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Collection includes information about the history of Michigan counties, forts, places, people, events, French men and Native Americans, and mining.

Collection materials include correspondence and reference requests on various Michigan historical topics, counties, forts, and people, as well as French men and three Ottawa chiefs he researched for the Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Most materials were collected between 1965 and 1967. Some materials are in French. Some materials are in French.

Oversized Materials: Map by Dept. of Conservation, Div. of Geological Survey, entitled Progress Structural Contours of the Mt. Pleasant Oil Field Area, Aug. 8, 1929, measures approximately 38x62 inches, is stained and acidic; and an undated, twentieth century reproduction of a New France, Canada Map entitled Le Canada, ou Nouvelle France, by N. Sanson, d'Abbeville, 1657, tinted in yellow, brown, and two shades of green, measures 10x14 inches, in the bottom margin it states "compliments of C. M. Burton, Detroit." The maps were separated from the boxes sometime prior to 1997. They were located, interfiled between published maps, in January 2015 by students working on a map scanning project, and were then processed by the Archivist Marian Matyn.

Processing Note: Originally, the maps were separated from the boxes sometime prior to 1997. They were located, interfiled between published maps, in January 2015 by students working on a map scanning project, and were then processed by the Archivist Marian Matyn.

The Michigan collection contains appoximately 300 miscellaneous items relating to the history of present-day Michigan between 1759 and 1947.

The Michigan collection contains approximately 300 miscellaneous items relating to present-day Michigan during the 18th through the 20th centuries. Spanning 1759 to 1947, it comprises letters and documents pertaining to Native American activities, French settlement, trade, politics, town growth, agriculture, and land surveying.

• August 8, 1763, account of the Siege of Detroit by James MacDonald.
• Speech to the Ottawas attributed to Pontiac [1763].
• Robert Rogers' request for the removal of "Mr. Roberts the Commissioner of Indian affairs" (September 4, 1767).
• May 12, 1781 deed granting Michilimackinac to the British, signed by four Chippewa chiefs with their totem marks.
• A letter from John Jacob Astor, dated August 18, 1819, which refers to the fur trade and "Mackinaw skins."
• Discussion of the advantages of Niles, Michigan, by a recent settler (Sept. 1, 1836).
• August 26, 1840, letter concerning the political and economic climate of Michigan.
• Discussion of farming near Kalamazoo, Michigan (January 28, 1847).
• Three letters from Robert McQuaid, a soldier in the 27th Michigan Infantry during the Civil War (May 21, 1863; July 12, 1863; June 28, 1864).
• A letter dated August 7, 1916, with a description of summer vacation on Isle Royale.
• A letter on the prospects of the Democratic Party in Michigan (May 13, 1935).