The Powell Survey Kanab Base Line BY ROBERT W . O L S E N , J R .
Capstone placed in a monument by G. K. Gilbert in 1878, the year the base line was remeasured. The capstone reads "76 FT. E. OF. B.L.," which indicates the monument was erected seventy-six feet east of the base line and astronomic pier constructed by A. H. Thompson. Placed on the corner of the tithing lot in Kanab, the original monument was torn down and this capstone placed in an historical marker near the site of the pier. Photograph furnished by the author.
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s T H E PIONEERS ADVANCED into the American West and towns began to replace I n d i a n villages, there grew a need for accurate knowledge of w h a t the country was like a n d w h a t it contained. This need led the federal government to sponsor several organizations which systematically Mr. Olsen, past contributor to the Utah Historical Quarterly, was historian at Pipe Spring National Monument and is now historian at the Whitman Mission National Historic Site, Walla Walla, Washington.
