called the resulting product a True Meridian Finding instrument. It overcame the vagaries of the surveyor's compass caused by interference from iron ore deposits in a local land mass district. Burt first used the solar instrument in his Michigan surveys. He found large outcropping deposits of iron ore at Negaunee in Marquette County in his later 1844 survey of the upper peninsula of the state of Michigan. This would become known as the Marquette Iron Range. His crew found small deposits of iron ore in the state's lower peninsula at about the same time. His accidental discovery of these iron deposits in Michigan contributed much to America's Industrial Revolution. The Calumet and Hecla Mine of Michigan's Copper Country was discovered with Burt's instrument, and it became the leading copper producer in the world. Burt's solar compass uses the location of the Sun with astronomical tables and enables surveyors to run more accurate lines, saving them much time. Burt had a model of his instrument built in 1835 by William James Young, a professional instrument maker. He then submitted this solar compass to a committee at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. They examined its characteristics and then awarded Burt twenty dollars in gold and the John Scott Medal for its technology. Burt patented his solar compass innovation on February 25, 1836. It has since been referred to as Burt's solar compass or astronomical compass. He used it in the 1836–1837 season to survey the fifth principal meridian in Iowa. Burt improved on the instrument over the years with certain mechanics to make it simpler to operate with better accuracy. In 1840, he received another patent on his improved solar compass. He resubmitted the updated version of the instrument to the Franklin Institute where they found it to be more accurate and easier to use than the first version. The Federal Land Office general surveyor E. S. Haines examined Burt's surveying instrument in December 1840 and reported in a 1841 letter that with its four-year experience in surveying it was found to be superior in technology to the normal compass then used by most surveyors. The Commissioner of the Federal Land Office sent letters to surveyors general throughout the United States saying Burt's compass was being manufactured by the surveyor Henry Ware and available for purchase. Burt in 1849 went to Washington with his son to apply for a renewal of his