Third Meridian
This marker at the Third Meridian, which is a major control survey line
upon which the survey of Saskatchewan's lands to the west depends, honors the
work of pioneer surveyors who overcame great difficulties in establishing a vast
survey system on the prairies.
Basic to land settlement and the free homestead policy, the survey system
of townships, sections and quarter sections, with allowance for roads, permitted
ready location of lands and registration of titles.
Most of the provincial survey system was completed between 1880 and 1905
and now covers more than 110, 000 square miles. The pioneer land surveyors
made a notable contribution to the development of Canada by establishing one of
the world's more efficient survey systems, unique in its uniformity, simplicity
and practicality. ~ text of marker