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

Putnam, a self-educated Revolutionary War hero, left his home in Rutland, Massachusetts, for the Ohio territory on December 31, 1787. After settling some matters in New York about the Ohio Company, this leader of the pioneers caught up with his fellow travelers in late January halfway across Pennsylvania.

The group encountered bad weather. It took nearly a month to cross the west Alleghenies on foot. After falling temperatures, the group met with heavy rains. It was, in short, a difficult journey. Included in this group of pioneers were a surveyor who had been to the Northwest Territory previously, carpenters, and mechanics. The oldest pioneer was 67. The group reached Sumerill’s Ferry, thirty miles southeast of Pittsburgh, on February 14. Conditions did not allow for immediate water travel, with waterpower for the sawmill frozen. Over the next month, a large galley boat, dubbed the Mayflower, a smaller flatboat, and three canoes were built. The group was able to travel to Pittsburgh, a crude settlement that was then the gateway to the west. Finally, on April 7, the Mayflower landed at the Point, or their destination in the Northwest Territory.

Once they arrived, the pioneers went to work immediately. They faced the arduous tasks of clearing the land of trees and building shelters. The trees were gigantic and differed in kind. The settlers had no experience in cutting down such trees, but persevered. Putnam insisted on building a stockade for defense that could house 864 people. The stockade was called Camp Martius. They also built the first bridge in the Northwest Territory.

Choosing an elevated plateau three-quarters of a mile back from the Ohio River, the pioneers set to surveying. Each settler was to receive a small in-lot in the town for residence and eight acres outside the town to grow crops. Attempting to create a New England in the wilderness, the group set aside 6,000 acres for the new city. The surrounding rivers were filled with fish, and game was plentiful. There were some concerns initially about the Indigenous tribes, but at first no problems arose. All told, the early days of settlement offered promise.

However, there were some challenges. Gnats and poison ivy were plentiful. Wild animals, such as wolves, were in the surrounding woods. John Gardner, a young pioneer, was kidnapped by the Shawnees. He was able to escape, but the incident was a sign of uneasy relations with the tribe.

Meanwhile, new settlers kept arriving. Among the new arrivals were Jabez True, the first physician; Paul Fearing, the first attorney; and Mary Owen, the first woman and a nurse. M. Cutler wrote from Massachusetts that many families were preparing to come. On July 2,1788, the Ohio Company directors and agents met in Putnam’s tent for the first time and named the settlement “Marietta,” after the Queen of France. The surrounding county was named “Washington.” On July 4, roughly 150 people attended festivities for the holiday. Civil government was established when General Arthur St. Clair arrived at Fort Harmar, on the other side of the Muskingum River, on July 9 as the first governor of the Northwest Territory.

M. Cutler visited Marietta in mid-August with a group of families, the first families to come to the settlement. Impressed and curious about a burial mound and earthworks found north of the settlement, M. Cutler inquired of the chief of the Senecas, who did not know its origins. Later, the origins of that conical burial mound were determined to be as ancient as those of Rome. M. Cutler was impressed with the settlement and delivered a powerful sermon about the “new Empire” (60), emphasizing liberty and education. He left three weeks later by water. There was growing traffic on the river, with keelboats able to go up and downstream, and flatboats. The operators of the keelboats became a distinct class known for their grueling work of bushwacking upriver.

Although Cutler had been impressed with the “conspicuous presence of the natives of different tribes in the daily life of the community” (59), there was brewing tension as winter approached. In mid-December, the Delawares, Wyandots, and Ottawas formed a loose confederacy and a treaty was signed on January 9, 1789. However, it provided no security and was insincere. The American government hoped that a modest payment would allow settlement to continue north without violence. The Shawnees and Miamis did not attend any meetings or agree to such demands. In fact, the Indigenous tribes, who did not believe that land could be owned, slaughtered all the game in the wilderness surrounding Marietta in hopes of starving out the settlers.

It was to be a difficult winter. At the end of 1788, however, there were 132 people in Marietta, including 15 families. A general store had been opened by James Backus and the first school had also been established.