This is not as easy as it looks. Early on, legal descriptions could get sloppy. When a legal description bases itself on natural elements-an oak tree, a river's middle, a lake's shore line, the grassy knoll or some other landmark-you can be certain its originators anticipated permanence. Unfortunately, nature does not always cooperate. Rivers move. Trees die. Mountains, shorelines and grassy knolls erode.
Survey stakes don't move. Survey stakes provide certainty for the inherently uncertain. Without survey stakes, banks could not be confident that they were only taking their debtor's property. Trespass laws aren't friendly.
Look at the legal specs of Colorado law-big iron rods hammered into the ground with descriptions on top. One of them is literally ground zero for an area's legal descriptions. The rest work in reference.
These modest little survey stakes become the functional realities for all real property descriptions in surrounding areas. They also source the boundaries denoting political subdivisions.
"So?!" you ask, with justification.
So...we know the deal. Owners are willing to invest in that property. They know what they own.
Most importantly, banks can now loan upon it.
"So?!" you ask, with justification.
So!!! This enables civilization as we know it.
Interior meets exterior. Intangible engages tangible. Sellers want to be paid in full. Buyers want to leverage their cash with other people's money. They would borrow money from Sellers but Sellers are not banks. They generally cannot take default risk.