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Subject files and correspondence of territorial governor Gorman. A large proportion relate to territorial officers' appointments and commissions. Letters received and sent address the following topics: concerns of federal civilian agencies, military and Indian affairs in general, the 1855 treaty with the Winnebago Indians, land sales, the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad Company, and other territorial affairs. Also present are a legislative diary (Jan. 27-March 6, 1857), pardon records, petitions regarding local government organization, reports from territorial officers, and requests from other states for return of fugitives.

Gorman's governorship spanned a period of both tangible and speculative growth in the state's infrastructure and economy, with numerous railroads, educational institutions, and corporations being chartered, new counties established, new towns incorporated, and several Indian treaties ratified. The surviving records contain only sketchy information on these developments, and do not appear to contain any significant documentation on an abortive 1857 scheme to remove the state capital from St. Paul to St. Peter.

Various requests and petitions for the establishment of election precincts in Portsmouth and the Sioux Agency, for the organization of local governments in Rice County and Steele County, for a town organization in Bangor, for a vigilance committee to suppress liquor traffic at Traverse des Sioux, and for a certification of election districts in Carver County.

Designating November 21, 1854, and November 20, 1855 as days of Thanksgiving.

For each individual, may include any of the following: application, petition, recommendations, letter of resignation.

For each individual, may include any of the following: application, petition, recommendations, letter of resignation.

Fragmentary entries, January 27 - March 6, showing numbers and titles of bills.

Letters and circulars from federal civilian agencies, including the General Land Office, the Post Office Department, and the Treasury Department.

Letters, reports, and orders relating to Indian and military affairs, from the commanding officers at Fort Snelling and Fort Ridgely; from legislative district representatives about the Winnebago treaty, with a copy of Governor Gorman's reply (January 1854); and petitions and requests for defense against the Indians.

Includes a letter written by Henry B. Smythe on behalf of the Winnebago Indians (8 Jan. 1856) requesting the transfer of $806 from tribal funds to the superintendent of the Winnebago School. It may refer to funds available to the tribe under the 1855 U.S. Treaty with the Winnebago; it is signed by many of the Winnebago signatories to that treaty.