something to propose: TJ offered Briggs the position of surveyor of Mississippi Territory. According to the 3 Mch. act for disposition of lands south of Tennessee, the surveyor was to supervise the laying out of lands previously owned by Indian tribes into townships and half sections in a manner similar to that used to survey the Northwest Territory. The statute authorized a salary of $1,500 for the position (U.S. Statutes at Large description begins Richard Peters, ed., The Public Statutes at Large of the United States…1789 to March 3, 1845, Boston, 1855–56, 8 vols. description ends , 2:233–4; Gallatin to TJ, 21 Mch.; TJ to Wilson Cary Nicholas, 22 Apr.).