Series consists of records created and accumulated by the Legal Surveys Division of the Surveys and Mapping Branch. These records include central registry files on various subjects, maps and census notebooks Indian tribes
The official surveys of Indian reserves and Indian school lands across Canada consisting of 1,034 maps contains documents which form a portion of the series of Indian Affairs Survey records plans. They document original surveys as well as surrenders and sales of reserve lands. Many show the names of Indian band members, and in some cases the location of houses, gardens, schools, etc.
This series also contains 4 survey plans of villa lots and a cemetery in Rocky Mountains Park, now Banff National Park and 6 maps assembled by J. Johnston, Geographer at the Dept. of the Interior to prepare a replacement for the map published in 1890 on the Quebec-Labrador boundary.
Survey and information notebooks and portfolio for an investigation of N.S. reserves , 12 v., is in the Government Records Branch, accession no. 82-3-220.
The sub-series also contains 6 posters produced by Legal Surveys Division of Geomatics Canada. The posters are acknowledging and providing information about milestones within the Surveyor General's Office and include the following: 125th Anniversary (1871 - 1996) of the Dominion Lands Township Survey System; 12th Anniversary of the Surveyors General of Dominion Lands; 125th Anniversary of the First Manual of Instructions for the Survey of Dominion Lands; 125th Anniversary of Surveyor General's Office; 100th Anniversary of the Survey of Placer Mining Claims, Bonanza and Eldorado Creeks, Klondike, Yukon Territory (2-sided); and Government Departments from 1867 to 1996 (responsible for administering interests of concern to Legal Surveys Division).
Finally, the series also contains c. 1500 photographs, loose and in albums documenting the survey work of C.M. Duncan between 1921 and 1950. Duncan served as a surveyor and field inspector for the Legal Surveys Division of Surveys and Mapping from the 1920s to the 1970s. The records contain diaries, notes and reports, correspondence and photographs relating to numerous surveys and inspection trips across Canada. Also included are publications and manuals related to surveying, maps, correspondence with colleagues, including C.F. Timmins, etc.
Locations include: Mackenzie and Peace River basins and towns situated on the rivers, the Gaspé Region, the Yukon Territory including the Haines-Fairbanks Pipeline right-of-way, the Northwest Territories including areas around Great Slave Lake and Wood Buffalo National Park, northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Baffin Island and Prince Patrick Island, the Alaska pipeline and the Alaska Highway. There are images of several Hudson Bay Company posts and other northern communities, some power and oil development sites as well as many aerial views, survey parties, and some of people encountered during the survey seasons. There are a few photographs of C.M. Duncan. Included is a small amount of textual records with information on some of the photographs in the albums from 1942 , 1943 and 1944. Finally the accession includes a souvenir photomechanically reproduced album on Winnipeg, n.d.
Legal Surveys Division : The Legal Surveys Division of the Surveys and Mapping Branch made and recorded legal surveys under the direction of the Surveyor General; produced aeronautical charts and electoral district maps; distributed maps, aeronautical charts, publications, and official plans (Department of Mines and Resources Annual Report 1947, pg. 116).
RG88M 59/3395
RG88M 79003/38
RG88M 82303/5
RG88M 956005
RG88-C-2
