American Indian histories and cultures. [Manuscripts], 1524-1997 1770-1910.

Electronic reproduction of manuscript materials selected from the Edward E. Ayer Collection in the Newberry Library. Manuscript material within the resource includes a wide range of formats such as correspondence, diaries, scrapbooks, travel journals, petitions, speeches, financial records, government records, tribe records and treaties. Military interactions from the early colonial period to the 19th century are particularly well represented through correspondence with heads of state (for example, a letter from Cortés to King Carlos V) and inter-army orders, reports and requests. Many personal accounts and correspondence give an insight into contemporary social life, expeditions and observations of American Indian life. Notable documents include a journal from the Lewis and Clark expedition, Ely S. Parker's scrapbooks, and native language dictionaries.