Your Best Guide for All Things about David McCullough’s The Pioneers
The Pioneers, written by David McCullough and published in 2019, will transport you to the time of settlers who brought the American ideal to Northwest Territories. With its in-depth ability to let readers view life through the perspective of the pioneers, it’s a great way to dive into Western history.
About the Author
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 7, 1933, David Gaub McCullough, became a very popular American historian. In 1955, McCullough earned a BA in English Literature from Yale University. Shortly after graduating, he found himself working at Time-Life’s Sports Illustrated magazine in New York City.
He moved to Washington, DC, in 1961, where he worked for the United States Information Agency (USIA). After two years, McCullough left USIA to become an editor for the American Heritage Publishing Company. By 1968, he began writing his successful The Johnstown Flood.
It was 1970 when McCullough quit his job and became a full-time writer. His remarkable works have earned him two Pulitzer Prizes, two National Book Awards, and two Francis Parkman Prizes. He also received the National Humanities Medal in 1995 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2006.
“I don’t like to write history as viewed from the mountaintop,” he has said. “If I can’t try to make what happened as real and compelling as a made-up of what happened, then I don’t want to write it. And if critics are bothered by it, that’s fine, don’t bother me. What pleases me most is when, on the one hand, somebody educated or well-read praises what I’ve written, and then a guy jumps out of a Brink’s truck on Michigan Avenue in Chicago on a sunny morning and tells me he loves my books. I don’t think history ought to be reserved for the high priests of academe.”
About the Book
David McCullough’s The Pioneers, published in 2019, is the biography of 17th and 18th-century colonizers that helped define what are now Ohio, Indian, Illinois, and much of the Upper Midwest. McCullough’s intentions have always been to write about people who are not commonly known.
The book covers topics from the New England pastor, Manasseh Cutler, who played an important role in the passage of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 to the strained relationship between the settlers and Native American tribes. The story, divided into 10 chapters, is told through the lives of five principal characters, Cutler, Putnam, Ephraim, a carpenter, and Dr. Samuel Hildreth. Each chapter focuses on a period of settlement in a state.
Inspiring Quotes from The Pioneers
“to be useful, to be pleasant with our playmates, respectful to superiors, just to all, black or white, good to the poor not showing pride or selfishness but kindness and goodwill . . . And to see to it that we looked to our own, more than to others’ faults.”
“The sorrows of a mother are beyond all human consolation.”
“If ignorance could be banished from our land, a real millennium would commence. — EPHRAIM CUTLER”
“They accomplished what they had set out to do not for money, not for possessions or fame, but to advance the quality and opportunities of life — to propel as best they could the American ideals.”
“Fortunate is he who understands the cause of things.”
“Wisdom is the principal thing,” read the ancient directive in Proverbs. “Therefore get wisdom, and with all thy getting get understanding.”
“Whoever pursues the healing art . . . is no longer master of his own time, nor of his own person, but his time and himself are at the call of another,” Hildreth would write.”
From Print to the Screen
David McCullough is more than a novelist. He has been part of the filmography world since 1987. Credits include narrator of Seabiscuit and The Civil War by Ken Burns. For 12 years, he also hosted PBS’ American Experience. With more than 40 credits as narrator, actor, scriptwriter, and crew member, McCullough’s written works have made him a large asset to the film industry.
Written Works by David McCullough
The Johnstown Flood, 1968
The Great Bridge, 1972
The Path Between the Seas, 1977
Mornings on Horseback, 1981
Brave Companions, 1991
Truman, 1992
John Adams, 2001
The Course of Human Events, 2004
1776, 2005
In the Dark Streets Shineth, 2010
The Greater Journey, 2011
The Wright Brothers, 2015
The American Spirit, 2017
The Interesting Facts
- McCullough attended Shady Side Academy.
- In 2009, McCullough was the University of Oklahoma’s commencement speaker.
- McCullough’s favorite actor is James Stewart.
- Growing up with a love of movies, McCullough once aspired to be an actor.
- One of McCullough’s good friends was Ted Kennedy.
- McCullough prefers to write in a shack away from his home, where he has privacy and no distractions.
The Desire to Read
The tale of the heroic settlers told by the great storyteller, David McCullough, will leave you inspired and full of American pride. For the history buff, The Pioneers is the perfect addition to any library.
