This manuscript group contains 85 handwritten letters and orders sent to R.C. Halliday of Dillon, Montana, by the hotel and saloon owners of Camas, Idaho, between the years 1885 and 1893. The bulk of the letters were written in 1890 and 1891; there are no letters in 1892.

Camas, formerly known as Lava, is located in Bingham County, Idaho, 60 miles north of Blackfoot. It was settled in 1879 and its population at the time of these letters was 250. The gazetteers and business directories for the period list only four of the eleven correspondents: Adams, M.H., hotel and confectionery; Paris, W.R., saloon, Monroe, Thomas, Saloon; Miller and Co., saloon. Another correspondent, Florence Adams, was the sister of Mr. Halliday.

Of the ten additional letters, only one is from Camas. Seven are from Salmon, with two from Idaho Falls (one under its earler name of Eagle Rock).

The goods Halliday supplied included beer, cider, whiskey, lemonette, cigars, cigarettes, and occasionally rum, gin, sherry, blackberry, smoking tobacco, and cigarette papers.