Surveys of of the Northwest Territories began in our area (Schoolcraft County) in the 1820’s, once the surveys were completed the government began handing out patents (land grants) of our territory from 1848 to 1860. Henry Rowe Schoolcraft originally came to the Great Lakes as a member of Lewis Cass’s survey expedition. The purpose of this expedition was to make topographical survey maps of Northern Michigan and the upper Great Lakes. In 1822, Schoolcraft was appointed Indian Agent with headquarters in Sault St. Marie and from 1836 to 1841 became the superintendent for the Native American affairs for Michigan. Besides being know for his writings about the manners and customs of the Chippewa Indians, his notable achievement to the government was his Treaty of March 28th, 1836, with the Native American and the Eastern half of the Upper Peninsula.
