John Harvey Whitson

Born in Seymour, Indiana, in 1854, John Harvey Whitson first studied law, taught school, and worked in journalism before turning fully to writing. He was admitted to the bar in 1876, edited newspapers in Indiana, and began publishing stories in the early 1880s.

After moving with his family to Garden City, Kansas, in 1885, he gained firsthand experience of plains life that shaped much of his fiction. He wrote professionally for story papers and popular magazines, contributed to Beadle publications, and also published under the pseudonym Lieut. A. K. Sims for some of his dime-novel work.

Whitson later became known for Western and historical adventure novels including Barbara, a Woman of the West, The Rainbow Chasers, A Courier of Empire, With Fremont the Pathfinder, and Justin Wingate, Ranchman. A biographical source also notes that he suffered severe eye trouble after sun exposure in irrigation work, and for years relied on help from his blind sister Barbara, who later inspired the title character of one of his best-known novels.