The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West Paperback – May 5, 2020

Masterpiece is definitely the best way to describe David McCullough's The Pioneers. As with the rest of his work, McCullough has created a thoroughly researched and documented narrative history which is a delight to read, or rather to savor. It is published at a particularly opportune moment, when we in the United States badly need to be reminded of one of the finer chapters of our history.The Pioneers begins with the 1787 passage of the Northwest Ordinance, one of the most critically important pieces of legislation in our history. The Ordinance set up an organized plan for the settlement of the Northwest Territory, north of the Ohio River and south of the Great Lakes, laying out a path to eventual statehood for the vast region on an equal basis with the original thirteen states, providing for public education, and, most importantly, forbidding slavery. McCullough focuses on the very early settlement of what was to become the southeast corner of the state of Ohio, a region which drew large numbers of New Englanders willing to undergo the extreme difficulties of the passage through the Allegheny Mountains and down the Ohio and its tributaries. The center of the New England resettlement in Ohio was the town of Marietta, named for Queen Marie Antoinette and soon to become a flourishing center of trade and commerce.McCullough tells the story of the first eighty years or so of Marietta and the surrounding region's existence, tracing the rapid growth of the new state of Ohio (admitted to the Union in 1803). Primarily this is a story of families, especially the Putnams, descended from a Revolutionary general, and the Cutlers, upright New Englanders who through several generations were fervent supporters of education and just as fervent opponents of slavery. McCullough tells many fascinating anecdotes of these and other families and individuals who played key roles in the settlement of Ohio, not neglecting to note with regret the conflict with and eventual expulsion of the Native Americans who were the first human inhabitants of Ohio.The Pioneers is a major work of history well deserving of a place on your shelves.

A well-researched and well-written work. Then again, it's a McCullough work so those two go without saying. I was a little reticent on this one after reading some reviews citing his focus on Marietta. After having completed it, however, the focus there is akin to focusing on the epicenter of an earthquake. It's the beginning point of something that reshapes an entire region. So it is with Marietta.For this reader, the focus on the Cutler, Putnam, Hildreth and Blennerhassett families was of great interest. Their involvement and investment in the forming the Ohio region was wide-spread and influential. While sometimes this influence was a net negative (Blennerhassetts!), their indelible stamp on the region is unmistakeable.My one complaint with the book was the inequity in the two halves of the book. Parts 1 and 2 are exquisite in their detail. The later parts seem to be more wide-sweeping and less detail oriented. It almost felt like McCullough felt obliged to "tie up loose ends" in the last chapter especially. While I was indeed grateful for that clarity, I had hoped for a bit more detail on some of the things he merely passed over.Overall, a worthy read, esp for a native Ohioan or one interested in the move west.

Right out of the gate: If award-winning historian David McCullough wrote it you know it will be a good read.In addition to being on point for readers who love American history THE PIONEERS is a physically beautiful book. With an early painting of Ohio on both the front and back inside covers.While it's about far more than Native Americans' attacking new comers, one recounting was so gruesome it's incredible that people from the New England States had the courage to venture west.One thing I found impressive was that one early settler, Manasseh Cutler, worked hard to establish Ohio as a free State where slavery was illegal and he also fought hard to establish free public schools including Ohio University.I read the book in just a couple of days and turned it over to a local bookstore for resale -- because I'm sure it will sell, in part, just from the physical beauty of the book.I was thoroughly pleased with THE PIONEERS and I heartily recommend it!

This is my first McCullough book but it will not be my last. With careful detail and obviously deep research from source material the author tells a story of the movement Westward and the expansion of the burgeoning, post Revolution United States. He focuses granularly on Marietta Ohio and surrounding area for good reason. If not for Rufus Putnam and the Ohio company and Marietta Ohio, none of the western expansion might have happened for quite some time. The importance of this area in our nation's history cannot be overstated. I find it typical but still disappointing the number of reviewers that have chosen to focus on the native Americans fate. If one is to read the book one will see that the settlers intention was to work with the local inhabitants as much as possible (though it did not always turn out this way.) Those choosing to focus on the plight of the supposed perfect indigenous people ignore the fact that the charter of Ohio forbade slavery and that the very settlers of Marietta were instrumental in keeping those measures in the new States Constitution as it was written. These were men and women of good heart. Our modern culture tends to glorify anyting the natives did as "pure" and "close to the Earth" when in fact they warred viciously with each other as well as the white inhabitants. It should also be noted that unless they were direct descendants of the prehistoric peoples "the Hopewell" from 2000 years ago they too were Invaders. The book is fantastic and should inspire everyone who reads it to learn their own local history in more depth and perhaps make a pioneering pilgrimage of their own to the sites in this book.