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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.”〔Sparks, ''Writings of George Washington, Vol IX'', 385.〕 General Lafayette of France, who fought with the Americans during the Revolution, visited Marietta on his US tour during May 1825 () and described these pioneers and former officers: “They were the bravest of brave. Better men never lived.”〔Cutler, ''Life and Times of Ephraim Cutler'', 202–03.〕 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”.〔Cutler, ''The Founders of Ohio'', 1-28.〕〔Stevenson, ''Poems of American History'', 335.〕 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.〔Cutler, ''The Founders of Ohio'', 5-6.〕〔Zimmer, ''True Stories from Pioneer Valley'', 18.〕 During 1852 the president of the Ohio Historical Society described these pioneers:〔Hildreth, ''Early Pioneer Settlers of Ohio'', v.〕 “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”.〔Randall and Ryan, ''History of Ohio'', 458.〕 ==Massachusetts to Ohio== Under the leadership of Rufus Putnam, two parties of pioneers comprising the first forty-eight men, departed New England, cutting trails westward through the mountains during an uncommonly severe winter. One party departed from the towns of Ipswich, Massachusetts and Danvers, Massachusetts on December 3, 1787; the other party departed from Hartford, Connecticut on January 1, 1788. The pioneers crossed the mountains and met at Sumrill’s Ferry (present-day West Newton, Pennsylvania) on the Youghiogheny River. During the bitterly cold winter, the men built two flatboats, the forty-five ton ‘Adventure Galley’ also known as the ‘Mayflower’ in honor of their Pilgrim ancestors, and the three-ton ‘Adelphia’. They also built three log canoes. This small fleet of boats carried the pioneers down the Youghiogheny River to the Monongahela River, and then to the Ohio River, and onward to the Ohio Country and the Northwest Territory. They arrived at their final destination, the mouth of the Muskingum River at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers, on April 7, 1788.〔Zimmer, ''True Stories from Pioneer Valley'', 14-17.〕 “Can too much be said in praise of the noble heroes who opened to settlement the Great Northwest Territory? These men had been trained in army life and discipline and were anxious to take this country as the payment due them for military service. They were men who had fought valiantly to preserve the principles of their government and were ready for other great achievements. They were men who had assisted in making this territory a part of the United States and had, in great measure, assisted in the formation and adoption of the Ordinance of 1787 which was to govern it. Indeed, a better company of men could scarcely have been selected than those who were directed by General Putnam.”〔Summers, ''History of Marietta'', 49-50.〕 Image:DepartureOfThePioneers.jpg|Departure of the pioneers from Manasseh Cutler’s parsonage in Ipswich, Massachusetts on December 3, 1787 Image:BuildingAdventureGalley.jpg|Pioneers building the flatboat, Adventure Galley, at Sumrill’s Ferry on the Youghiogheny River during March 1788 Image:LandingOfThePioneers.jpg|Arrival of Rufus Putnam and the pioneers at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers on April 7, 1788 Image:FirstFortyEight.jpg|Monument at Marietta, Ohio to the first forty-eight pioneers Image:BravestOfTheBrave.jpg|Plaque at Mound Cemetery quoting General Lafayette 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「American pioneers to the Northwest Territory」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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