The Mineral King collection measures 3 linear feet and dates from 1947 to 1995. The collection is arranged in six series: Artifacts, Background information, Government documents, Sierra Club, Maps, and Photographs Walt Disney Company,. Most of this material was collected in the 1960s and 1970s by John Harper, a geography professor at Humboldt State University, the original impetus being conservation work with the Sierra Club and research for Harper's 1982 book, Mineral King: Public Concern with Government Policy (Woodward: F868 S5 H368). Scott Kruse, one of Harper's students, subsequently added to the collection, a practice that continues today.

The Mineral King movement first began in the late 1940s when the United States Department of Agriculture's Forest Service proposed alpine ski development in the area. The movement resurged in the1960s when the Forest Service re-introduced the ski resort proposal and the Walt Disney Company was awarded the bid to build such a resort. The Disney Company proposed a resort for both winter and summer activities with a total of twenty ski lifts as well as accommodations for thousands of visitors and employees in the southern Sierra Nevada, near Visalia, California. The opposition to the the development centered around a proposed road into the Mineral King Valley, with the Sierra Club spearheading measures to protect the valley. The Sierra Club's grass-roots effort, in addition to a legal battle in the late 1960s, led to many delays and ultimately, the end of any development in the valley.

Copyright has not been transferred to California State University, Fresno.

The collection is open for research.