Draper's notes on Boone, 1780-1782, accompanied by extensive correspondence, the bulk of which is centered about Indian-white confrontations in Kentucky in 1782: Estill's defeat, the siege of Bryan's Station, the battle of Blue Licks, and the attack on Kincheloe's Station. Biographical and/or genealogical information may be found on many participants including James Craig, son of Toliver and Mary (Hawkins) Craig; James Estill; Jacob Harper; Robert Johnson; William Kincheloe; John and Joseph McMurtry; William Marshall; William Polke; Lewis Rose; William Sharp; Harvey Sterling; John Todd; James Wade; Philemon Waters; and Jesse Yocum.

Nearly one-fifth of the volume is composed of correspondence, 1845-1856, interview notes, and articles from Joseph Ficklin (d. 1859), who experienced the siege of Bryan's Station as a young boy. Among Ficklin's papers are his account of Black Hoof based on conversations they had in 1815 and a letter (1847) by W. Flanagan of Winchester, Kentucky, giving an account of Kentucky silver mining, including brief mention of the legendary Swift's mine.

Original documents in this volume number only two: an appointment of Philamon Waters as captain of Virginia militia signed by Governor Benjamin Harrison (1784), and a clipped fragment of a business agreement bearing Waters's signature.