Original manuscripts and contemporary copies, mainly dated in 1779. Clark's capture of Vincennes in February is documented by Henry Hamilton's truce offer and Clark's surrender notice, by lists of the British garrison and prisoners taken by Clark at Fort Sackville, by Clark's order governing the transport of Hamilton and his men to Williamsburg, and by the indictment and order for Hamilton's imprisonment in Virginia. Also retained by Clark was a group of Hamilton's papers, 1777-1779, including records of Indian council proceedings and speeches at Detroit (1777 and 1779), and letters (1779) by Charles Beaubien, Alexander Grant, Richard B. Lernoult, David Lyster, Norman McLeod, Alexander Macomb, and a “Mr. Pollard.” Within this correspondence are accounts of the fortification of Detroit, of Samuel Girty's arrival there, and of the massacre at Cherry Valley, New York, by rangers and Indians led by Walter Butler and Joseph Brant.

Fully two-thirds of Clark's papers in this volume pertain to his problems during the months following the surrender of Vincennes: the establishment of American government in Cahokia, Kaskaskia, and Vincennes; the threat of restless Indians to Kentucky and the Illinois country; and the frustrating difficulties encountered in attempting to raise men, money, and supplies for an expedition against Detroit. Most frequently represented among his correspondents were John Montgomery, Oliver Pollock, and John Todd. In addition to the inevitable discussion of financial problems, Pollock's letters include many reports on the manpower and fortifications at British posts in Louisiana and Florida. One of Todd's letters (October 3, 1779) contains a brief reference to Teresa de Leyba, sister of the Spanish governor at St. Louis, with whom Clark's name was linked in romance. From his correspondents Clark also received widespread reports on conditions in Kentucky, Pittsburgh, Williamsburg, Cahokia, Kaskaskia, and Vincennes. Other writers included John Bowman, Joseph Bowman, Richard Brashear, Daniel Brodhead, Gabriel Cerré, Robert George, Leonard Helm, Daniel Maurice Godefroy de Linctot, Benjamin Logan, Richard McCarty, John Page, James Patten, Thomas Quirk, John Rogers, Levi Todd, Robert Todd, and John Williams.

Papers authored by Clark himself include orders, proclamations to the citizens of Kaskaskia and Vincennes, and one personal letter to his father John Clark. Also filed in this volume are a contemporary copy of the resolution of the Virginia House of Delegates awarding a sword to Clark for his capture of Vincennes; an undated manuscript legal opinion by Edmund Pendleton on the claim for half-pay for John Rogers; an undated statement by James Patten discussing the settlement of Kentucky following the surrender of Vincennes, an attack on Fort Jefferson, Bowman's expedition, and Clark's campaign of 1780; and a speech of John Montgomery to the Sauk Indians about 1780.