September 23 is the Feast Day of Saint Louis, patron of surveyors. He slogged through many miles of inhospitable terrain, drawing up maps and noting locations. This would not ordinarily qualify one for sainthood, but Louis famously settled a land feud that had lasted generations by tracking changes in the bed of a tributary of the Autumn River. Hundreds died in the course of this feud. It is said that at the height of hostilities, Louis called up the spirit of the river and bade it speak, but researchers suggest that he probably spent most of his time searching through maps in a nearby library.
Advertisement