Three Survey Markers:
  • 40th Parallel Baseline
    (KS/NE line at the River)
     
  • First Guide Meridian East 
    (KS/NE line 60 miles from the river)
     
  • 6th Principal Meridian
    (KS/NE line 108 miles from the river
Soon after the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, a survey was commissioned by the US Government so that the lands newly opened for settlement could be properly and legally plotted out for the homesteaders.  The survey was carried out by Charles Manners who started by erecting a Cast Iron Monument on the west bluff of the Missouri River in 1855 at 40 degrees North latitude--the Northern boundary of Kansas.  From this point, he surveyed 108 miles west and placed a red sandstone marker at the location of the 6th Principal Meridian.  The imaginary line between these two markers marked the border between the two future states.  The original sandstone marker is still intact under the manhole cover in the middle of the road, though part of it has been carted of to the Kansas Museum of History in Topeka.  {Source]
A cast iron marker marks the 40th Parallel--the dividing line between Kansas and Nebraska. The marker was placed at this location May 8, 1855 by Charles Manners and Capt. Thomas J. Lee of the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. The marker is 500 to 600 lbs., hollow, 1" thick, with a 16" square base. It was cast in St. Louis, MO in 1854. The 40th Parallel played an important roll in the Kansas-Nebraska Act and demarked disputed areas--slave and free--precipitating the American Civil War.

The 40th Parallel, the 6th Principal Meridian, is the longest baseline in the U.S., marking state boundaries to the Colorado-Utah border.

Anyone interested in seeing the marker in person must be willing to hike upward--150 feet vertically--on a trail maintained for that purpose. Using switchbacks, a cleared path and handrails, one can climb to the marker which sits atop the Missouri River Bluff on Highway 7 just west of the Missouri River. See more details

From the Junction of Hwy US 36 and Hwy K 7 between Highland and Troy, follow scenic Hwy K 7 north past the village of White Cloud to the Kansas/Nebraska border.
Chronology of the Kansas Nebraska Baseline:

May 8, 1855
Charles Manners sets the Cast Iron Monument at the River on the the 40th Parallel Baseline and starts west. Ledlie out west at the First Guide Meridian East discovers the huge error in the Baseline.

May 21, 1855
Manners and Ledlie arrive back at Fort Leavenworth to await the return of Calhoun for instructions.

June 14, 1855
Manners starts the resurvey of the Baseline.

June 24, 1855
Manners sets stone at the 60 Mile corner with Ledlie.

June 28, 1855
Manners and Ledlie start surveying the First Guide Meridian East North and South, respectively.

June 11, 1856
Manners sets the stone at the 6th P.M. by running 48 miles west from the First Guide Meridian East stone. Ledlie goes South into Kansas and Manners into Nebraska to survey the 6th P.M.

Manners had been ordered by John Calhoun, Surveyor General for the Kansas and Nebraska Territories (appointed August 26, 1854), to proceed west on the 40th parallel of latitude north (now the Kansas-Nebraska border) for 108 miles, from the point of beginning on the west bank of the Missouri River, to reach this point. Why 108 miles? a surveyor can survey a line for nine miles before having to resort to using spherical geometry and trigonometry to correct for the earth's curvature. After nine miles, the surveyors could stop and make corrections from astronomical observations, then continue on. The number 108 is divisible by nine, thence the number was chosen.

The Initial Point of the 1st Guide Meridian East was run before the 6th P.M. and was used as the initial Meridian for all of Kansas to the East. After determining this point, located between ranges 8 and 9 east, in Marshall County, Joseph Ledlie and Charles Manners parted company; Ledlie went south and Manners headed north to begin to run the parallels. For those in the eastern part of Kansas, the 1st Guide Meridian East is actually more significant than the 6th P.M. which is the primary guideline for the rest of Kansas. Many KSLS members are also members of “ Surveyors of the 6th P.M.” which was responsible for re-monumenting the initial point of 6th P. M. in 1987.

Links:

The important of this stone on the Baseline is that it marked the furthest west the General Land Office decided to survey before it started the dividing of Nebraska and Kansas into Townships and Ranges and then into Sections so that private sale and location were possible. The First Guide Meridian East line was the first Public Land Survey System lines run into KS and NE. This 1855 survey also corrected a serious error in the location of the Baseline made by Johnson the year before. The resurvey of the Baseline was commenced from the Cast Iron Monument on the West High Bank of the Missouri River, as shown in the great photo above. John C. Calhoun, Surveyor General for this Area, had already decided that from the Cast Iron Monument that our Deputy Surveyors would started the surveying of Kansas and Nebraska.

After the lines were run north and south and then east by Charles Manners (NE)and Joseph Ledlie (KS) from this First Guide Meridian East (1GME) stone, then Manners came back the following year to this stone (referred to then as the 60 Mile Corner), and extended the 40th Parallel 48 more miles west and then set the stone at the 6th Principal Meridian. That is why the 1GME stone is on the Range line between Ranges 8 and 9 East (8 Ranges East of the soon to be monumented 6th P.M. corner and 10 Ranges west of the Cast Iron Monument). Townships are number from the Baseline North (NE) or South (KS). That was June 11, 1856, not 1855 as shown on the BLM map above. BTW, both Manners and Ledlie were using Bert's Improved Solar Compass to determine their lat/long and to run their "true" lines. The compass was only used on overcast days!

6th Principal Meridian Marker
at Base Line (40th Parallel North Latitude)
South of Fairbury, Nebraska

http://www.pmproject.org/6pm.htm

6th Principal Meridian Marker at Missouri River

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Survey Marker on the Blair Fire Hall

First Guide Meridian East Marker
at Base Line (40th Parallel North Latitude)
West of Summerfield, Kansas

"I did have one nagging question though........ The NE/KS baseline is supposed to be at 40 degrees North, correct? Why would my GPS show the marker that was placed about 314.1 feet north of that point? My GPS showed 40 00 03.1 N +/- 7 feet. I heard Lynn (Linn ? Lin?) mention the same thing.

I also visited the 6th Principal Meridian 48 miles to the west. Placed on the disc, my GPS read 40 00 07.1 N +/- 7 feet. At that point the state line (base line) would be 719.4 feet south."

Answer: That is why the GLO/BLM rules state that absent fraud the position of the monument holds over where it is "supposed" to be. Otherwise, the monument would move every time a more accurate method comes along.

General surveying principles hold that an original monuments position will prevail over bearing and/or distance.

Think about if your lot was first subdivided in 1930 with monuments set at each corner. In 1975 with the newfangled Electronic Distance Measuring (EDM) device I can measure more accurately than the transit and chain used in 1930 and determine the original monuments should be 0.3' west. In 2005 with my $50,000 GPS equipment I determine the monuments should really be 0.5' east.

I cannot move monuments just because I can measure more accurately than my predecessor. Think about the problems with buildings, improvements, etc. that can cause.