Principally Draper notes and correspondence on the activities of George Rogers Clark, 1777-1779, and related political and military events primarily in Kentucky. Topics considered include: courts-martial (1777) over which Clark presided at Harrodsburg; the location of Cove Spring, Kentucky; the exploratory visit (April-June 1777) to the Illinois country made by Benjamin Linn and Samuel Moore to secure information for Clark; the Kaskaskia campaign; the location of Clark's Spring and other sites in and near Kaskaskia; William Harrod's trip (1778) to Missouri for salt; foreign affairs in 1778-the French alliance and England's unsuccessful attempt to secure a contingent of mercenaries from Russia to fight against the American colonies; the capture of Vincennes; John Bowman's expedition (1779); and New Year's Day observances and other customs peculiar to the French settlements along the Mississippi River. Some notes, letters, and summaries of pension applications contain biographical and genealogical data on numerous persons, including: Ichabod Camp, an Episcopal minister who traveled down the Ohio River to Kentucky with Clark in 1778; Charles Charleville; Francois Charleville; Charles Gatliff, with mention of the Indian captivity of his wife and sons James and Cornelius; Father Pierre Gibault; Jean Baptiste Janis; Jean Baptiste La Croix; the Menard family; James Ray; Jean Baptiste St. Gem Sr. and his descendants, particularly Augustus St. Gem (1791-1864).

Scattered among Draper's papers are a few original manuscripts, all dated in 1778 unless otherwise noted. These include: minutes of courts-martial conducted by Clark (April-May 1777); two letters by Clark to William Harrod, and one each to Edward Hand and Jean Baptiste Lafont (Laffont); one letter by Matthew Arbuckle to Hand; one by Arthur Campbell to Charles Cummings; one by Samuel Mason to William Harrod; an itemized list of clothing, cloth and sewing supplies, guns, brandy and wine, and other merchandise received by Clark for his Illinois Regiment from September 1778, to January 1779; and an undated deposition by William Chapline concerning the building of a Kentucky cabin for Isaac Taylor by one of the Harrod family. There are copies of three additional letters, one each by John Bowman (1777), Clark (1778), and Patrick Henry (1777).