Luck is a Fortune: Adventure, Duty, and Buffalo on the 1841 Frontier book signing and discussion with author Dr. Robert Pickering
April 19, 2025, 1 p.m.–3 p.m.
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On Saturday, April 19, at 1 p.m., the Fort Gibson Historic Site will host a book signing for the title Luck is a Fortune: Adventure, Duty, and Buffalo on the 1841 Frontier (2024) with author Dr. Robert Pickering.
Luck is a Fortune recounts the adventures and excursions of two soldiers living at an outpost in eastern Oklahoma in the 1840s. The title is derived from a note one of them scribbled in his diary – “luck is a fortune” – a fitting thought as life on the Plains meant death could come from any direction; one learned survival skills or faced death.
“This book is the result of an extraordinary coincidence,” Pickering said. “The University of Tulsa holds two diaries written by soldiers stationed at Fort Gibson in 1841. One was written by a young lieutenant who was a West Point graduate and the son of wealthy Southern planter family, while the other diary was written by a maker of hats in New York and probably an Irish immigrant – two very different people living on America’s westernmost outpost in 1841.”
The book signing will take place in the Fort Gibson Hospital Visitor Center located at 803 North Garrison Avenue, Fort Gibson.
