This book chronicles Washington's excursions to the Ohio Valley frontier, as a soldier and private citizen. Through newspaper accounts, letters, and the journals of Washington and his contemporaries, we learn much about the man's leadership qualities, military skills, his honor and integrity, and how his life was shaped by his journeys that spanned nearly half a century to what was then known as the Western Country.

Hugh Cleland taught history at the University of Pittsburgh, and was director of the history department at the State University of New York, Stony Brook.