History

Surveyors Have Shaped Our History

Three of the Four Presidents on Mount Rushmore were surveyors; George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln.

Surveying tools and basic mathematical principles helped ancient Egyptians set the corners for the Great Pyramids.

President Thomas Jefferson commissioned Lewis and Clark to explore and survey the territories from Jefferson’s great real estate deal; The Louisiana Purchase. Their extensive reports, maps and collected data provided critical information that encouraged westward settlement.

Surveyors ensured that the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific railroads correctly met in Promontory Point Utah to form the first trans-continental railroad.

You can learn more about early Oklahoma Surveys by visiting the websites of The Oklahoma Historical Society, US Bureau of Land Management or the Oklahoma Department of Libraries, Land Records Division.