19-Jan-2024 -- My third of four confluence in SE Kansas in 24 hours. I originally parked here at 12:10 pm expecting to walk southwestward along the pipeline easement almost directly to the confluence, but after going about 100 yards I spied some large cattle along the easement in the distance. Knowing that the landowner from the previous visit in 2001 declared his cows to be aggressive, I didn't want to take any chances. I returned to the car and circled counter-clockwise to the nearest house due NW of the confluence to ask permission to cross their land, just as the previous owners had done.
No one was home but a big friendly white dog. I left the confluence letter and a note, then followed a fence line eastward to the woods. Entering the woods I discovered a two-track trail that I suspect originates here and which continues all the way to the original stone monument erected after the original surveyors passed through (see photo #8). Pretty remarkable that it still survives, and that it was off by a mere 115 yards. Three counties converge here: Chautauqua, Osage, and Washington, the latter two in Oklahoma.
I took the requisite photos at the exact confluence and was back to the car by 1 pm, having been gone 20 minutes. Temperature was a balmy 19°F with strong winds from the NW. I saw at least four different goat farms in the first several miles leaving the site (see photo #9)