Draper correspondence, interviews, and other notes relating to Boone's activities, 1777-1779, with emphasis on the capture of Boone and his group of salt makers by the Shawnee in February 1778, his subsequent escape, and the siege of Boonesborough in the following September. In 1844 Draper interviewed one survivor of the captured salt makers, Joseph Jackson, who remained with the Indians until 1799. From him, Draper obtained reminand his group of salt makers by the Shawnee in February, 1778, his subsequent escape, and the siege of Boonesborough in the following September. In 1844 Draper interviewed one survivor of the captured salt makers, Joseph Jackson, who remained with the Indians until 1799. From him, Draper obtained reminiscences not only about the capture of the Boone party but also about John Bowman's expedition (1779), George Rogers Clark's campaigns of 1780 and 1782, Benjamin Logan's expedition (1786), Simon Girty, and the Shawnee chiefs Black Fish and Black Hoof-all persons and events known or observed by Jackson during his residence with the Indians.

In numerous other instances the content of the papers ranges beyond the main theme or chronological period established for this volume. Thus references are found on the following additional topics: the captivity of the Boone and Callaway girls; Frank Cooper and his sons, Benjamin and Sarshall (Sarshel), and an Indian attack (1783) on the family of Mrs: Betty-Cooper Woods; Joseph Doniphan and the Doniphan family; Stephen, William, and Molly (Mrs. William) Hancock; Alexander McKinney; William Russell's services, civil and military; Boone's first trip to Missouri about 1798; and the War of 1812 in Missouri. Two original manuscripts include a deposition concerning James Peak's land claim signed by Boone in 1797 in Mason County, Kentucky, and a letter written in 1835 by John H. James to Mann Butler concerning Simon Kenton and the siege of Boonesborough.