Series 1: Chiefly incoming correspondence pertaining to political activities at the local and statewide level. Includes requests for jobs, political appointments, letters of acknowledgement and references. Correspondents include prominent businessmen, politicians and several special interest groups. Includes a file of letters from the Afro-American League of San Francisco, headed by T.B. Morton.

Series 2: Chiefly papers pertaining to Burns' mining interests in Mexico as well as miscellaneous other personal business and financial records. Mining interests records consist of account books and ledgers for machinery, payroll, tax records and correspondence concerning mining operations.

Daniel M. Burns was born in Mississippi in 1846. His father, William Burns, was a well-to-do rancher and farmer. The senior Burns died en route to Oregon in 1847. Burns' mother died in Sacramento two years later. Young Burns was raised by W. A. Selkirk, a man engaged in mining at Independence Hill, California. Burns began to earn his own livelihood as a cattle rancher in 1855. During the Civil War, he served the Fourth California Regiment in Arizona.

Number of containers: 6 boxes and 2 volumes Linear feet: 2.5

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Collection is open for research.