The John H. Benson diary [typescript] (1849) details his journey from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California.

The California gold mines letter collection (1849-1853) consists of nine letters describing life in California during the Gold Rush.

The George Numbers papers (1848-1952) are a collection of letters and essays written mostly by George Numbers, and his daughter, Emily Numbers. The letters were written by George Numbers in 1848, when he was in California during the Gold Rush. There is also an autobiography written by Emily Numbers, who was a school teacher in Indiana and Texas from 1882 to 1932.

The Occidental Hotel ledger (1848) is from the Occidental Hotel and store located in Sonoma Valley, California. Information found in the ledger includes birth dates, death dates, and marriage records of early pioneers in the Sonoma Valley. Drafts of letters written by hotel employees and records of individual store accounts, including purchase lists and prices of goods as they were in 1848, are also in the ledger.

The Charles I. Wheat papers (1937-1958) contain thirteen letters from Dale Morgan to Carl Wheat concerning research in Western history. Also included are transcripts of articles from various Illinois and Iowa newspapers and a proposal for a book by Wheat titled, First Visible Footsteps of the White Man in Death Valley.