The Forgotten Survey

On Nov. 10, 1815, Prospect Robbins was surveying a north-south line that would become known as the fifth principal meridian. On that day, he crossed an east-west baseline that had been surveyed by a party led by Joseph Brown. The two lines crossed in a headwater swamp in east Arkansas. The National Park Service designated the area a National Historic Landmark in April 1993. "The official land survey of the Louisiana Purchase began in October 1815 when Robbins and Brown...Click here to read full story