John Lawler was a Prescott, AZ businessman and cattle rancher with extensive mining interests chiefly in the Eureka Mining District, Yavapai County, AZ, the most important of which was the Hillside Mine.

The collection includes correspondence, legal papers, assay reports, financial records, and maps relating to mining, livestock, and ranching operations, business property in Prescott, including construction of the "Lawler Block," San Diego, CA; and Kansas City, MO. Some business records relate to Lawler's partnership with Edmund Wells. Also included are political correspondence with Col. John F. Wilson, U. S. Delegate from Arizona, 1902, and records of membership in various fraternal organizations.