Title: “The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American
Ideal
West
”
Author:
David
McCullough
Genre:
Historical
Nonfiction
Summary:
As
part of the Treaty of Paris, in which Great Britain recognized the
new United States of America, Britain ceded the land that comprised
the immense Northwest Territory, a wilderness empire northwest of the
Ohio River containing the future states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Michigan, and Wisconsin. A Massachusetts minister named Manasseh
Cutler was instrumental in opening this vast territory to veterans of
the Revolutionary War and their families for settlement. Included in
the Northwest Ordinance were three remarkable conditions: freedom of
religion, free universal education, and most importantly, the
prohibition of slavery. In 1788 the first band of pioneers set out
from New England for the Northwest Territory under the leadership of
Revolutionary War veteran General Rufus Putnam. They settled in what
is now Marietta on the banks of the Ohio River.
McCullough
tells the story through five major characters: Cutler and Putnam;
Cutler’s son Ephraim; and two other men, one a carpenter turned
architect, and the other a physician who became a prominent pioneer
in American science. They and their families created a town in a
primeval wilderness, while coping with such frontier realities as
floods, fires, wolves and bears, no roads or bridges, no guarantees
of any sort, all the while negotiating a contentious and sometimes
hostile relationship with the native people. Like so many of
McCullough’s subjects, they let no obstacle deter or defeat
them.
Rating: Very good.
Why
I Like It:
Since
I know a little of Ohio’s history, it was easy to read and relate
to the characters and events.
Reviewer:
Nancy
Bucher
