The region and its occupants truly come alive in the hands of McCullough.

Each colonist had different reasons for gambling for a better future for themselves and their families. The people who risked the vast wilderness fought disease, lack of food, and harsh winters without supplies. He takes the history of the area, and turns what could be dry and somewhat dull into vibrant and compelling tales. McCullough is a master of research along with being a wonderful storyteller. They settled off the banks of the Ohio River and named the town Marietta after the Queen of France, Marie Antoinette. Soon the first pioneers braved the wilderness and established a permanent home in the area. The Northwest Ordinance was the first of its kind since the act passed promising freedom of religion, free education and the prohibition of slavery. While Congress was working on establishing a Constitution, a Massachusetts minister named Manasseh Cutler visited the area, trying to persuade people to pass a law declaring the area a new territory. When the Revolutionary War was over, and the Treaty of Paris had Great Britain recognize that a new country had been formed, Britain also gave the new government of the United States vast land northwest of the Ohio River, David McCullough notes in 'The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West.'

'The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West,' by David McCullough (Simon and Schuster).

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