Original manuscripts and contemporary copies, 1774-1778, 1791-1798, and a few brief notes about Clark's career written at later dates by William Clark, John Croghan, and Joseph H. Daviess. Most of the eighteenth-century manuscripts pertain to Clark's Illinois campaign in 1778. Major facets documented include public and private instructions issued to Clark, the French affiance as it related to Clark's expedition, and his occupation of Kaskaskia and Cahokia. Among the papers are Clark's commission as captain in Dunmore's War, a contemporary copy of Dunmore's proclamation (January 23, 1775) at the conclusion of the campaign against the Shawnee; Levi Todd's narrative (1791) of Kentucky events from 1774 to 1777; Clark's diary, December 25, 1776-March 30, 1778, of which portions were written in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, and Williamsburg, Virginia; and seven letters (1777-1778) by Patrick Henry on government business and on the purchase of western horses for his private use.

Other papers in 1778 include two letters by William Bailey Smith mentioning Daniel Boone's capture by Indians and the raising of troops in the Holston River area; seven letters by Oliver Pollock (primarily contemporary copies) and two by James Willing on such matters as the cooperation of Willing with Clark, Spanish relations in the lower Mississippi Valley, and Pollock's financial operations; a letter by John Bowman describing the Indian siege of Boonesborough; letters by Joseph Bowman, Gabriel Cerré, Joseph Cesirre, and H. Perrault, a contemporary French translation of a letter by Clark, and Leonard Helm's certificate of appointment as superintendent of Indian affairs, all of which relate to the reception of Clark by the French settlers at Kaskaskia and subsequent American administration and Indian relations there; a Virginia assembly resolution of thanks to Clark for his services and a letter of commendation to him by Benjamin Harrison. Pollock's letters are supplemented by invoices (1778) for merchandise he shipped to Clark from New Orleans. Letters to Clark by James Barbour (1780), John Breckinridge (1795), and Nicholas Meriwether (1797) pertain to Kentucky land surveys. A copy of a letter (1797) by Thomas Jefferson and a letter (1798) by Samuel Brown discuss the account of the murder of Logan's family published in Jefferson's Notes on Virginia. An additional facsimile of Patrick Henry's letter to Clark of January 2, 1778, is also filed among the papers. In his bibliographical notes, Draper referred to this volume as “Clark Papers, Volume II.”