The collection consists of both original and reproduced papers of and relating to Medorem Crawford and his younger brother, John D. Crawford. Medorem Crawford's papers include materials relating to his role as a U.S. Army officer for military escorts accompanying emigrants to Oregon during the U.S. Civil War. These include typescript copies, photocopies, and photostatic reproductions of his correspondence and reports, including ones published by the U.S. Senate, and a photostatic reproduction of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton's letter appointing Crawford as an officer. These also include a handwritten transcript of a diary by his brother LeRoy Crawford, who accompanied Medorem Crawford on the 1861 escort; and a photocopy of an Oregonian newspaper clipping showing a picture of officers from the 1861 escort, including Medorem Crawford and LeRoy Crawford. Medorem Crawford's other papers in the collection consist of a typescript copy of the journal he kept when he traveled overland to Oregon in 1842; a certificate for his marriage with Adeline Brown; property records, including a quitclaim deed; letters from his father, S. G. Crawford, and from Benjamin Stark; and a letter that he wrote to W. H. Rees about Oregon history.

John D. Crawford's papers in the collection consist of letters that his father, S. G. Crawford, wrote to him; a letter from Joel Palmer, appointing him as a commissary officer in the conflict between Euro-Americans and Cayuse Native people; and a letter from A. E. Wait about supplies, written during that same conflict. The collection also includes several letters that Medorem Crawford and John D. Crawford wrote to each other.