STEUBENVILLE — The Ohio Valley was a wild and dangerous place in the 1700s, with various groups vying for power and control. The period comes to life in the books of Alan Fitzpatrick, Wheeling author and artist, who will discuss and sign his latest book, “Vengeance is Mine,” at Historic Fort Steuben on Saturday at noon.

The book tells the story of Bemino, called Killbuck, who was a Delaware war captain and medicine man who fought against the English in the French and Indian War. What separated Bemino from his Native contemporaries was his ability to speak English, which he learned as a child at his home in what is now New Jersey.

With a handful of warriors, Bemino was able to out-think, out-maneuver and out-fight men of the Virginia Regiment that George Washington sent to destroy him on the Ohio frontier. The results were catastrophic defeats for Washington’s men who unwittingly fell in the well-planned ruses and ambushes.

Fitzpatrick’s interest in the early frontier history of the Upper Ohio Valley began as he researched the life of his ancestor, Peter Fitzpatrick. His search for information took him to his native Canada as well as England. He has now written seven non-fiction American history books detailing the Native-American side of the story of wilderness war during the 1700s and one chronicling the life of that ancestor who inspired his research.

Fitzpatrick was born and raised in Saskatchewan, Canada, before coming to the United States. He graduated from Kent State University with a degree in psychology and took a job at the West Virginia Penitentiary as a classification counselor. He later owned and operated a retail business in Bridgeport, Ohio, with his brother for 33 years.

Now retired, he continues to lecture on history in the Tri-State Area and devotes his time to researching and writing about the early history of the Ohio Valley and to oil painting portraiture, many with a Native American theme. He also participates in Fort Steuben’s annual festival, Ohio Valley Frontier Days, and demonstrates Native American tools and artifacts at the Fort’s Summer Youth Program.

Copies of his books are available in the Fort Steuben Museum Shop. Historic Fort Steuben is located at 120 S. Third St. in Steubenville. For more information, call (740) 283-1787.