DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, you'd think finding a corner would be simple enough. A line runs north, another runs east, they cross — you're done.
But this is Texas, and nothing about Texas has ever been that simple. This is the story of the Northeast Corner of Texas, out here in Lipscomb County, and it is a story that took seventy-nine years to settle. The corner was established by law in 1850 as the intersection of the one-hundredth degree of longitude and thirty-six degrees, thirty minutes latitude.
Right there on paper, plain as day. The trouble was getting it plain on the ground. Of some nine surveys made to locate that corner, almost none of them coincided.
Nine surveys. Almost none agreeing. Now, I want you to sit with that for a moment.
Nine different attempts by presumably capable people, and they could not find the same spot twice. Meanwhile, three blocks of land got annexed to Texas from Oklahoma — once in 1903, once again in 1929 — to, and I am quoting the marker here, to the confusion of landowners. That is a very diplomatic way to put it.
The marker tells of one man who claimed he went to bed in Oklahoma and woke up in Texas. Didn't move an inch. Texas just came and got him in the night.
In 1929, the U.S. Supreme Court stepped in and had a final survey run. The exact site of the corner was at last determined.
But winning an argument that big doesn't come free — some people with land formerly in Oklahoma could not afford to repurchase it in Texas. Seventy-nine years of squabbling, nine surveys that couldn't agree, and in the end, the corner was settled, but not without a cost. That's the Northeast Corner of Texas — found at last, and not a moment too soon.
What the marker says
Established by law in 1850 as intersection of 100-degree longitude and 36-degree, 30' latitude, this point remained in dispute 79 years. Of some nine surveys made to locate corner on ground, almost none coincided. Even so, three blocks were annexed to Texas from Oklahoma (1903, 1929) - to confusion of landowners. One man claimed he went to bed in Oklahoma and awoke in Texas. In 1929 U.S. Supreme Court had a final survey run. Some people with land formerly in Oklahoma could not afford to repurchase it in Texas, but exact site of corner was at last determined. (1970)