Michigan Tech GLO Recovery Workshop
Six chains north of the section corner, William Burt's crew descended into a tamarack bog as they had done many times in this township. It was September 12, 1849 and they were running the line common to Secs. 20 and 21 while subdividing Township 52 North, Range 33 West of the Michigan Meridian in what would later become Baraga County located in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
In keeping with their instructions, at 40 chains and still in the tamarack bog, they set the one-quarter section corner as described in their field notes:
| 40.00 Set tamarack qr. section post |
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Tamarack 6 N44E, 13 Tamarack 4 S61W, 36 |
Walking away from this corner to continue their line north, they likely had no idea how long the smaller of the two bearing trees would last...
Turn the clock forward 158 years.
As has been the tradition for a number of years, students of Michigan Technological University, and representatives of the U.S. Forest Service and Michigan Department of Natural Resources gathered recently for a GLO Recovery Workshop. The object of this year's search was Burt's corner described above.
Instructors for the exercise were Pat Leemon of the U.S. Forest Service and Steve Szyszkoski of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, both recognized experts in the recovery and perpetuation of the Public Land Survey System.
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The group gathers near a small homestead just north of Baraga Michigan. Equipment is readied for the half-mile hike guided by a Trimble DGPS receiver to previously determined search coordinates. |
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Once at the search location, instructions were given to "look for anything man-made." In short order, one of the Michigan Tech students located this tamarack stump with "1/4 S" plainly marked on the northeast face... a possible candidate for Burt's southwest bearing tree. Hoping to find the other tamarack, students used the original field notes to compute the bearing and distance to the other tree... nothing conclusive was found. |
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Working from the remaining bearing tree, students reverse the record bearing and measure Burt's distance in hopes of recovering the remains of his post. After removing several layers of organic material, a vertically oriented object is located amongst the roots of a nearby tamarack. |
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With considerable effort, the object is extracted from the bog. Possibly for the first time in six generations, the post is once again exposed to the light of day. Having been in a wet environment continuously since it was set, the axe marks on the point of the post are as distinct as the day it was originally cut. |
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Upon further investigation, another axe-cut point was found under the bog surface. Due to its small size and orientation, it was discounted as possibly a picket set during a subsequent resurvey. |
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Michigan Tech professor Rob Liimakka photographs a student with the remains of Burt's bearing tree. |
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Steve Szyszkoski squares a small tamarack that will act as a guard post adjacent to the aluminum-capped iron pipe set at the corner point. |
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After selecting a healthy tamarack, Pat Leemon begins the stump blaze on the new bearing tree. |
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Students take note as Pat Leemon explains the decay characteristics of the different tree species found in the Upper Peninsula. |
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After the field activities, students and instructors prepared lunch for the group while the events of the day were discussed. |
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In all likelihood, this event will continue in future years and provide a continuing education opportunity for practicing surveyors and surveying technicians while financially supporting the activities of Michigan Tech's Douglass Houghton Student Chapter. For information on upcoming workshops, monitor the Douglass Houghton Student Chapter web site or the WSLS Northern Lakes Chapter web site. |