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9781629221489

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A fascinating, judicious, skillfully written story about John Gibson who served his nation and the Old Northwest as a soldier, diplomat, and public servant. --R. Douglas Hurt, Professor, Department of History, Purdue University From the French and Indian War to the War of 1812, John Gibson played a part in almost every major event in early American frontier history. His role, however, was often a supporting one, causing him to fall between the cracks of historiography. Now Gary Williams has corrected this oversight in No Man Knows This Country Better The Frontier Life of John Gibson. Meticulously researched and entertainingly written, this book makes an important contribution to the history of the frontier. --Roger Pickenpaugh, author of America's First Interstate: The National Road, 1806-1853. Long overdue and solidly researched, Gary Williams' study of John Gibson is a much-needed recreation of the chaotic Fort Pitt frontier during and after the American Revolution. Among its most dynamic leaders was the multi-talented Colonel John Gibson, who was praised by General William Irvine: no man knows this country better, nor anyone, I believe, the Indian country so well (147). George Washington, likewise, valued the colonel for his knowledge of the Western Country and Indian nations and languages (88). Moving west with the frontier, Gibson was appointed secretary of the Indiana Territory where he became indispensable in governance and Native American diplomacy. Indeed, an Indiana contemporary claimed John Gibson had more influence with the Indians than all the Harrisons in the universe (226). Witness to and participant in the country's earliest beginnings, John Gibson stands out as a nation shaper, known to all now, thanks to Gary Williams' informative biography. --James H. O'Donnell, Marietta College Professor Emeritus; Ohio's First Peoples; Servant of the People: the Genius and Industry of Rufus Putnam.

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Gary S. Williams is a retired librarian who has written many articles on Ohio nature and history, as well as four books on Ohio history and a guide to hiking Ohio. He has a B.A. in History from Marietta College and a Masters in Library Science from Kent State University.

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