General Rufus Cutler led the first group of settlers to Ohio and provided the leadership necessary to establish a Marietta. Marietta was fortunate in that it was settled by men of several talents. There was no question the Ohio River was a major transportation artery. The first-growth forest and eventual outlet to the sea allowed for shipbuilding at least until they were replaced by steamboats.

Settlers moved in or floated by to other settlements. Location on the Ohio River became more and more significant.

Women, especially, faced a monumental challenge, often dying in childbirth and/or living miles from the nearest neighbor.

During the early days, the whole family shared one small log house, the whole family often being quite large. And one can’t forget cholera and the fevers that raged on occasion. There were the very real physical dangers of displacing the natives and the dangers of clearing first-growth forests besides the dangers inherent in cutting the trees, usually chopping them, there were an assortment of wild animals to deal with. Diaries and letters from the five central characters provide a wealth of information on the hardships faced when opening a new frontier. “The Pioneers” is drawn from source material that is carefully cataloged in the back of the book. The settlers built crude log houses and struggled for subsistence. The first settlers were welcomed by the natives. Much of the novel dwells on the development of the first actual settlement, Marietta, Ohio, on the banks of the Ohio River. It was his drive that was most responsible for three somewhat surprising conditions: freedom of religion, free universal education, and the prohibition of slavery. We are introduced to Massachusetts minister Manasseh Cutler and informed of his important role in the development of the Northwest Ordinance. In “The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West,” McCullough describes the challenges brought about after Britain ceded the area that became the Northwest Territory. You need only to put his name in any search engine to see a number of notable biographies and other significant nonfiction authored by him. David McCullough is well known for illuminating America’s past.

The pioneers mccullough