The Second Meridian at 102° west, which forms the northern part of the Manitoba–Saskatchewan boundary.
- The Third Meridian at 106° west, near Moose Jaw and Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.
- The Fourth Meridian at 110° west, which forms the Saskatchewan–Alberta boundary and bisects Lloydminster.
- The Fifth Meridian at 114° west, which runs through Calgary, Alberta (Barlow Trail is built mostly on the meridian) and Stony Plain, Alberta (48th Street).
- The Sixth Meridian at 118° west, near Grande Prairie, Alberta and Revelstoke, British Columbia.
- The Seventh Meridian at 122° west, between Hope and Vancouver, British Columbia.
The Meridians were determined by painstaking survey observations and measurements, and in reference to other benchmarks on the continent, but were determined using 19th century technology. The only truly accurate benchmarks at that time were near the prime meridian in Europe. Benchmarks in other parts of the world had to be estimated by the positions of the sun and stars. Consequently, although they were remarkably accurate for the time, today they are known to be several hundred metres in error. Before the survey was even completed it was established that for the purposes of laws based on the survey, the results of the physical survey would take precedence over the theoretically correct position of the meridians. This precludes, for example any basis for a boundary dispute between Alberta and Saskatchewan on account of surveying errors.
The main east–west lines are the base lines. The First Base Line is at 49° north, which forms much of the Canada–United States border in the West. Each subsequent base line is slightly more than 24 miles (about 39 km) to the north of the previous one.
Starting at each intersection of a meridian and a base line and working west (also working east of the First Meridian), nearly square Township townships are surveyed, which are about six miles (9.8 km) in both north–south and east–west extent. There are two tiers of townships to the north and two tiers to the south of each base line.
Because the east and west edges of townships (range lines) are meridians of longitude, they converge towards the North Pole. Therefore, the north edge of every township is slightly shorter than the south. Only along the base lines do townships have their nominal width from east to west. The two townships to the north of a base line gradually narrow as one moves north, and the two to the south gradually widen as one moves south. Halfway between two base lines, wider-than-nominal townships abut narrower-than-nominal townships. The east and west boundaries of these townships therefore do not align, and north–south roads that follow the survey system have to jog to the east or west. These east–west lines halfway between base lines are called correction lines.
Townships are designated by their township number and range number. Township 1 is the first north of the First Base Line, and the numbers increase to the north. Range numbers recommence with Range 1 at each meridian and increase to the west (east of First Meridian they are numbered eastward). On maps, township numbers are marked in Arabic numerals, but range numbers are often marked in Roman numerals; however, in other contexts Arabic numerals are used for both. Individual townships are designated such as "Township 52, Range 25 west of the Fourth Meridian," abbreviated "52-25-W4." In Manitoba, the First Meridian is the only one used, so the abbreviations are even more terse, e.g., "3-1-W" and "24-2-E."
See also
External links
References
McKercher, Robert B and Bertram Wolf (1986). Understanding Western Canada's Dominion Land Survey System. Saskatoon: Division of Extension and Community Relations, University of Saskatchewan.
Oliver, J. (2007) ‘The paradox of progress: land survey and the making of agrarian society in colonial British Columbia’. In L. McAtackney, M. Palus and A. Piccini (eds.) Contemporary and Historical Archaeology in Theory, pp. 31-38. Oxford: BAR, International Series, S1677.
Taylor, W.A. (1975) Crown Lands: A History of Survey Systems. Victoria: Crown Land Registry Services, Ministry of Environment and Planning.
Thomson, D.W. (1966 & 1967) Men and Meridians: The History of Surveying and Mapping in Canada, 2 vols. Ottawa: Department of Energy, Mines and Resources.
