So...apparently the four corners is in the wrong place

[snberk103]

The greater monument area is located within (and at the boundary of) the Navajo and Ute Nations. They are both semi-autonomous, indigenous sovereign lands.

At the Monument itself, there are flagpoles in each quadrant with the respective state and Navajo national flags. Not a US ensign to be found.

Ahhh, Ok - thanks. I understand now.

 

[paduck]

Well considering it was back in 1912 where Math relied on mental power more than anything (where as today you have Mac Pros that think faster than 1912's Geniuses put together).

It is still a very dam good pinpoint. 2.5 miles is not that off, but its fairly accurate.
[...]

2.5 miles off isn't fairly accurate. Not by most standards - even 19th Century ones. And certainly not by the standards of 1912. Being off by that far is a real problem. The description above denoting changes in datums over the last century shows that the inaccuracy is much, much less - down to 180 meters which is not bad given that the measurements were made by hand, probably with limited maps in an area without landmarks. Consumer GPS is accurate to about 15 meters. Prior to 2000, when the USG relaxed military restrictions on GPS accuracy, that was about 100 meters.

 

[jav6454]

2.5 miles off isn't fairly accurate. Not by most standards - even 19th Century ones. And certainly not by the standards of 1912. Being off by that far is a real problem. The description above denoting changes in datums over the last century shows that the inaccuracy is much, much less - down to 180 meters which is not bad given that the measurements were made by hand, probably with limited maps in an area without landmarks. Consumer GPS is accurate to about 15 meters. Prior to 2000, when the USG relaxed military restrictions on GPS accuracy, that was about 100 meters.

I consider ti accurate in a time where no computers, satellites or calculators for that fact were available.

Ever tried to find the ln(3) with out a calculator? Or for that matter a sin(.5) or cos(.5) answer? Keep in mind sine and cosine play a critical role to figure your position without electronics and doing everything by hand.

So, yes, for 1912, its was a mistake, but not a huge one.