Original papers, 1804-1822, the majority of which concern the War of 1812. More than thirty letters, 1812-1817, by Governor Ninian Edwards of Illinois Territory and several by William Clark, then territorial governor of Missouri, discuss military operation in Illinois, American attempts to secure Indian allies, and Indian response. Two letters (1813-1814) by Benjamin Howard, brigadier general in command in the upper Mississippi River area, concern the military situation in and near Prairie du Chien. Despite his appointment as an American subagent and his close association with Governor Edwards, Forsyth not only had stores of whiskey and gunpowder destroyed in the debacle at Fort Dearborn in August 1812, but he also suffered heavier property losses at Peoria, where his post was looted by Illinois militia and Indians commanded by Thomas E. Craig later in 1812, and where its building was destroyed in the following year by Howard's troops. A copy of a deposition by Nathan Heald and a letter by Leonard Helm relate to the destruction of Fort Dearborn. Forsyth's detailed memorandum describing the Craig affair and itemized inventories of his property and building losses in 1812-1813 are among his papers. Also attesting to the unsettled conditions on the Illinois frontier is a list of horses, guns, and other possessions taken by James B. Moore's Illinois Rangers after massacring a group of friendly Potawatomi in the autumn of 1814.

Among the postwar papers is a long manuscript on the history and cultural life of the Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo tribes written in 1820 for Jedediah Morse by Morrill Marston, major of the Fifth Regiment of U.S. Infantry then stationed at Fort Armstrong, Illinois. In covering such topics as religion, education, language, condition of women, and war customs, Marston included some comparisons with customs of the Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi, and gave credit to George Davenport and Forsyth as two of his major sources of information. Marston also gave transcriptions of his interviews with two Sauk and Fox chiefs and recorded his personal observations on the factory system in the fur trade and his recommendations on government Indian policy.

Also in this volume are a Michigan contract (1804) and a judgment of the Louisiana Supreme Court (1816) concerning an indentured black servant, Jeffrey Nash; a few fur trade engagements, bonds for licenses, and lists of trade goods for Jacques Mette in 1807 and for Jean B. Carron, George Davenport, Joseph Gurrette, Jacques Martin, and Samuel C. Muir in 1821-1833; Forsyth's commissions as subagent (1812, signed by William Eustis) and agent (1818, signed by President James Monroe and Secretary of State John Quincy Adams); letters from Thomas C. Rector (1821) and John C. Calhoun (1822); and testimony (1820) of two Missouri Sauk and Fox Indians accused of murder.

Includes a document in Sauk (p. 58-59).