TSPS MAY 2025 FINAL - Flipbook - Page 11
UPCOMING EVENT
THE HIGH PLAINS EXPERIENCE
PRESENTED BY TSPS CHAPTERS 1, 10, 16, AND 18
When .................. Thursday, May 15th - Saturday, May 17th, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Where ................. Talon Point Retreat, 5145 FM 722, Channing, Texas 79018
Contact ............... Monte Sheppard, monte@sheppard-survey.com, 325-695-6277
INSTRUCTORS
Stan Piper - RPLS, LSLS, Midland, TX
Maxey Sheppard - RPLS LSLS, Abilene TX
Joe Mattox - RPLS, LSLS, Silsbee, TX
Michael Newton - RPLS LSLS, Lubbock, TX
Landon Merritt - RPLS, Lubbock, TX
Stan Piper’s Research and Recovery The participants in this class will
bene昀椀t from many years of experience as Stan explains his methods of
preparing for a survey, setting up his research and 昀椀eld sketches, and
then Stan has an in the 昀椀eld portion on learning how to recover and
identify original monuments.
Maxey Sheppard’s West Texas Retracement The course where
participants are given a brief history of surveying the staked plains of
the Texas panhandle after which they go to the LIT Ranch and take up
an antique compass and chain and strike out across the prairie in search
of old boundary corners. This course has been called lots of fun and very
informative on the earlier methods of surveying.
Joe Mattox’s Gradient Boundary Joe and his assistant, Dillon Harp
(RPLS, LSLS), will take participants in this class through classroom
time learning the history of the Stiles gradient boundary method, to
be followed by a trip to the Canadian River where there is a handson exercise in locating and identifying a key bank and the gradient
boundary.
Michel Newton’s Following the Footsteps-Record Keeping Michel will
discuss the different types of medias used, how to read the various
styles of 昀椀eld notes, and explain some of the math the surveyors of the
Texas plains used. For the 昀椀eld portion, the participants will go with
Maxey’s group and keep actual notes of the search for corners.
Landon Merritt’s Ethics and Board Rules Landon will lead a discussion
on ethics and how it applies to daily life as a Surveyor Friday morning
after breakfast.
LIMITED TO 33 ATTENDEES – FIRST COME - FIRST SERVED
If you are coming with a friend or co-worker and are willing to double
occupy a room, please contact Monte Sheppard (325-695-6277). Doing
so would help open a room for an additional attendee.
PLEASE CHECK THE WEATHER BEFORE ARRIVING, PANHANDLE
WEATHER CAN VARY WIDELY.
Friday Night’s meal will be a STEAK DINNER provided to you at no
extra charge by one of our sponsors, and we are working on obtaining
an informative guest speaker to accompany this dinner. Friday morning
breakfast is traditionally an authentic chuckwagon cooked breakfast.
Friday and Saturday breakfasts and lunches are included in your
registration fees.
Activities begin Thursday night at Talon Point (www.talonpoint.org), a
private retreat outside of Channing, TX, where our dining and lodging
have been arranged, and where all classroom activities will take place.
Upon arrival Thursday night, we will have an informal meal and get
together with an optional skeet shoot and other activities. All 昀椀eld work
will take place on the historic LIT Ranch, with our gracious thanks to
ranch owner Bill O’Brien. The LIT Ranch is a 60,000 acre ranch comprised
of River Surveys, Live Water Surveys, and Rail Road Surveys with many
original corners having been recovered in good condition. The historic
town of “Old Tascosa”, once a cow-town and part of many famous
cattle trails and home to many infamous people of the western history
of America, is located on grounds once owned by the ranch. The site
of “Old Tascosa” is now occupied by Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch, a highly
recognized home for children needing direction in their life. Boot Hill
Cemetery and the Old Courthouse still stand, with the Old Courthouse
now being a historical museum, showing both frontier life and the history
of the Boy’s Ranch.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT MONTE SHEPPARD (325)695-6277 OR MONTE@SHEPPARD-SURVEY.COM
May 2025 THE TEXAS SURVEYOR
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