A small, tightly focused collection, the Wheeler Papers consist largely of letters written home by the civil engineer William Wheeler while President of the Sapporo Agricultural College, 1876-1880. Typically long and descriptive, the letters include excellent accounts of travel in Japan and Wheeler's impressions of Japanese culture, but they provide detailed insight as well into the work involved in establishing Sapporo Agricultural College.

The collection also includes photocopies from Hokkaido University of documents relating to Wheeler's tenure as President there, seven letters written after his return to the United States, two biographical sketches, and copies of a journal he kept while exploring Death Valley, California, in 1900. The Order or the Rising Sun, 5th Class, is housed separately.