File consists of correspondence regarding McKinlay family finances and a diary written by James McKinlay titled "Diary of the Great Fish River Exploring Party."

The diary is written by a different James McKinlay than the eldest son of Archibald McKinlay, and documents a journey from Fort Resolution through the Northwest Territories with Warburton Pike. This James McKinlay was a clerk with the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort St. John, Fort Resolution, and Fort Smith.