The following information is excerpted from Doug Barnett's Early Surveys and Settlements in Central Alberta.
 The DLS System first established controlling lines on which to base
the township surveys. It was decided to layout the System on an
astronomic basis, that is "square with the world", with north-south and
east-west lines following lines of latitude and longitude on the
earth's surface. Starting near Winnipeg, Dominion Land Surveyors
established six meridians over a period of time. A meridian is an
astronomic north-south line on the earth's surface. The Principal
Meridian was followed by successive Initial Meridians (the Second,
Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth), each about four degrees of longitude
apart. The Fourth Initial Meridian later became the Alberta -
Saskatchewan boundary, and the Western Provinces were extended
northward from the 49th parallel (international boundary) to the 60th
parallel, a distance of about 760 miles. As meridians follow the
spherical curve of the earth, they converge as they are produced
northward. For example, the distance between the Fourth and Fifth
Meridians along the 49th parallel is about 182 miles (293 kilometres);
at the 60th parallel, the distance between the same two Initial
meridians is reduced to about 139 miles (224 kilometres) due to
convergence of the meridians. The Dominion Lands Survey System is
therefore an astronomic system with all north-south lines laid off as
true meridians, and all east-west lines established as chords to
parallels of latitude.
Land between the Initial Meridians was then subdivided into
townships. A township is a square tract of land about six miles (9.7
kilometres) on a side, containing thirty-six sections (Figure to
left.). Townships are numbered northward, starting from township one at
the 49th parallel and increasing to township 126 at the 60th parallel
(the north boundary of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and
Manitoba). For example, Lethbridge is about at township eight; Red Deer
at about township thirty-eight; Athabasca about township sixty-six;
Fort McMurray about township eighty-nine; and Fort Chipewyan about
township one hundred and twelve. A column of townships in the
north-south direction is called a range. Townships lie in ranges
numbered westward from each Initial Meridian, starting with range one
adjoining the west side of each such meridian. There are thirty ranges
between the Fourth and Fifth meridians along the 49th parallel, but due
to convergence of the meridians, this reduces to only about
twenty-three ranges along the north boundary of Alberta.
Townships are laid off their prescribed width along base lines
running between the Initial Meridians. A base line is a line
approximating a latitude circle from which townships are projected
north and south to the correction lines (to be defined later). See
figure above to the right. Base lines are four townships apart. The
international boundary is the first base line; the second base line
lies between townships four and five; the third base line between
townships eight and nine; and so on northerly in regular order. For
example, the fourteenth base line (between townships fifty-two and
fifty-three) runs along part of Jasper Avenue in Edmonton, and the
twenty-fourth base line (between townships ninety-two and ninety-three)
runs near the Syncrude plant north of Fort McMurray.
Correction lines are east-west lines, midway between base lines, on
which the jogs are allowed to provide for convergence of meridians, as
shown in figure above to the right. They are also four townships apart.
The first correction line is between townships two and three; the
second between townships six and seven; the third between townships ten
and eleven, and so on northerly in regular order. For example, the
twelfth correction line (between townships forty-six and forty-seven)
runs through Camrose, and the twenty-third correction line (between
townships ninety and ninety-one) runs just north of Fort MacKay. The
north boundary of Alberta is about the thirty-second correction line.
The jogs along a correction line increase in length as one proceeds
westerly from an Initial Meridian. For example, on the 14th correction
line running through Namao north of Edmonton, the jog at the northeast
comer of range ten is about 36.23 Chains (2390.8 feet = 728.7 metres),
whereas the jog at the northeast comer of range twenty-five on the same
correction line is about 96.60 Chains (6375.6 feet = 1943.3 metres). On
the east side of each Initial Meridian the width of the last range is
narrower than a full range due to the convergence between two adjacent
Initial Meridians. These fractional ranges are less than six miles in
width, the width varying with its position along the Initial Meridian,
as shown in the figure above to the right. Sections in a fractional
township are numbered the same as though the township was a full one.
The Dominion Land Survey System therefore established a practical,
accurate solution to the subdivision of vast tracts of land in Western
Canada. The framework of meridians and base lines provided the basis
for township subdivision in the System. While readily understood and
used by early settlers and even by people today, it was highly
technical and complicated to layout while keeping errors under control.
This required skilled government surveyors (DLS) to accomplish. Based
on lines of latitude and longitude determined by astronomic field
observations it covered the largest tract of land ever surveyed in
North America under a single integrated system.
Township surveys subdivided the Crown land into parcels which could
be sold for settlement, development and other public purposes. The
figure above (on the left) shows the structure of a typical township of
the Third System of Survey (the First and Second Systems, which
differed mainly in allotment and width of road allowances, were laid
out in southern Manitoba and south-eastern Saskatchewan up to about
1881; after that, the remainder of the Prairie Provinces was subdivided
according to the Third System of Survey). North-south road allowances
run every mile apart; east-west road allowances are spaced at two mile
intervals. Each township contains three blind lines (east-west section
lines where no road allowance is provided - called "blind lines"
because they were not measured on the earlier surveys). Distances shown
on the early township plans are in Chains, and areas are shown in
acres. These British (Imperial) units have been retained for most
township plans even after the metric system was adopted in Canada in
1971.
 Each section is one mile on a side, or 80 Chains square
(approximately), containing 640 acres. A Third System township
therefore measures approximately 486 Chains east-west and 483 Chains
north-south. Road allowances provide public access to each quarter-
section. Sections are sometimes broken down into smaller units called
legal subdivisions of 40 acres each; each section contains 16 legal
subdivisions as shown in figure above to the right. These smaller
tracts are used for smaller divisions of land bordering on rivers and
lakes, Indian reserves, settlements, and for oil and gas well spacing
units.
The introduction of the Torrens land registration system in
Alberta, effective January 1, 1887, was made possible by the accuracy
of the original township and settlement surveys and the careful
collection and preservation of survey plans. The Torrens System was
devised in Australia by Sir Robert Torrens in 1858, and is one of the
most efficient land titles systems in the world. A government land
titles office has custody of all original land titles and documents
registered against them (such as mortgages, caveats and liens), thus
guaranteeing the title and protecting it from fraud and wrongful
possession. The Torrens system remains in use to this day for all
dealings with land ownership, leasing, and related records at the
Edmonton and Calgary land titles offices in Alberta, giving citizens
ready access to all important land titles information related to
buying, selling, and holding property.
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