Navajo Meridian
Encyclopedia
The Navajo Meridian, established in 1869, is one of the two principal meridians for Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, the other being the Gila and Salt River Meridian
Gila and Salt River Meridian
The Gila and Salt River Meridian intersects the base line on the south side of Gila River, opposite the mouth of Salt River, in latitude 33° 22' 40" north, longitude 112° 17' 25" west from Greenwich, and governs the surveys in the territory of Arizona...

. Its initial point was stated as latitude 35° 45' north, longitude 108° 32' 45" west from Greenwich, but has been revised as 35°44′56"N 108°31′59"W The Navajo Meridian and Baseline were used to set townships and ranges
Public Land Survey System
The Public Land Survey System is a method used in the United States to survey and identify land parcels, particularly for titles and deeds of rural, wild or undeveloped land. Its basic units of area are the township and section. It is sometimes referred to as the rectangular survey system,...

 in a special survey for the original Navajo Reservation
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation is a semi-autonomous Native American-governed territory covering , occupying all of northeastern Arizona, the southeastern portion of Utah, and northwestern New Mexico...

, and was set at the eastern boundary of that reservation. The Arizona lands surveyed using the Navajo Meridian and Baseline were ranges six west to ten west and townships one north to fourteen north, and included Canyon de Chelly National Monument
Canyon de Chelly National Monument
Canyon de Chelly National Monument was established on April 1, 1931 as a unit of the National Park Service. It is located in northeastern Arizona within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation...

.

While the above mentioned Arizona lands still reference the Navajo Meridian and Baseline, in New Mexico the surveys of lands originally surveyed under it were canceled in 1936, and have since been resurveyed using the New Mexico Meridian and Baseline
New Mexico Meridian
The New Mexico Meridian, is longitude 106° 53' 40" west from Greenwich. It extends throughout New Mexico and into Colorado, and together with the baseline, at latitude 34° 15' 25" north, governs township and range surveys in New Mexico, except those in the northwest corner of the state which refer...

. In Arizona, only the portions of the Navajo Reservation that are east of the Hopi Reservation
Hopi Reservation
The Hopi Reservation, or simply Hopi, is a Native American reservation for the Hopi and Arizona Tewa people, surrounded entirely by the Navajo Nation, in Navajo and Coconino counties of Arizona, USA. The site in north-eastern Arizona has a land area of 2,531.773 sq mi and as of the 2000 census had...

were surveyed using the Navajo Meridian and Baseline.
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