Collection consists of twenty-one autographed letters written by Lorenzo Lorain between 1855 and 1861. The letters contain descriptions of Lorain's military service, including yellow fever epidemics, the forced removal of Native peoples from the western region of the Oregon Territory to the Coast Reservation, and his photography. The letters are addressed from West Point Academy, Aspinwall, Fort Dalles, San Francisco, Fort Walla Walla, Fort Umpqua, and Camp Day near the Klamath Basin. The correspondents include Lorain's father, Dr. Henry Tilden Lorain, and his sisters, Mary Jane Ashman and Martha (Merty) Eliza Lorain. Also included in the collection are biographical research notes and correspondence concerning Lorenzo Lorain and Edward Perry Vollum, collected by Nancy A. Hacker between 1958 and 1968.
Digitized materials available online in OHS Digital Collections consists of the original correspondence written by Lorain between 1855 and 1861 in folder 1 of Mss 417.
Undigitized materials available for use at the Oregon Historical Society research library include research notes and correspondence collected by Nancy A. Hacker between 1958 and 1968 in folder 2 of Mss 417.