During the time these documents were written, the Military Division of the Missouri included Texas and the Indian Territory. The 10th Cavalry, better known as the Buffalo Soldiers, was formed after the Civil War. One of the officers was Henry O. Flipper, the first African-American to graduate from West Point. Irish-born captain Nicholas Nolan served with the United States Cavalry from 1852 until his death in 1883. P.B. Hunt was an Indian agent at the Kiowa-Comanche-Wichita Agency in Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

The collection includes photocopies of 118 documents, mainly official correspondence and printed orders related to Captain Nicholas Nolan, 10th Cavalry, from 1878 to 1880. Letters from the winter of 1879 concern the escort and protection of reservation Indians on a hunting expedition, including members of the Kiowa, Comanche and Pawnee tribes. In the summer and fall of 1880, while stationed at Fort Quitman, TX, Nolan cooperated with Mexican forces along the Rio Grande River, in the pursuit of Indians with the Apache chief, Victorio. Correspondents include Henry O. Flipper and P.B. Hunt.