Locational and Coordinate Systems - A Primer of GIS: Fundamental Geographic and Cartographic Concepts - page 105

PLS in western Washington State highlighting unusual 1/2 townships and ranges.
These peculiar townships are the results of difficulties surveying in the alpine Olympic Mountain
Range. Other distortions are also plainly visible in this portion of western Washington State.

the state name, the name of the principal meridian, township and range des-
ignations with cardinal direction, and the section number.
In some areas, due to survey difficulties, errors, or even fraudulent sur-
veys, the townships and sections may vary considerably from the theoretical
system of 6

1 mile sections. (See Figure
5.4.) Fraudulent surveys, surveys that were indicated as correct, but in actual-
ity contained some discrepancy, were often detected before becoming legally
binding, but in some case frauds slipped through and became legally valid.
In some cases, surveys may have been conducted in difficult terrain, beyond

× 6 mile townships and 36 equal 1 ×

Different lengths of roads mean different lengths of bridges between systematic and
nonsystematic surveyed areas.
From Thrower (1966). Reprinted by permission of Norman Thrower.