Mitchell's travels in Colorado, New Mexico, and Kansas are recounted in detail, as are his observations regarding the people he encounters. Half of the journal is devoted to Colorado and New Mexico, and the other half to Salina, Kansas.

Letter dated January 30, 1883 from O.O. Potter, a newly-arrived Sumner County, Kansas settler, describing his impressions of the county and his 1882 rail travels in Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado.

This collection includes correspondence from William "Willie" Boerum Wetmore (1849-1919) to Sarah T. Wetmore, his mother, from 1890 to 1895. Wetmore writes about his new life at the Denver Athletic Club; travels and business ventures in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, and surrounding areas; recreational activities; and divorce proceedings and the legal troubles of the Wetmore family.