The documents in this collection concern the Wyandot tribe who were forced to depart Ohio in 1843, relocating in what became Kansas Territory. The documents date from 1842 to 1864 (more than half dating prior to 1850). Most of the collection consists of letters to and from prominent members of the Wyandots who relocated from Ohio, including William Walker, Jr., his brother Joel, John W. Grey Eyes, and Wyandot Indian Agent John Johnston.

Included is an 1842 letter from Johnston to Joel Walker, preliminary to the Wyandot treaty of 1842, in which Johnston eagerly transmits a letter from Shawnee Indian Chief Joseph Parks, offering Shawnee land for purchase by the Wyandots. In a later 1842 letter from Johnston to Ohio Senator Benjamin Tappan, written in the month following the treaty, Johnston urges Tappan's resistance to efforts of several Wyandot members, reroute to Washington seeking weakened rights of succession to benefits of the treaty. An 1845 letter from Wyandot chief John W. Grey Eyes, written from Washington, describes his efforts to secure promised government funds in the political environment of the city, his contacts with Commissioner of Indian Affairs William Medill, and the strong Washington presence of the Cherokees, notably Cherokee chief John Ross. Two 1851 letters from William Walker, Jr., including one to his brother Joel and the other on behalf of the Wyandot Council, protest financial claims against the Wyandots by Thomas W. Bartley, attorney to the Wyandot nation.

Personal correspondence within the Walker family letters includes two letters from Joel Walker to his future wife, Mary Ladd of Westerville, Ohio. Both are written prior to the Wyandot departure from Ohio. One from Washington contains Walker's impressions of the city. The other, dated July 1843--Walker's last from Ohio--conveys his affections and news of his family members. Both letters are signed "Wawas," Walker's Wyandot name. Also included is an 1864 letter from Mary Ladd Walker, by then widowed, writing to their son Justin, who is age 15 and away at school.

In addition to correspondence, the collection contains a sworn statement dated 1864 by Wyandot Methodist Episcopal missionary James Wheeler, describing conditions of the Wyandots following their departure from Ohio. Other documents in the collection include a land grant certificate issued by the Wyandotte Commissioners, a receipt for sale of land by Wyandot Mary Walker, two published documents of the U.S. Senate concerning the relocated Wyandots, and--of particular note--the handwritten records of Wyandot payments to the Delaware nation for land purchased from the Delaware Reserve. The seven receipts date from 1845 to the final payment of 1851, contain the names and marks of Wyandot chiefs, and reflect Wyandot payments totaling $46,080.