Douglass Houghton was an American geologist and physician, primarily known for his exploration of the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan. He explored the area in 1831 and 1832, and conducted a survey of the peninsula in 1840 as State Geologist of the newly formed state of Michigan. Houghton's report of 1841, which resulted from his survey, was eighty-eight pages in length and he spent more than twenty-seven pages discussing the copper and copper ore he witnessed in his travels. He famously concluded, "the copper ores are not only of superior quality, but also that their associations are such as to render them easily reduced." He noted that samples of ore he had tested were richer than the copper ore being then mined in Cornwall. He also famously warned against prospectors rushing to the area in hopes of striking it rich: "look closely before the step is taken, which will most certainly end in disappointment and ruin." Nevertheless, Houghton's report prompted a major rush of settlers to the peninsula. Douglass Houghton was drowned in Lake Superior, near the mouth of Eagle River, during a violent storm, on October 13, 1845. His body was recovered in May of the following year. He was returned to Detroit and buried in Elmwood Cemetery.