Burt preferred the country life for his wife and sons. When he was 41 years of age he was appointed a deputy surveyor for the United States government. At that time in 1833 three sons, John, Alvin and Austin, were old enough to work as assistant surveyors to learn the trade. In the next 18 years, all five of his sons became government deputy surveyors. He trained scores of other boys in surveying techniques at Mount Vernon, in Macomb County, Michigan. Burt was also a trainer of surveying techniques to young men in the states of Wisconsin and Iowa. He surveyed the boundary between Minnesota and Wisconsin as well as the sites for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Davenport, Iowa, and Dubuque, Iowa.