Harris v. Robertson

In Harris v. Robertson, 306 Ark. 258, 813 S.W.2d 252, 252 (Ark. 1991) the Strattons sold three acres of an eleven-acre tract, keeping the remaining eight acres. Before the sale, Mr. Stratton and Mr. Robertson walked the land, agreed on the boundaries, and fixed the corners with iron pins. Id. The Strattons then hired a surveyor to determine the legal description of the property, but the resulting legal description did not correctly describe the property marked. Id. Eleven years later, the Strattons' successors in interest constructed a fence along the boundary, the location of which concerned the Robertsons. Id. at 253. The Robertsons then had a survey conducted and discovered the error in the deed descriptions. Id. The Arkansas Supreme Court held that the pins were sufficient in that case. Id. at 254. The court noted that testimony showed that Mr. Robertson and Mr. Stratton had together decided on the location of the pins prior to the original survey, that the parties knew where the pins were and knew that the pins defined the boundary, that the parties had never occupied any of the property across the boundary established by the pins, and that on the parts of the property that were mowed, each mowed up to the line established by the pins. Id. at 254-56.