This four-box collection consists of W.A. Carter and M.E. Carter's correspondence and business records, including invoices, receipts, accounts etc. covering the years 1859-1890. Their correspondents include important western personalities. Many of these were U.S. Army officers: Generals Patrick Edward Connor, A.L. Chetlain, William Meyers, J.W. Clampitt. Other correspondents include Frank A. Root co-author of The Overland Stage To California, Ogden businessman and Mormon bishop Lorin Farr and Cheyenne banker Posey S. Wilson. The correspondence has been arranged in chronological order. A list of correspondents has been provided.

The non-correspondence consists of business records pertaining to Carter's statements, checks and accounts. There is also material relating to Carter's mining, lumber, oil and cattle interests. There are a few items relating to Carter's judicial career: a deed, an affidavit, a bond and estray notices.