The first of two volumes of papers on New York frontier events in 1778. Draper's chronological notes on Brant's movements are followed by letters and related materials on particular persons and events all in New York, with the exception of the attack on the Wyoming settlement in Pennsylvania. Topics include: the battle of Cobleskill (May); Indian destruction and massacres at Springfield, Andrustown, and Wyoming (July); German Flats (September); Kyle (Chyle) Settlement, Squalk Settlement, and Cherry Valley (November); the captivities of Jacob Eckler, of Jacob and John Lambert, and of John and Sebastian Shaul; Brant's earlier friendships with the families of Henry Eckler, John Sleeper, and John Tunnicliff and anecdotes about his conduct toward them in 1778.

Scattered through the volume are copies of only a few contemporary letters (1778) on military matters written by Abraham Ten Broeck and Goose Van Schaick to Edward Hand, by Robert Cochran to John Stark, and by Charles Smith to Brant; one excerpt from an anonymous correspondent reported on the retaliatory expedition by William Butler and Pennsylvania troops against the Indian towns of Unadilla and Anaguaga in October.

Papers concerning the battle at Wyoming include collected evidence that Brant was not present, letters about the conduct of the young Tory Parshall Terry Jr., towards his patriot family, reminiscences (1830) of the attack by David Allen with additional commentary by Henry Knapp, and a Dewey family narrative (1868) which tells not only of the escape of Joseph Dewey and part of his family from Wyoming but also of the migration of his sons Joel and Joshua to the Ohio River region and their part in the founding of Belleville, West Virginia, in 1784-1786.

Numerous newspaper clippings (1878) describe the centennial observance of the massacre at Andrustown.

Throughout Draper's correspondence many settlers and their families were mentioned; among those for whom there are varying quantities of biographical or genealogical data are: Jedediah Beach; Benjamin Cory and his wife Mehitable; James Ferguson, his son James, and the latter's wife Jane Young; John Horton and his wife Deborah Terry; John House; Robert Kelly and his son James; Thomas Klumph and his wife Margaret Davis, Gabriel Long; John McKown and his son William; John Reese and his daughter Janey, wife of Gershom Smith; Matthias and Sebastian Shaul; John Sleeper and his son, Jonathan; Peter Staring and his sons George and Peter; Parshall Terry Sr., and his wife Deborah Clark; Jacob Tygart; and the Wasson family: George, his wife Agnes Sullivan, John, and Thomas; and James Young.