Chapters 1-8. Preceding the text is a pocket notebook showing Draper's plan for this book as he envisioned it in 1867. The completed chapters cover:

1) the adventures of de Soto and his army from 1537 to 1543, including the battle of Mauvile; 2) the massacre of the French by the Natchez Indians and the subsequent destruction of the Natchez tribe, 1729-1731; 3) the first fight with Indians west of the Blue Ridge, December 1742; 4) first exploration of Kentucky, 1750; 5) adventures of Robert Stobo and Jacob Van Braam, 1754-1760; 6) the captivity and escape of Mrs. William Ingles, 1755; 7) first military expedition against western Indians, 1756; and 8) John Armstrong's expedition against the Delaware Indian town of Kittanning in September, 1756. These chapters are all in Butterfield's handwriting.

Chapters 9-13. Topics are:

9) the destruction of Fort Loudoun by the Cherokee, 1760; 10) the ambuscade at the Devil's Hole near Niagara Falls in September 1763; 11) a perilous journey up the Maumee by Thomas Morris, 1764; 12) Logan, the Mingo chief, 1710-1780; and 13) Indian eloquence: speeches of Garangula, Pontiac, Shegenaba, Skenando, and Big Elk. Chapters 9-12 were drafted by Butterfield. Both he and Draper contributed segments to chapter 13. Chapter 11 consists primarily of a heavily annotated copy of Morris's journal, which had been published previously in 1791.

Chapters 14-18. Topics are:

14) Dunmore's War, 1774; 15) the battle of Point Pleasant, October 1774; 16) biographical sketches of Lord Dunmore and his field officers (Adam Stephen, Angus McDonald, and William Crawford); 17) biographical sketches of field officers at Point Pleasant (Andrew Lewis, William Fleming, Charles Lewis, John Field, and Evan Shelby); and 18) sketch of Cornstalk, 1759-1777. With the exception of the biography of William Crawford contributed by Butterfield, all of these chapters were written by Draper.

Chapters 19-26. Topics are:

19) the death of Jane McCrea in July 1777; 20) battle of Oriskany, August 1777; 21) ambuscade at Fort Henry at Wheeling, September 1777; 22) William Foreman's defeat, September 1777; 23) battle and massacre of Wyoming, July 1778; 24) George Rogers Clark's conquest of the Illinois, July 1778; 25) Indian attack at Boonesborough, September 1778; and 26) captivity of Simon Kenton, September 1778-June 1779. Chapters 19-23 were drafted by Butterfield, chapters 24-26 by Draper.

Chapters 27-31. Topics are:

27) John Bowman's expedition against Chillicothe, May-June 1779; 28) David Rogers' defeat, 1779, and the remarkable adventure of Basil Brown and Robert Benham; 29) Andrew Poe's desperate encounter with two Indians, September 1781; 30) Gnaddenhütten, March 1782, and closing scenes of the Revolution in the West; and 31) William Crawford's campaign against Sandusky, May-June, 1782. Aside from chapter 28, these were written by Butterfield. Two chapters were not completed. Draper's draft of chapter 28 contains only the long preliminary background on Rogers and his career before the fatal ambush in the fall of 1779, and no part of the Brown and Benham adventure was drafted. For chapter 30, Butterfield provided a finished account of the Gnaddenhütten massacre, but a note by Draper confirms that the portion on other events was never written.

Following these chapters is a section of miscellaneous research materials including: copies of articles and reports on campaigns in the southwestern region in 1780 (e.g., the capture of Thicketty Fort and the battles of Cedar Spring and Musgrove's Mill) by William Hill, B.F. Perry, John Rutledge, Isaac Shelby, and James Williams; a biographical sketch of Josiah Culbertson (1748-1839) by Draper; the latter's notes and a few incoming research letters on David Rogers, Robert Benham, and the McDowell family; and an exchange of correspondence with D. Appleton & Company on possible publication of “Border Forays.” Scattered in this section are three original manuscripts: a letter (October 1779) by William Fleming commenting briefly on the defeat of Rogers; and two brief business letters (1802 and undated) by Robert Benham to David Zeigler.