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

The term “Camp Martius” is Latin for “Field of Mars” (47). Camp Martius refers to the stockade built on the orders of Putnam for defense. It was a “great square structure with outer walls 188 feet in length” and was designed to house 864 people (47). During the Conflict with Indigenous Peoples, many citizens of Marietta would stay at the stockade at night.

The Embargo Act of 1807 prohibited American ships from carrying exports. It was passed “in the hope of strangling English commerce at sea” (171) and therefore avoiding a war. Its effect was devastating on the economy of Marietta, which depended on shipbuilding.

Flatboats were “heavy, flat-bottomed” (61) boats 8-10 feet wide and 30-40 feet long. Most of the early settlers arrived in the Northwest Territory via flatboats, which were then broken down, with the lumber used for other purposes (61).

Keel boats were “intended for travel both downstream and back up against the current” (61). The crew of these long, narrow boats used poles to push the boats upstream and sometimes would hold onto bushes at the river’s edge to pull the boats forward, a process called “bushwhacking” (61). Their ability to travel both ways allowed for more exchanges of goods and people and was a sign of things to come.

The Newburgh Petition was a petition signed by 288 officers in the Revolutionary Army that called for land bounties promised to veterans to be “provided in Ohio country in payment for their military service” (10). Putnam led the efforts behind this Petition and then structured the sale of shares in the Ohio Company to accommodate it.

The Northwest Ordinance established a governmental framework for the Northwest Territory and provided for the creation of new states. It was modeled on the Massachusetts Constitution and was bold in its declaration of rights and its support of education. David McCullough notes M. Cutler’s superb accomplishment in getting this monumental piece of legislation passed. He calls it the “largest, most far-reaching contract in the history of Congress” (28) and compares it to the Declaration of Independence and Magna Carta.

The “immense territory” (7) to the northwest of the Ohio River, the Northwest Territory would ultimately become Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. The US government acquired this territory via the treaty ending the Revolutionary War. It was this territory, populated by Indigenous tribes and hitherto unsettled by Europeans, that the pioneers would develop.

The Ohio Company was an association formed to “purchase from the government lands in Ohio and establish a first settlement there” (11). Putnam chaired the association, which was also “a venture in land speculation” (12). M. Cutler negotiated the sale of 1.5 million acres for this association in the Northwest Ordinance. Veterans could use certificates granted for their service plus a payment to acquire shares in the Company.

Enacted in 1830, the Removal Bill required the forced eviction of Indigenous persons from Ohio. Ultimately, Indigenous persons had to go to reservations farther west or surrender their identity. The white settlement of Ohio came at the expense of the Indigenous population.

The Scioto Company was a private real estate venture that acquired 3.5 million acres in the Northwest Territory. The Ohio and Scioto company paid 3.5 million dollars for the 5 million acres acquired from the government. This company came under suspicion for fraudulent practices, including bogus sales to those escaping the French Revolution. Its founder, William Duer, would ultimately go to debtor’s prison. McCullough does not focus much on this Company and does not highlight the land speculation aspects of the Ohio Company.