Draper's notes and bibliographical references on Tecumseh's life, accompanied by an assortment of letters and newspaper clippings on miscellaneous topics. In varying detail, the notes cover Tecumseh's ancestry and parentage; the death of his father at Point Pleasant; the warlike expeditions of the Shawnee (1780-1792); the attack on Ziegler's Station (1792) in which Tecumseh was reported to have participated; his part in the campaign against Anthony Wayne (1794) the Prophet's religious revival; Tecumseh's visits to the Menominee, Potawatomi, and Sauk tribes; his conference at Vincennes (1810) with William Henry Harrison; his visit to the southern tribes; his death; and his physical appearance, personality, and eloquence as a speaker.

Draper's correspondents included a few former missionaries, Indian agents, and members of the Shawnee tribe. Several of these letters discuss Tecumseh's relations with Black Hawk and with Pierre Juzan; the Shawnee known as Captain Tommy; Daniel Curtis (Curtiss); Nathaniel Harrison and Harrison genealogy; Richard Kinnon; the Miami chief Le Gros (or Le Gris), the Chippewa chief Little Pine; the family of Francis Maisonville to whom Tecumseh's sister was married; the Potawatomi chief Shaubena (Shabonee, Chambly, et cetera), and Richard Taylor. A small pocket notebook contains miscellaneous notes about Tecumseh by Benjamin Drake.