Most of the material was collected by Pat Cary Peek as she researched for her book projects on Taylor Ranch research station, David “Cougar Dave” Lewis, and the Couer d’Alene mining wars. Research materials include copies of newspaper articles, copies of journals and correspondences, copies of interviews, and some secondary sources. Peek also conducted several interviews and the collection includes transcripts or her notes from those interviews. There are also ten journals kept by Peek that document the travels of her and her husband.

Pat Cary Peek and her husband James Peek, a former University of Idaho professor of wildlife resource management, traveled extensively between 1988 and 2012. Pat kept journals documenting their travels with frequent entries concerning the people and animals they saw, the places they visited, and the activities they undertook. There are also personal notes about family events. There are 9 journals, each containing approximately 150 pages of writing. A small amount of loose material is tucked into pages, some pictures are taped onto pages.