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Staff Photo by Matt Fields-Johnson Fred McCulley, 71, caretaker of the nearby State Line Cemetery, examines the site of the Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama border where stone and flag markers once stood until they were vandalized and destroyed.
Where in the world is the Camak Stone?
After gaining fame in recent years as the symbol of flawed 19th century surveys that now keep Georgia a stone's throw away from the Tennessee River's water, the 200-year-old survey marker is missing.
"The governor (Sonny Perdue) probably sent troops up there and had that done," joked John Bennett, chairman of the Coosa-North Georgia Water Planning Council.
A few trees and bushes near the usual location of the stone -- at the tri-state confluence of Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama -- have red-orange surveyor tapes tied to them.
Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley disavowed any knowledge of vandals or border warriors working around the boundary line and stone, originally set in 1826.
"There's been no directive by the governor's office to do anything like that (a new survey)," he said. "You don't need a survey to know the line is in the wrong place."
Mr. Bennett said he knew of no survey work ordered at the state line near Nickajack Cave, and certainly none was sought by the water council.
"Our charge is to come up with a plan for supplying infrastructure and water sources," Mr. Bennett said, adding that talking about the location of the state line won't help with that.
The vandalism was discovered recently by Freddie McCulley, a volunteer groundskeeper for nearby State Line Cemetery. The marker also is a boundary line for the cemetery property, Mr. McCulley said.
Bart Crattie, the local surveyor and a board member of the Surveyors Historical Society who helped make the Camak Stone a household name a few years ago, said the marker likely has been the victim of a relic hunter.
"I'll bet you it's on eBay," he said. "There's a huge market for surveying relics."
In 2008, Mr. Crattie wrote a research article for American Surveyor, stating that flawed surveys in the early 1800s misplaced the state line and took Tennessee River water out of Georgians' mouths.
Had the line been designated correctly, it would fall about in the middle of the main river channel near Nickajack Cave, Mr. Crattie said.
Mr. Crattie's research set off months of legislative and gubernatorial rhetoric back and forth across the Tennessee and Georgia state lines. Georgia lawmakers empowered the governor to negotiate with Tennessee to correct the state line. Tennessee officials said no way.
A federal judge's ruling last month in another Georgia water spat with Alabama and Florida renewed Peach State urgency, however. The judge ruled that Georgia's use of Lake Lanier, which provides water for about 3 million metro Atlanta residents, must cease in three years.
On the heels of that ruling, Georgia state Sen. Judson Hill, R-Marietta, recently suggested lawmakers again explore agreements to get Tennessee River water or move the border north.
CAMAK STONE
The United States Congress in 1796 established the state of Tennessee and designated its southern border as the 35th parallel. In the spring of 1818, Georgia mathematician James Camak camped near Nickajack Cave and used the stars and rudimentary surveying tools to calculate where the parallel and state line would be.
In 1826, Mr. Camak returned for a second calculation, moving the line and the marker named for him, the Camak Stone, nearer to the Tennessee River but still about a mile south of the real 35th parallel.
Had the line been designated correctly, it would fall about in the middle of the main river channel near Nickajack Cave.
Tennessee Sen. Andy Berke, D-Chattanooga, on Friday reiterated that Georgia officials are fishing in the wrong waters.
"It's hard to imagine what new is going to happen (to change anything about the state line)," he said. "They have a serious problem, and they're not going to fix it by talking about border disputes. They need to be talking about land use and water conservation."
Maybe the stone-marker is laying in the middle of the Tennessee River where it should be.
Duuuuuh
This whole issue is about restoring the territorial integrity of Georgia - NOT about water. Natural resources come with the territory. Tennesse lawmakers and the Tennessee governor would argue with Kentucky, Mississippi, or any other state, if they found that that state was claiming part of Tennessee as their own. For some reason, they think it is okay to do this against Georgia because Atlanta has a major water problem. Perdue should take this to the Supreme Court where these types of issues are to be settled (if Tennessee refuses to recognize where the 35th Parallel actually is).
No, the issue is about Atlanta's refusal to curb or even control in the slightest its obscene waste of water resources. Georgia doesn't care where its water comes from, who they deny it to, or what it uses it for. All it wants is water, water, and more water -- the entire Tennessee River if it is allowed.
It is time Georgia learned what conservation is all about. After finally losing its power grab for water originally flowing to other states, it is now looking to take other's.
Stealing water belonging to others is nothing new in the US. Los Angeles did that filthy deed long ago and is still doing it. It dug an immense 12-foot tunnel over 100 miles through hardrock mountains and pumped it full of water from the Colorado River. That water has flowed to LA for over 70 years; the mighty river that once flowed into the Sea of Cortez [aka Bay of California] is now a trickle at our southern border that finally sinks into the Mexican sands miles from the shore. L.A. bought up miles of riverbed [and its water] and pumped Merced River water for miles over the mountains. The state now pumps so much water from its northern rivers emptying into the SanFran Bay that the rivers are beginning to turn salty [high tides do that].
THAT is exactly what Georgia proposes to do and to Hades with those who tell them to curb its appetites.
Georgia is wasting their time. They have already lost a case like this with South Carolina and they will lose this one if it goes to court. Look up "adverse possession".
Instead of actually dealing with their water problems, the politicians in Georgia are trying to blame someone else.
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