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Lawrence Sullivan Ross, born in Iowa Territory, served Texas with a zeal unmatched by many of its native sons, devoting most of his life to the Lone Star State as Indian fighter, Texas Ranger, Confederate soldier, sheriff, constitution framer, state senator, governor, and president of Texas A&M College. In this first full-scale biography of Ross, Judith Benner engrossingly narrates the story of his life, from a sturdy child of the Texas frontier to a venerable college president credited with revitalizing a nearly defunct institution. Using such unpublished material as military records, private family papers, and archival collections, the author convincingly presents Ross and his contemporaries and fleshes out the human being behind the legend.