The cover of the book is brown fabric over cardboard; rows of circles, diamonds and scrollwork in a dark brown adorn the cover.

In faded pencil on the cover it reads John Macnider. No significant research has been completed to learn who John Macnider is, but William Mcnider (1850-1940) owned and operated the trading post at Fort Yates from 1876 to 1896. During this time he traded for many Indian artifacts and items from his collections are found in several places in the Bismarck area. William Macnider had a daughter, Margaret (Johnson) and a son, John. Most likely the John Mcnider on the cover of this ledger book is related to the Macnider collection of Sioux Indian artifacts. If this si the case, the book was likely completed before the 1900's.