a portion of the Warm Springs Dam, Calif.  7 1/2' quad (1978)
Northern California. 38°37'30"N, 123°00'00"W
Township 9 North, Range 11 West, Mount Diablo Meridian 
about 60 miles North of the San Francisco Bay.

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comments on the POB BBS

The GLO plat 
 

the 1887 "Annual Report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office” detailed the operations of the notorious "Benson Syndicate" that engaged in surveying fraud against the government during the 1870's and 1880's.

The Benson Syndicate was headquartered in San Francisco and operated in the 10 western states. According to the report their operations included both surveying fraud and the illegal acquisition of state and federal public lands. The Commissioner's report includes detailed sworn statements by members of the Syndicate confessing their individual participation in the operation. The typical operation was to make a skeleton survey of a township and then fake in the required details and measurements of the subdivision. The comprehensive report actually includes treatment of all public lands operations such as private land grants and public land administration, but the portion dealing with the Benson Syndicate is clearly the significant material to the survey historian. The total Commissioner's report is 604 pages.