The actual route taken was 5 to 6 miles south of the actual baseline, due to topographic difficulties, including the Tuolumne River canyon at low elevations, and steep mountain slopes higher up. Nevertheless, this was the first straight line survey made across the Sierra Nevada[14] From 1879 to 1883 large parts of the western half of the park were surveyed as part of the General Land Office survey. However, the individual contracted for the largest area, one S. A. Hanson, was later listed among those associated with the Benson Syndicate, and he combined actual with probably fabricated surveys.