The Pioneers

 

The Pioneers – by David McCullough

A somewhat new offering by one of my favorite historical authors.  When one thinks of American “pioneers”, probably a lot of images flood the mind.  We think of the old west, log cabins, a ramshackle prefabricated town with a church, a saloon, and a sheriff’s office.  We think of men on horses, cultivating the fields with primitive equipment. We think of their wives back at the cabins sewing clothes for their huge brood of children while preserving fresh food for what will probably be a long harsh Winter.

Well, for better or worse, there’s very little of any of that in this McCullough offering. We must conclude that “Pioneers” is probably not the best title for a book such as this.  I can imagine that someone wanting to read an account of genuine “pioneers” might come away from a book such as this rather disappointed.  Perhaps this was the best title he could come up with?  Or perhaps his publisher simply wanted to sell more books?

What this book actually is, is the birth of the Ohio territory that was created with the passage of the Northwest Ordinance that came into existence when the nation of America was very young.  When talking American history, many can tell you that our young country had 13 colonies, fought a Revolutionary War, and George Washington was the first President. But what happened next?  This book tells you about one such major accomplishment and succeeds in keeping the reader highly entertained throughout.

There were a few key players, and in many ways this book could have been a biography about said individuals. Specifically, Rufus Putnam, a former general in the Revolutionary War, along with the Reverend Manasseh Cutler of Massachusetts. The Northwest Ordinance is essentially their brainchild and we read about it from the beginning. Much of the first part of this book consists of the two travelling throughout the Northeast gaining support for their dream.  Once approved, we read about the arduous journey towards what would essentially become Marietta, Ohio and the “pioneer” life begins.

Most of this book, though, is more of the history of the region for the next 50 years or so. Manasseh Cutler’s son Ephraim arrives, and over time seems to emerge as the main protagonist in our history.  Perhaps author David McCullough chose to title his book “The Pioneers” because it has much more appeal than calling his book “The Cutlers”?  Anyway…

This book is only about 260 pages (excluding endnotes etc.) in length and 50 years is a lot of history to pack into such a short volume. We read about a lot of events that happen during this time, and the short page space means we get somewhat abbreviated accounts, but I never felt cheated.  There are Indian attacks, food shortages, and yellow fever epidemics that are described in a bit of truncated detail.  We also learn about some of the historical events that peppered the new Ohio area around the time such as the scandalous ex Vice-President Aaron Burr arriving and trying to splinter the new nation through unscrupulous means.  We also read about the invention of the steamboat, and a lot of humorous anecdotes of visiting foreign celebrities, and their view of this peculiar new nation.

I would recommend that this book be required reading for anyone who was born or resides in the state of Ohio. Of course, not being from that part of the country, a lot of the people and events described may be second nature to said residents, but this is a wonderful account of how a new part of the country of America came into existence, fought bits of adversity, and manage to prosper.  Our story stops around the 1840s. We read a bit about how the inhabitants of this new area abhor slavery (thankfully), yet we can begin to feel the pot simmering as our story closes and we get close to the American Civil War.

Most of what I have read by the author is very enjoyable and this book is no exception.  Just don’t expect to read too much about the stereotypical “pioneer life” here.