The Worthen Research collection consists of Clifton Boyd Worthen's research materials on the history of central Montana's Judith Basin region. Included are correspondence (1929-1955) and newspaper clippings (originals and typescript research copies). Numerous unpublished writings by Worthen and other authors document Indian history, mining industry, and livestock development. Also included are several reminiscences of early settlers including Edward "Teddy Blue" Abbott, Hallowell F. Clement, Thomas J. Gregory, Henry N. Morgan, and Bob Shiell. Additional research materials (primarily typescript copies) provide information on Barnes-King Development Company, Judith Cattle Company, Lewis and Clark Expedition, and Granville Stuart.

The Worthen-Fergus collection is a combination of original documents, photocopies, and typed transcripts selected from all of the sources described above. The materials document both the intellectual pursuits of Clifton B. Worthen as a historian and teacher, as well as the pioneer experiences of the James Fergus family. Subjects to which the collection pertain includes: history of central Montana, especially Fergus County and the Judith Basin, the vigilante activity of 1884, the DHS Ranch, the Lewis and Clark expedition, Montana politics and elections, ranching, gold rush towns of Bannack, Virginia City, and Helena, the Society of Montana Pioneers, the winter of 1887 and its effect on ranching, and territorial Montana's relations with Indian residents. Correspondents or authors of pieces in the collection include: Clifton B. Worthen, James Fergus, Andrew Fergus, Hazel A. Fergus, Oscar O. Mueller, Granville Stuart, Cornelius Hedges, Wilbur F. Sanders, Patrick Dunlany, Phillip Shoule, S.C. Gilpatrick, D.A. Meagher, A.L. Randall, Theodore Lindsay, J.L Perkins, William Cantrell, S.M. Emery, S. Spain, B.P. Carpenter, J.E. Richards, William Fly, and W.H. Watson.