ABSTRACT
Some assert that the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) is a coordinate system. Others strongly maintain that it is certainly not. Suffice it to say that for more than 200 years it has been, and continues to be, a system to divide land and describe property across most of the United States. It was originally established by the Land Ordinance Act of May 20, 1785. The system has been incrementally improved through practical innovation and government regulation since then. The Department of the Treasury had jurisdiction over the Public Land Survey System from its beginnings until 1812. It was a sensible arrangement, since the government was poor in cash and rich in land. The land came to be known as the public domain, meaning land that was once, or is even now, owned by the federal government of the United States. What was required was a practical, reliable, and unambiguous method of disposal. The fledgling federal government needed to do several things. It needed to pay soldiers, often with land instead of cash. It needed to disperse the population on the land to realize its potential. Put simply, it needed to raise money.
