Milton B. Stevens is the most prolific figure in this collection, as he wrote fifteen of the letters in the collection and was the addressee of twenty. There are, however, twenty-five other authors in these letters, including four women, two of them writing from California. Other significant authors in this collection are: Abbey Stevens (5 letters), Byron Whitcomb (7 letters), and C. K. Dixon (9 letters). The letters mention various mining camps throughout Northern California, such as Fosters Bar, Galena Hill, Murderers Bar, Pilot Hill, Salmon Falls, Weber Creek, and the Klamath River Valley mines. The letters illustrate several aspects of the Gold Rush experience: the journey to California through South America; life in California and the gold camps; gold discoveries, or the lack thereof; the techniques and equipment used in mining; loneliness and longing for home. The letters from Milton B. Stevens' mother tell of the experience of the miners' families back at home in the East. The letter dated 1954 was written by Stephen C. Lyon, who at one time owned the collection. Eighteen of the letters have handwritten or typed transcripts.

Milton B. Stevens, the most prominent figure in this group of letters, left his family and home in Shushan, New York to come to California on the ship Morrison, which departed from New York City on February 14, 1849. While in California, Stevens searched for gold at several mining towns throughout Northern California, including Salmon Falls, Pilot Hill, Oregon Bar, Independence, and Weber Creek. He left California and returned to New York in 1851. In 1852, he married Ann Maria Lyman of Salem, New York.

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