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THE LIFE AND TIMES OF
WILLIAM A. BURT, BY GEORGE H. CANNON.
June 7, 1882.
This work was at that time a great undertaking. The face of the country was swampy and difficult to penetrate, being densely covered with trees and underbrush, presenting many obstacles in the prosecution of the work. On this work Mr. Burt was aided by his sons, who, like himself, were accomplished engineers and surveyors. Unlike many other government contracts, this one failed to enrich the contractors, the compensation per mile being quite inadequate for the amount of hard work done. During the ensuing winter Mr. Burt visited Washington, and at the invitation of the commissioner of the general land office, he gave his views upon the needs and requirements of the public land surveys, in an exhaustive paper which was laid before the department. In this paper he insisted upon better pay and better work in the field, knowing full well that no branch of the public service demanded so much work for so little pay. His suggestions were largely acted upon; the compensation per mile increased, but not so much as it should have been, and thereafter there was less fault found in that direction. The land surveys were continued westward, as fast as the Indian title could be extinguished, which was finally accomplished in 1842. In the progress of the work during 1841 the surveys had reached the head waters of the Tah-quaw-me-naw and Manistique rivers, where Mr. Burt discovered the immense deposits of bog iron ore found in that region. Early in the season of 1844 he secured in connection with Dr. Houghton a large contract for surveys, which it was expected would embrace the so-called mineral region. In view of this he had, with the doctor, devised a plan of uniting the linear with the geological survey, a method at once so simple and practical that Judge Campbell in his history says:
Michigan
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