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Blazing a tree

Just so you can get an idea of how the old surveyors blazed the trees...Ralph Kliethermes is blazing and scribing a new witness tree for the corner with the hickory witness tree we cut.  We also cut a notch at ground level and drive a PK nail in it and attach a sign at BH if it is for the US Forest Service or other government agencies.

Hickory Witness Tree

I don't have any pictures of this hickory witness tree before it was cut.  It is what we call a "subsequent witness tree' because it is "after" or "subsequent to" the original General Land Office (GLO) survey.  In this area near the Blooming Rose Camp in southwestern Phelps County Missouri, The original GLO survey would have been done in the early 1820's.  When the tree was blazed and scribed it was a 6"-8" dia. tree.

You can see in this picture, the top of the blaze that was cut on the face of the tree when it was smaller.  The lighter area is where the tree grew over the scribed blaze. 

We found the corner stone (foreground by the post) first and then located the witness trees from it.  If the stone had been destroyed, we could have restored it's position from the witness trees.

 Bob Shotts cuts the stump off because you could not tell by the outside of the tree, exactly where the blaze was made before the tree grew over it.  Most trees were blazed at "Breast Height" (BH) but depending on the height of the man and the terrain, this could vary from ground level to head high.  Joe Bax is pointing to the area where the top of the blaze is exposed.

 The whole crew watching one man work!!   I am in the center left of the photo in the blue/green coat taking a picture.

 Bob "cut the blaze out" and exposed the scribing.  It works like this; the blaze is cut on the face of the tree at BH into the heartwood of the tree.  In case you didn't know, the inside of a tree is basically dead.  The cambium layer (just under the bark) is the "living" part of the trunk of a tree.  After the blaze is made, a scribe is used to cut numbers and letter into the heartwood.  This is usually the number of the section that the tree is in such as "15", however in this case it appears to be an "8".  Then if the corner was a "quarter corner" it would have a "1/4" cut into the blaze.

 The tree would then grow over the blaze and scribing and eventually grow into the scribing.  Because of the exposure of the heartwood, in most cases the heartwood would get diseased an start to decay.   However, the new wood growing into the scribing would be healthy and would survive - leaving a "mirror" image of the original scribing.  Although you can't really read what the scribing was in this picture, you know without a doubt that it ain't no "bear scratchin' "!

Chuck Manier holding the entire blazed stump.  If anyone has any questions just post them and I'll try to answer them.