Press Release
May 1, 2025
Contact: Jennifer Frazee
Fort Gibson Historic Site, Oklahoma Historical Society
Office: 918-478-4088
[email protected]
www.okhistory.org/fortgibson
Fort Gibson Historic Site to Host Book Signing With Dr. Robert Pickering
FORT GIBSON, Okla. — The Fort Gibson Historic Site will host a book signing and discussion on Saturday, May 17, at 1 p.m. with author Dr. Robert B. Pickering for his newest book, “Luck is a Fortune.”
Pickering said the book is based on two diaries written by soldiers stationed at Fort Gibson in Indian Territory in the mid-1800s. The diaries are currently being held by the University of Tulsa. Lt. Marcus Claudius Marcellus Hammond was born into a slaveholding planter family in South Carolina and was educated at West Point. Pvt. John Flynn had worked in New York as a hatter before enlisting as a private of Dragoons. Hammond imagined a gallant military future. Flynn was escaping the urban job destruction caused by the Industrial Revolution. Their powerful personal stories provide insights into the politics and competing interests during this poorly known period of history. The title of the book is derived from a note one of them scribbled in his diary.
The book signing and discussion will take place in the visitor center at 803 N. Garrison Ave. in Fort Gibson. For more information, please call 918-478-4088.
Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed during the program do not necessarily represent those of the Oklahoma Historical Society.
The Fort Gibson Historic Site is a division of the Oklahoma Historical Society. The mission of the Oklahoma Historical Society is to collect, preserve and share the history and culture of the state of Oklahoma and its people. Founded in 1893 by members of the Territorial Press Association, the OHS maintains museums, historic sites and affiliates across the state. Through its research archives, exhibits, educational programs and publications the OHS chronicles the rich history of Oklahoma. For more information about the OHS, please visit www.okhistory.org.
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Editor’s Note: Photos of the Fort Gibson Historic Site are available upon request.
