The Pioneers

The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West

By: David McCullough

Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd

The number one New York Times best seller by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough rediscovers an important chapter in the American story that's "as resonant today as ever" (The Wall Street Journal) - the settling of the Northwest Territory by courageous pioneers who overcame incredible hardships to build a community based on ideals that would define our country.

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.

"With clarity and incisiveness, [McCullough] details the experience of a brave and broad-minded band of people who crossed raging rivers, chopped down forests, plowed miles of land, suffered incalculable hardships, and braved a lonely frontier to forge a new American ideal" (The Providence Journal).

Drawn in great part from a rare and all-but-unknown collection of diaries and letters by the key figures, The Pioneers is a uniquely American story of people whose ambition and courage led them to remarkable accomplishments. "A tale of uplift" (The New York Times Book Review), this is a quintessentially American story, written with David McCullough's signature narrative energy.

©2019 David McCullough (P)2019 Simon & Schuster

Little Sporadic

I'm really a fan of David McCullough. I can never go wrong with any of his books and I've read them all. "The Pioneers" The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West, didn't really catch my interest to me. Usually, I can't wait to get a spare minute to listen to any of his books, but with this one, I felt that the information was a little sporadic. I wasn't bored at what I was reading, but underwhelmed on what was being said.

this is an excellent story about the area where I

this is an excellent story about the area around where I grew up. The early days of the pioneers of Ohio. It's not covered in too many other books so it's well worth reading

Well Told Story

I can only assume those who rate it 1 star haven't read it as their complaints are flat out lies. McCullough tells the story of these people, good and bad, in an engaging way. Well done.

Misleading title

Let me say first that I enjoyed this book, most of the way through. However, I was expecting a sweeping history of pioneers, starting of course with Ohio but spreading west through Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and so on. But then the book would not have sold as well if it were entitled, The History of Marietta, Ohio. There are advantages to focusing on a few families and key characters, as McCullough does in this book. And they are interesting characters, to be sure. But the book’s focus is almost exclusively on the establishment of a settlement and then a city at present day Marietta, Ohio. You certainly get a sense of the hardships endured by the early pioneers, their conflicts with the Native American tribes, and the interplay between the state and national governments, but the focus seemed narrow to me.

History of Ohio

Learned much about the people, history and events of this pioneer era of our country's expansion.

Excellent history of early American expansion

I knew my colonial history but not what happened next! This is a great summary of how Ohio was settled and then became a populated state, complete with Native American struggles and how close Ohio was to becoming a slave state. The narration was great but I had to listen at 1.25 speed because it was read too slowly.

Good read for history buffs.

I thought it was a little dry at times but it painted a vivid picture of life on the frontier in the 19th century.

Pretty Boring if your not from Ohio

I love David McCullough but this one fell a bit flat for me. It would be more interesting if I had family roots in Ohio.

EXCELLENT

This is a must listen for anyone from Ohio or interested in the history of the Northwest Territory

poor narration

Poor narration. Narrator's over emphasis and inflection is distracting from the content and is annoying.