Unless otherwise ordered by the board of county commissioners, the county engineer shall make and keep up, in a manner convenient for reference, complete indexes to all the records in his office, alphabetically arranged by townships. Such indexes shall contain in their several columns the number or name of the original survey, section, tract, or lot in which such survey is located, the date of the execution thereof, the name of the surveyor making it, and the name of the party for whom the survey was made. The board may at any time during the progress of the work provided for in this section discontinue such work.