Public Lands Survey System (PLS) in the United States

Introduction

The Public Lands Survey (PLS) is a system used in the United States for delineating areas rather than pinpointing locations.
Established to address two major problems in the early U.S.:
- Shortage of funds to run the country.
- Influx of European immigrants crowding eastern cities, increasing crime and unemployment.
Solution: Survey and sell "public land" in the western U.S. to immigrants.
Note: "Public land" was unowned by individuals but occupied by Native Americans.

Survey Methodology:
- Surveyors laid out an east-west line called the Base Line which acts as the X-axis.
- They laid a north-south line called the Principal Meridian, forming the Y-axis.
- Key terms:
  - Principal Meridian: Zero line for state surveys in the U.S.
  - Prime Meridian: Global reference line at zero degrees longitude in Greenwich, London.
Survey Mapping:
- Lines were drawn across western states or territories not yet states.
- Eastern states and Texas have no PLS due to prior settlement or independent surveying.
- California consists of three separate surveys due to its shape and terrain.

Tiers and Ranges:
- Tiers: Six-mile strips running north-south, labeled numerically from the Base Line.
- Ranges: Six-mile strips running east-west, numbered from the Principal Meridian.
Townships:
- Formed by the intersection of tiers and ranges, creating a 6x6 mile square.
- Area: 36 square miles.
- Townships are purely geographic entities with no requirement for habitation.

Each township is divided into 36 Sections.
- Each section measures 1 mile by 1 mile, totaling 1 square mile.
Sections within a township are numbered non-traditionally:
- Numbering starts at the top right and follows a serpentine pattern to minimize surveyor travel.

The PLS is a standardized surveying method providing a systematic way to divide land for sale and development.
It played a significant role in U.S. expansion and settlement patterns, though it disregarded Native American land occupancy.