Draper's annotated correspondence, 1881-1889, concerning Tecumseh's visit to the southern tribes in 1811 to promote Indian confederation. Correspondents include members of the Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole nations as well as white missionaries, educators, government representatives, and others with close associations with these tribes. Among the recollections about Tecumseh are accounts of his prediction of unusual natural phenomena: the earthquakes of 1811-1812 and the appearance of a brilliant comet.

In addition to information directly related to Tecumseh and the Prophet, letters contain material from or about numerous other Native Americans. Relating to the Cherokee are references to the Proctor family, to David Brown and his sister Catherine, to John and Luney Riley, and to the association of Tah-neh or Naomi with the adopted Mohawk chief John Norton. Materials pertaining to the Creek Indians include: statements from Tustenuckochee, from John McIntosh, son of Rolley McIntosh, and from the brothers John R. and N.B. Moore; anecdotes and genealogy about Sophie Durant and the Durant family and about William Weatherford and the Weatherford family; and references to Andrew Jackson and the Creek War, to Chief Tuskegee, and to Joe Ellis, a Creek who settled among the Shawnee. Choctaw data is found in the portion of Henry S. Halbert's correspondence filed in this volume. (See 10 YY for most of Halbert's papers.) From interviews with members or associates of the Choctaw Halbert provided biographical sketches or notes on David Folsom, Hoentubbee, Hopaii Iskitini, Mashulatubbee, Nettakachi, Puckshenubbee, John Pitchlyn, Pushmataha, Red Pepper, and Stonie Hadjo. References to the other southern tribes are scant: a statement from a Seminole, John Jumper, and scattered comments about the Chickasaw and their leader, George Colbert.