The collection contains a mimeographed transcription of Halliday's "Journal of a trip on the Missouri River." It is a day-by-day account of his trip taken in 1868 from his home in Fountain Prairie, Wisconsin, to Montana and back again. He traveled by train from his home to St. Louis, Missouri, and from there to Ft. Benton, Montana, by steamboat. While in Montana, he took a side trip by horse from Ft. Benton to Virginia City, Montana. He comments on weather and travel conditions and describes the people, cities, and countryside that he saw. His journal creates a feeling for how it was to live and travel in 1868. He also added some extraneous material to the journal such as a list of his children and their birthrates and some poems. Halliday was born in 1838 and died in 1907.

This journal was transcribed and edited around 1970 by Arnella Turner, Professor of American Thought and Language at Michigan State University, for use in her classes. She excluded a small portion of the journal which covers such items as cash accounts and a summary of his life after he returned from his trip and found a job.