Four Corners, The Monument

Even though the north-south boundary line that separates Arizona from New Mexico was never intended to be on the 109th meridian, as is generally perceived, it is still a little bit off. The intended line was supposed to be 109 degrees, 2 minutes and 59.25 seconds west longitude. Due to a surveying error, however, the line is
109 degrees, 2 minutes and 42.62019 seconds. One second of latitude and longitude is equal to 90 feet. That means that the line is about 675 feet east of where it should be (I am using rounded off figures here, for simplicity's sake). That is equal to slightly more than 2 football fields. Charles Robbins did a commendable surveying job given the primitive equipment that he had to work with.
     The east-west boundary line that runs through the Four Corners Monument is also slightly off. This line was surveyed several times and none of the surveyors got it right! It moved north and south several times before the present line was accepted and agreed upon by the affected states. The line is currently at 36 degrees, 59 minutes and 56.31532 seconds north latitude, just south of 37 degrees north latitude where it was intended to be. The currently accepted boundary line is about 360 feet south of where it should be, slightly more than a football field.
     There has been some controversy about whether New Mexico and Utah really touch each other at a corner. My answer to that is "Yes They Do." Yes they do touch each other at the corner because, even though the Four Corners is a little off, all four states involved have accepted the current spot as the official meeting place of all of the states and that makes it official. It has also been approved by the United States Congress and since everyone involved has approved of it, that trumps any written description of the boundary.