4.7 • 18.3K Ratings
🗓️ 22 May 2019
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Pulitzer Prize winner. National Book Award winner. Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient. Today David McCullough, one of America’s greatest living historians, joins us to discuss his new book, The Pioneers, about the heroic men and women who shaped the Northwest Territories, in present-day Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois. Without their bravery, foresight, and commitment to their ideals, the United States we know today might look very different. The author of Truman and John Adams shares how to make historical figures come alive on the page, why history matters, and what he sees as history’s two greatest lessons.
Support us by supporting our sponsors!
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
0:00.0 | Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to American History Tellers add free on Amazon Music, |
0:05.6 | download the app today. |
0:09.0 | Imagine it's May 22nd, 1843, a little before midnight. |
0:23.4 | You stand guard outside a massive caravan of immigrants who have hunkered down and made |
0:27.6 | camp from the night. |
0:29.3 | Good morning, your caravan departed from Elm Grove just a few miles outside of Independence |
0:34.2 | Missouri to make the long, arduous journey to the Oregon Territory. |
0:39.0 | The wagons are circled, the animals are corralled, and most everyone has gone to sleep, but not |
0:43.7 | you. |
0:44.7 | You and your partner are sentinels, and your job is to keep the caravan safe. |
0:48.7 | It's no small task, either. |
0:51.4 | 120 wagons, 5,000 loose horses in cattle, and nearly 1,000 souls, souls you are charged with |
0:58.2 | protecting. |
0:59.2 | You warm a pot of coffee over a small fire. |
1:02.4 | Your partner makes conversation to try and pass the time. |
1:05.5 | Wems wake up again? |
1:07.3 | 4 a.m. |
1:08.6 | What time does our relief get here? |
1:10.6 | Soon. |
1:11.6 | At least you hope it's soon. |
1:13.6 | You've been standing watch for hours. |
1:15.7 | You stoked the fire, eagerly waiting for the coffee to be warm enough to drink. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Wondery, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Wondery and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.