U. S. Coast & Geodetic Survey "ONO" Jerry Penry
Triangulation station "Ono" was placed in 1900 by USC&GS surveyors during the 98th Meridian Survey between Mexico and Canada. The location is on the eastern edge of the Sandhills region in central Nebraska and is primarily used for ranching operations. Heading the C&GS survey in 1900 was Frank D. Granger who provided the first description for the mark. He mentioned that the station was 1.5 miles west of Ono and 200 yards south of the mail route between Ono and Bartlett. While the latter town exists today with a current population of 128, the town of Ono hasn't existed for many years. It may have not even been a town, but rather just a house where a rural post office was maintained. A post office was established for Ono in 1885 and discontinued in 1907. The name likely comes from an early settler to the area.
Granger described the monument as an 8-inch square marble post which was the typical monument for that survey. Below the post was an inverted earthenware crock with a drill hole in the center. Nothing was close for reference marks, so azimuths were taken to Leonard Caswell's house, the remains of two sod houses, windmills belonging to ranchers named W. Fabian and J. W. Huff, and Henry Huff's grove of trees estimated to be 2.5 miles away.
Thirty-five years later C&GS recovered the monument on April 23, 1935, and stated that the mail route trail was no longer present and the sod houses were long gone. The dust-laden atmosphere associated with the dust bowl of the 1930's hampered the surveyor's vision to any other reference items that might be further away. No brass disks in concrete reference ties were placed at this location which was unusual since most of the monuments recovered during that era of the resurveys had them placed. Ono was next visited by surveyors from the U. S. Geological Survey in 1961 which likely coincided with the quad sheet mapping of that area. They stated that the monument was recovered in good condition and gave no other notes.
Triangulation Station
1900
November 8, 2008
Triangulation station "Ono" was supposed to be somewhere on top of this hill.
My approach to the hill would be from the north (left).
Forty-seven years after the USGS surveyors had last found the monument, I decided to use a handheld GPS receiver to get close to the monument. I parked at an abandoned farm house and began the quarter of a mile walk to the location in freezing weather. A small amount of fresh snow had fallen and I noticed tracks that indicated cattle were somewhere in the area. Reaching the top of the hill I could see for many miles in all directions, but could not see what might be just over the tops of nearby hills. The marble post was nowhere in sight, so I began probing. One often gets lucky under adverse conditions and I congratulated myself upon finding it after only probing for less than 10 minutes. Thankfully the ground was not yet frozen. I carefully made a plug of grass in the sandy soil and then heard something resembling a rumbling sound.
Just moments from seeing the awaited prize of the 108-year-old geodetic monument.
Looking up, I was quite startled to see a large group of cattle quickly advancing upon my position from the south at full speed. My immediate thoughts were "Oh no!" which seemed fitting since I was at station Ono. I had no idea where they had come from except from the south. Rangeland cattle are quite curious and also intelligent. As the main herd continued to approach me from the south, a smaller portion broke off and started to flank my position by quickly coming around the west side so that I would be surrounded on top of the hill. A quick observation gave me some relief that there were no bulls in the herd.
A portion of the herd after I stopped their second advance to the top of the hill.
Running in this case was never an option since they would have quickly overtaken me had I chosen to retreat. I wondered how General Custer must have felt in his own predicament. I grasped the spade in both hands and while holding it over my head charged the herd. They stopped their advance and slightly retreated except for one black cow that didn't seem to be intimidated. The cows that were flanking my west side stopped and ran back to the south. I grabbed the camera and started to take photos knowing I didn't have much time. They had regrouped and began a second charge with the black cow leading. My return charge again stopped their advance, but they began to slowly walk toward me.
A smaller group from the main herd tried to flank me and prevent any escape.
I had originally thought about trying to measure a distance to the windmill with a 100-foot tape, but the cows ruined that idea.
Ideally I would have liked to have taken more photos and better cleaned the stone, but I decided that time wasn't on my side. I placed two old rusty bolts on the north and south sides of the monument that I had obtained at the abandoned farmhouse. I gathered my tools, covered up the hole, and began to slowly walk backwards over the north crest of the hill. Once I was below their sight, I ran like never before. I didn't look back until I had reached a cross fence nearly 150 yards away that protected a windbreak of evergreen trees. Over the hill they came at full speed as if hoping to catch me, but I wasn't there. Knowing their environment, they began making their way around the cross fence, but my distance was too far ahead and I made it to the next fence and my waiting vehicle.
One of the best monuments of this type that I have ever seen.
One last look before slowly backing over the top of the hill.
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© Jerry Penry 2008