1872 California-Nevada State Boundary Marker

History

The 1850 California Constitution set the 120th meridian west between the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo line at the 42nd parallel north and the 39th parallel north as an eastern border of the state. Between 1855 and 1900 there were six surveys to locate 120 degrees, with each locating the line differently.

Measurements as early as 1855 only gave a rough approximation of the line or were done piecemeal, and a fuller survey was done for private purposes and not shared publicly. As the Nevada Territory became established, it had set its statute boundary as the western ridge line of the Sierra Nevada. The Governor of California and acting Governor of Nevada Territory called for a joint survey in 1863 to settle upon the full border, the Houghton–Ives Survey, with John F. Kidder hired to do field work. Kiddler marked a line north of Lake Tahoe between about May and July, though lack of funds kept him from completing the survey. A 1867 survey led by astronomer and surveyor Daniel Major established the intersection of the 42nd parallel north and the 120th meridian west, though it did not agree with the earlier Houghton–Ives Survey as to its location.

The survey which would eventually establish the longitudinal California–Nevada border was conducted by Alexey W. Von Schmidt working under General Land Office Commissioner Willis Drummond starting in 1872. He observed Professor George Davidson of the U.S. Coast Survey using telegraph to coordinate time signals and get a location of the 120th meridian. Von Schmidt accepted these measurements and headed to lay out the route north to Oregon,

The Houghton-Ives line had been accepted as the border, despite being poorly mapped and landmarked, along the 120th meridian until 1977 when California brought suit to Nevada in the United States Supreme Court to establish the true boundary. A ruling in 1980 established the border between Oregon and Lake Tahoe to be the Von Schmidt line, ending the dispute.{{cite court |litigants=California v. Nevada |vol=44 |reporter=U.S. |opinion=125 |pinpoint= |court=Supreme Court of the United States |date=1980 |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/447/125/case.html |accessdate=June 4, 2018 |quote=The two straight-line segments that make up the boundary between California and Nevada were initially defined in California's Constitution of 1849. The first, the "north-south" segment, commences on the Oregon border at the intersection of the 42d parallel and the 120th meridian and runs south along that meridian to the 39th parallel. And the second, the "oblique" segment, begins at that parallel and runs in a southeasterly direction to the point where the Colorado River crosses the 35th parallel. Cal.Const., Art. XII (1849). In 1850, when California was admitted to the Union, Congress approved the 1849 Constitution, and with it California's eastern boundary. Act of Sept. 9, 1850, 9 Stat. 452.

On the same day that it admitted California, Congress established a territorial government in the area immediately to the east. The organic Act for that new Territory -- which was then called Utah -- stated that it was to be "bounded on the west by the State of California." Act of Sept. 9, 1850, 9 Stat. 453. Eleven years later, the Territory of Nevada was created out of Utah. Congress indicated in the organic Act that Nevada might include portions of what was then California, but with the proviso that

"so much of the Territory within the present limits of the State of California shall not be included within this Territory until the State of California shall assent to the same by an act irrevocable without the consent of the United States. . . ."

Act of Mar. 2, 1861, 12 Stat. 210. No assent was ever given by California. Accordingly, when Nevada was admitted as a State in 1864, its western boundary and California's eastern one remained congruent.

...

The Special Master concluded that the Von Schmidt survey of the north-south line and the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey one of the oblique line were the most recent and accurate surveys available. While noting that Von Schmidt had not been entirely accurate, the Master found that the north-south line that resulted from his survey had been consistently and routinely recognized and accepted by agencies and departments of the State of Nevada for more than a century. That the Houghton-Ives line was the first north-south boundary marked, and the only one approved by statute was, he found, beside the point, because, as a practical matter, that boundary had been superseded a decade after it was established, and neither State had objected.}}

Marker

The 1872 marker near Verdi, Nevada is a four-sided cast iron pylon eight feet tall. It includes the words "CALIFORNIA" on the west face of the pylon, "NEVADA" on the east face, "1872, LONGITUDE 120 WEST OF GREENWICH, A.W. VON SCHMIDT, U.S." on the south face, and "170 MILES 47 CHAINS TO OREGON" on the north face. (170 miles 47 chains is equivalent to 170 mi or 170 mi.)

The marker was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1981 because it represents the initial point of survey for the California–Nevada border, and is a remnant of this survey. By 2009, the marker had been enclosed in a crude chain link fence, though there was no other indication of its presence. The fence was subsequently upgraded to wrought iron bars and the surrounding grounds were landscaped into a park.

Google maps shows that the Verdi California–Nevada boundary marker is approximately 525 ft west of 120 degrees longitude. NGS gives current data for another 1872 marker that may still exist at the northeast corner of California.

References

References

1. Alvis Hendley. "1872 California-Nevada State Boundary Marker". NoeHill Travels in California.
2. Brean, Henery. (May 2, 2009). "Nevada and California have a border dispute going back to 1850". Las Vegas Review-Journal.
3. Abbe, Donald. (1979). ["1872 California-Nevada State Boundary Marker"]({{NRHP url). National Park Service.
4. (February 2002). "The Colorful History of the California/Nevada State Boundary".
5. (Fall 2009). "1872 Von Schmidt Survey". [[Sierra College]] Press.