American Pioneer (1952)

[Music] a map of colonial America Pioneer America in the 1760s and 1770s looked like this there was little if any settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains and all the colonies were situated along the Eastern Atlantic Seaboard from Massachusetts in the north to Georgia in the South only occasionally did adventurous hunters and Trappers and Indian Traders Venture beyond the mountain barrier to the West it was an unknown Wilderness immediately after the French and Indian War which ended in 1763 with the Treaty of Paris the Appalachian Mountain country west of the barrier previously controlled by the French was open the established Eastern settlements and communities offered little opportunity for land ownership to newly arrived immigrants from Europe and they were coming to the New World in increasing numbers land to the West Was plentiful and presented opportunities to escape the tyrannies of Europe and the restrictions of the Seaboard thus began a movement westward in the 1760s which continued until the 20th century our own time the earliest settlements in southwestern Pennsylvania Western Maryland and Western Virginia soon became dotted with stations which mushroomed into towns it wasn't long before they went into the wide valleys of Kentucky through the Cumberland Gap [Music] frontiersmen paid little attention to the plans of colonial governments to settle these areas nor to the land speculators who influenced them but flocked by the thousands to take the land and settle it from Yadkin North Carolina in 1773 under the leadership of that Hardy Woodsman Daniel Boone a large party set out for the new land Kentucky still part of Virginia [Music] no such Journey could begin without the blessings of a minister regardless of their nationality or religion the colonies in the latter part of the 18th century showed a great increase in population from many parts of Western Europe where people felt the pressures of political and religious Prejudice even persecution the new world was both an escape as well as an opportunity to start a new life here were Scotch Irish Presbyterians from Northern Ireland some English Germans from Pennsylvania French hugenots from the Virginia pedmont and some Dutch these men women and children too were trained to handle not only the plow but the gun and the knife the Wilderness was not idle game it was rough tough and deadly serious they knew the dangers and were prepared to meet [Music] them it is not easy to realize the challenge that moving Westward meant to these people even though they knew the danger it was was a complete uprooting of their lives bag and baggage to a strange and unknown Land There Was Fear uncertainty and doubts because they were cutting all their ties burning their Bridges behind them but the love of Liberty and freedom was stronger and the open country was a Temptation they could not resist [Music] [Applause] a [Applause] [Music] la [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the countryside through the valleys and forests were rich in Wild game and black soil and the American Pioneer knew how to use both once he had decided on the spot he wanted to settle but before he could reach his destination he would have to conquer the weather wide swollen Rivers high mountains protect himself his cattle and his possessions and fight hostile Indians whose land he was [Music] invading making camp for the night was not easy with such large wagon trains their protection from the weather were their covered wagons their protection from Wildlife were their campfires and their rifles their protection from Indian attack was their constant [Music] vigilance the camp at night offered the Pioneers a chance to ease the hard physical labor of the trail some men played music women knitted and did the necessary chores for their families while rocking infants in wooden cradles others saw to it that their tools and equipment were kept in good repair guards were posted in advance of the camp in order to warn of attack and they huddled around their own campfires in a lonely watch it was their job to Signal any danger to the main camp there were times however when their care relaxed and sleep Came Upon them and the silent enemy crept without warning then tragedy struck swiftly and ruthlessly [Music] [Applause] in the morning the solemn news of the night attack on the advanced Scouts is brought back and the friends and relatives mourn their dead The Good Earth takes back to its heart the unfortunate victims as the pioneers make another payment for their hard one land every loss was a serious one because each man lost meant a weakening of their strength for their common defense their safety depended upon their strength and their strength depended upon their [Music] numbers but time couldn't wait and the living had to go on to their chosen Destiny wherever it might lead them once again they took to the trail to meet the unknown dangers that lay ahead [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] their enemies were not only the Indians nature herself posed dangers even more terrible the land itself with its rugged mountains and wide Swift Rivers were constant barriers [Music] a [Music] and then the elements with lightning and thunder and wind and Cloud bursts which made quagmires of mud of The Unbroken Trail it took the courage and stamina of determined and Hearty people to meet these challenges [Music] [Music] despite all these difficulties the Pioneers penetrated deep into the Wilderness and found desirable sites for settlement [Music] finally they came to a rich fertile Valley they came to what seemed to be the end of their journey and with deep thanks and prayer for their safety they began their new life [Music] activity became feverish homes had to be built the land had to be tilled and defenses had to be established for their common protection time was important for they could not leave themselves unprotected not only against the always hostile Indians but against the coming winter [Music] men and women alike went to work to cut saw and build their crude cabins each helping the other in a spirit of cooperation building plowing and working was done with what we would regard as crude tools requiring backbreaking labor they had to depend only on their own muscles for power the Raw materials came from the forests and the land that was their wealth that plus their will this is the Heritage which is America a Heritage drawn from many peoples all of whom had one purpose to build for themselves and their children a land of freedom from oppression and Prejudice [Music] when their job was done their happy Spirits made celebration in the song and dance of simple immigrant folk and even these songs and dances have become a part of our [Music] tradition but again and again the Pioneers had to be on a sharp lookout for attack and news that the Indians were on the war path electrified them into activity their struggle for survival against the Indians was never ending they were a Relentless enemy who resented the coming of the white settlers they fought tooth and nail for every foot of ground and gave way slowly exacting a terrible toll just as hard as the Indians fought so did the Pioneers who needed the land for their families and for freedom [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] casualties were inevitable and the fort was turned into a temporary Hospital sometimes the settlers lost and whole communities were wiped out but more often they won and another mile was conquered in spite of the fact that many were wounded and some [Music] died while the Pioneers fought for their lives and their hard one land speculators living in splendor in the Eastern cities had their eyes on these rich new areas and by political and financial power were able to seize or acquire legal rights to land they had never seen even when special representatives were sent East by the Pioneers to plead their cause and to protect their interests they were refused audience and greed overcame all considerations for their rights the short-sighted policy of colonial Empire was to extract quick riches from these territories they failed to understand that people were wealth and that development of the land by free people created permanent wealth that such development would create a nation while the colonial rulers back East were playing politics and speculating in Western lands their own emissaries armed with Le Westward to the new settlements to make their own [Music] claims by the mere proclam them they could destroy the hard work of the pioneer who had no recourse but to accept the decree of their own government by such tactics did colonial Governors Drive the pioneers and settlers further Westward beyond the reach of government the Eastern cities and lands were already crowded and the rigid levels of society to some extent were rapidly becoming copies of European homelands it was to escape this that the movement Westward began aided by the blindness of colonial government [Music] and so with bitterness and disappointment they reloaded their wagons once again with heartbreak but yet with Stout Hearts the American Pioneer overcame even the barriers erected by men and won and settled new lands and made new homes wward ever Westward [Music] [Applause]