January 12, 1839 – After arriving in Burlington six days earlier, Cyrus Sanders – Johnson County’s first land surveyor – writes the Surveyor General’s office in St. Louis, sending two reference letters and requesting his first surveying contract in Iowa Territory.

From the very start, Cyrus Sanders used his skills in surveying to open doors of employment. When he first arrived in Burlington (January 6, 1839), he met the Secretary of the Treasury, Jesse Williams, a surveyor from Ohio as well, and with reference letters from both Williams and Governor Robert Lucas, Sanders, after settling into Johnson County, became well-known for the much-needed work of surveying this new land called Iowa.

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