The past year has brought a lot of change – and a lot to be thankful for. Here at Berntsen, we’re thankful for all of our customers - those that leave their mark on the world, by establishing boundaries, forging paths and ensuring buildings are straight and true. For more than 50 years, our mission has been to provide our customers with the best products and support possible – and we look forward to another 50 years serving you

What a half-century it has been! Back in 1972, when Berntsen was founded, the world was a different place. There was no internet (it wouldn’t be available until 1983) ; social media wouldn’t show up for another 25 years. People had to communicate by landline telephone, snail mail, telex – or even talk face-to-face!

Technology was beginning to change surveying as well – Berntsen introduced the first lightweight aluminum alloy monument, making surveying less arduous; at the same time, Electronic Distance Measurement (EDMs), were being used in conjunction with theodolites, speeding up surveying. By the 1980s, surveying was becoming increasingly digitized, and by 1990, the digital total station was introduced.

Yellowstone was established by Congress as the world’s first national park on March 1, 1872, following three expeditions to the region (the Folsom-Cook-Peterson Expedition of 1869; the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition of 1870; and the official, government sponsored Hayden Expedition of 1871). The expeditions were seeking the truth to the numerous rumors about the area that was described as “smoking with the vapor from boiling springs; and burning with gasses . . . “ (Joe Meek, fur trapper, 1829). What the men of these expeditions saw astounded and inspired them. The unique geology of the area galvanized them to petition Congress to set the area aside as a “public pleasureing-ground” protecting from “injury or spoliation” the “timber, mineral deposits, natural curiosities or wonders within said park, and their retention in their natural condition.”

Roger Sherman He was descended from the Shermans of Yaxley, in the county of Suffolk, England, who were landed gentry who had helped to frame the British Constitution. Born in 1721, the second of seven children of William and Mehatabel Sherman, Roger became farmer and a cordwainer (a person who makes shoes and other items from leather) like his Puritan father.

Surveyors do much more than make precise measurements for boundary lines or construction projects – Surveyors are marketing an essential professional service.

Surveyors are critical to the accuracy of boundaries and infrastructure, yet their services are often undersold. It’s common that the only visible testament to a surveyor’s work are a few wooden stakes that are either removed or left in place to disappear over a few months.

Most end customers have only a peripheral knowledge of surveying in general, because surveying services are engaged through realtors or other contractors. It’s very important that your direct customer and the end-customer understand the value of surveying.

One of the little-known facts about the expansion of settlers into the interior territories of the United States was the essential role that surveying played in establishing settlements. As tracts of land were allotted to settlers, these tracts had to be measured, marked and recorded. This effort called for enterprising people who were educated, resourceful, and tough enough to live off the land.