The Sven Skaar Collection consists principally of notes and clippings related to Skaar's fiction. There are also clippings and correspondence pertinent to his activities in Nevada City and to the history of 19th century Anglo California with particular emphasis on the northern mother lode.

Sven Skaar was an amateur historian and novelist who lived in Nevada City, Calif. between 1945 and 1973. He operated Ott's Assay Office as a museum there from 1963 until his death (1973). Skaar's research interests centered on persons and events associated with 19th century California. He penned two completed novels on California figures: "Murder in the Valley," based on the exploits of train robbers, Chris Evans and John Sontag; and, "One more mountain," a fictionalized biography of Henry A. Meiggs. Skaar also left an incomplete, untitled work on the Nathan Bowers Express, copious notes on the Henry Crabb party's activities in southern Arizona Territory, and a lengthy account of the activities of Idaho bandit, Henry A. Plummer.

Collection is open for research.