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\nThe #1 \;New York Times \;bests eller by Pulitzer Prize&ndash\;winning historian David McCullough rediscov ers an important chapter in the American story that&rsquo\;s &ldquo\;as re sonant today as ever&rdquo\; (The Wall Street Journal)&mdash\;the settling of the Northwest Territory by courageous pioneers who overcame incredible hardships to build a community based on ideals that would define our coun try.
\nAs part of the Treaty of Paris\, in which Great Britain recog nized the new United States of America\, Britain ceded the land that compr ised the immense Northwest Territory\, a wilderness empire northwest of th e Ohio River containing the future states of Ohio\, Indiana\, Illinois\, M ichigan\, and Wisconsin. A Massachusetts minister named Manasseh Cutler wa s instrumental in opening this vast territory to Revolutionary War veteran s and their families for settlement. Included in the Northwest Ordinance w ere three remarkable conditions: freedom of religion\, free universal educ ation\, and\, most importantly\, the prohibition of slavery. In 1788\, the first band of pioneers set out from New England for the Northwest Territo ry under the leadership of Revolutionary War veteran General Rufus Putnam. They settled in what is now Marietta on the banks of the Ohio River.
\ nMcCullough tells the story through five major characters: Cutler and P utnam\; Cutler&rsquo\;s son Ephraim\; and two other men\, one a carpenter turned architect\, and the other a physician who became a prominent pionee r in American science. They and their families created a town in a primeva l wilderness\, while coping with such frontier realities as floods\, fires \, wolves and bears\, no roads or bridges\, no guarantees of any sort\, al l the while negotiating a contentious and sometimes hostile relationship w ith the native people. Like so many of McCullough&rsquo\;s subjects\, they let no obstacle deter or defeat them.
\nDrawn in great part from a rare and all-but-unknown collection of diaries and letters by the key figu res\, \;The Pioneers \;is a uniquely American story of people whos e ambition and courage led them to remarkable accomplishments. This is a r evelatory and quintessentially American story\, written with David McCullo ugh&rsquo\;s signature narrative energy.
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