Cokeville in Lincoln County, Wyoming — The American West (Mountains)
State Boundary Monument
(Utah, Idaho and Wyoming)
— To All Pioneers —
Two corners were surveyed and marked in the 1870's. U.S. Astronomer and Surveyor Daniel G. Major and a party of 11 men surveyed the Idaho-Utah boundary during the summer of 1871. Using transits, chronometers, a sextant and steel measuring chains, Major projected a line northerly from Evanston to a point near the Bear River where a series of celestial observations were performed. A specified distance was measured westerly to the intersection of the 42nd Parallel of North Latitude with the 34th Degree of Longitude (west of Washington, D.C.), the place for the "Initial Point". The point was marked by a "glazed white earthen bottle" deposited beneath a set pine post and witnessed by inscribed boulders.
Three years later in 1874 while surveying the western boundary of Wyoming, U.S. Astronomer and Surveyor A.V. Richards found the "Major Monument" to be approximately 0.7 mile too far east, thereby creating a new point for there corner common to Idaho and Utah on the Wyoming boundary. Later surveys marked this point that became the accepted corner we recognize today.
A coordinated effort by local and government surveying organizations recently relocated the historic corner sites established more than a century ago. The original survey records were instrumental in relocating these historic sites.
Erected by U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management.
Topics. This historical marker and monument is listed in this topic list: Political Subdivisions.
Location. 42° 5.13′ N, 110° 57.582′ W. Marker is in Cokeville, Wyoming, in Lincoln County. Marker is at the intersection of East Main Street and Park Street, on the left when traveling west on East Main Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Cokeville WY 83114, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 6 other markers are within 14 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Old Oregon Trail (approx. 0.6 miles away); Cokeville (approx. 0.6 miles away); Oregon Trail 1847 (approx. 9.9 miles away); Golden Anniversary 1940 (approx. 9.9 miles away); Thomas Fork (approx. 10.4 miles away in Idaho); Emigrant Springs (approx. 14.1 miles away).
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on November 11, 2015, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 485 times since then and 108 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on November 11, 2015, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.