Note the strong resemblance of James to Verplanck:

and his final resting site located at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.

Also this very rare late photo of Mills Blake and Verplanck at the Elms. Inscription on the back of the photo reads “175  Western Ave. Albany NY, August 27,th 191?) It was taken by Andrew James Colvin who was Denise’s great grandfather and brother to Edward D. A. Colvin (E.D.A. Colvin worked on Verplanck’s survey crew)

     As told to me by Denise  “James was a Captain in the civil war and he was also in the Spanish American war. He passed away in Georgia while serving in this war, I believe he contracted the spanish flu and it turned into pneumonia and he died from that in 1899″.

Jim Vianna

With the invaluable assistance of Bob and Dan Marvin who provided GPS services and a boat, we were able to recover the north base mark on Hawk Island.

Colvin’s signal over the mark is as shown here:

Unfortunately, the station on the south shore of the lake (if still in) rests under a newly laid, imported stone patio that I don’t think the owners would have taken kindly to if we dismantled it. We then proceeded to Signal Hill to search for the mark that was listed in 1946 as being destroyed by road construction. After numerous 3-4 feet deep test holes were dug in the gravel road nothing was found.

Special thanks goes out to Northern and Bob and Dan Marvin for their assistance in completing this recovery.

Jim Vianna

Please visit the “Future Recoveries” page for this falls outing information.

Thanks again,

Jim Vianna

Well, after a long search for a new supply, we have finally obtained a reliable supplier and have since received a shipment of 100 pins. 

Replacement/additional pins can now be purchased at a cost of $10 per pin by forwarding on a check made payable to the COLVIN CREW for the number of pins so desired, along with a postage paid, return envelope to:

Camp Clerk: Michael Webb
c/o Ranger School,
PO Box 48, Wanakena, NY 13695

New members will continue to receive their first pin as part of the initial membership fee.

I am often asked “how accurate were Colvin’s measurements”.

         Well, based on the extremely small sampling that I have personally re-measured, I would say it varies from better than what is typically obtained today to god awful. The better work appears to be that in which Colvin personally performed the observations and the worst appears to be that which was performed in his absence.

The following link, will take you to a web page entitled: “Kinematics and Dynamics of Strain Accumulation in the Adirondacks” USGS 1434-94-G-2473, Final Report by John Beavan, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY 10964

This 1995 report details the use of Colvin station marks in helping to determine the movement of the Adirondack Mountain range. A resulting un-intended conclusion of their work is found in the report  as follows: 

“Conclusion: The 1800′s triangulation surveys of the Adirondacks resulted in horizontal station coordinates precise to about 0.5 m (when selecting the best data available to us). The 1940′s survey resulted in precisions of 0.1-0.2 m. The 1995 GPS data gives precisions estimated at 0.01-0.02 m. The accuracies of the earlier surveys, while commendable for their time, are insufficient to detect deformation associated with the uplift of the Adirondacks.”

 Jim Vianna