American pioneers to the Northwest Territory
| Date | April 7, 1788 |
|---|---|
| Location | Northwest Territory, the area later to become Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, as well as the northeastern part of Minnesota |
| Participants | Pioneers and veterans of the American Revolutionary War |
| Outcome | Founding of the first permanent American settlement of the Northwest Territory at Marietta within the area to become Ohio |
American pioneers to the Northwest Territory included soldiers of the Revolution and members of the Ohio Company of Associates. During 1788 these pioneers to the Ohio Country established Marietta, Ohio as the first permanent American settlement of the new United States in the Northwest Territory, and opened the westward expansion of the new country. General George Washington commented about these pioneers: “I know many of the settlers personally, and there never were men better calculated to promote the welfare of such a community.” General Lafayette of France, who fought with the Americans during the Revolution, visited Marietta on his US tour during May 1825 [1] and described these pioneers and former officers: “They were the bravest of brave. Better men never lived.”
The first group of these early American pioneers to the Northwest Territory is sometimes referred to as “the forty-eight” or the “first forty-eight”, and also as the “founders of Ohio”. These first forty-eight men were carefully chosen and vetted by several of the co-founders of the Ohio Company of Associates, Rufus Putnam and Manasseh Cutler, to ensure not only men of high character and bravery, but also men with proven skills necessary to build a settlement in the wilderness.
During 1852 the president of the Ohio Historical Society described these pioneers: “So various and eventful lives as theirs have scarcely ever fallen to the lot of man. They were born under a monarchy,—fought the battle of Independence,—assisted in the baptism of a great republic,—then moved into a wilderness,—and laid the foundations of a State,—itself almost equaling an empire. These men not only lived in remarkable times, but were themselves remarkable men. Energetic, industrious, persevering, honest, bold, and free — they were limited in their achievements only by the limits of possibility. Successful alike in field and forest,—they have, at length, gone to their rest,—leaving names which are a part of the fame and the history of their country”. On the centennial anniversary of the Marietta settlement, Senator George F. Hoar of Massachusetts orated, “It was an illustrious band; they were men of exceptional character, talents and attainments; they were the best of New England culture; they were Revolutionary heroes”.
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Wikipedia