[7] Under the leadership of Putnam, two parties of pioneers comprising the first 48 men departed New England, cutting trails westward through the mountains during an uncommonly severe winter.

During the bitterly cold winter, the men built three log canoes, two flatboats, the 45-ton Adventure Galley (also known as the Mayflower, in honor of their Pilgrim ancestors) and the three-ton Adelphia.

[8][self-published source] The footsteps of a hundred years Have echoed, since o'er Braddock's Road Bold Putnam and the Pioneers Led History the way they strode.

When April robed the Buckeye trees Muskingum's bosky shore they trod; They pitched their tents and to the breeze Flung freedom's star-flag, thanking God.

"A song of the Early Times out West," And that bold adventurous band Who first set foot upon these shores Where now their children stand; Who fell'd the lordly forest tree And built the Cabin Home, Resolved on meeting valiantly All dangers that might come.

The April winds swept o'er the hills And bowed the forest tree, And wild-wood flowers were blossoming, And birds were singing free, The wild deer bounded o'er the plain, The wolf's long howl was heard And oft the panther's fearful scream The stoutest bosom stirr'd, The wily Indian roam'd the wood And sprung his bended bow, When first they came as Pioneers, Just sixty years ago!

But years rolled on and swept away Their trials and their foes, And soon the wilderness was made To blossom as the rose, The bleating of the gentle sheep, The lowing of the kine, Were heard, where once the panther screamed In days of Old Lang Syne.

[14][self-published source] Other notable arrivals included:[citation needed] During 1852 the president of the Ohio Historical Society described these pioneers:[15] "So various and eventful lives as theirs have scarcely ever fallen to the lot of man.

[15] 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".

"[17] "The forty-eight persons who disembarked from the 'Adventure Galley' at the mouth of the Muskingum, April 7, 1788, had come out into the wilderness to lay the corner-stone of one of the greatest political edifices that has ever sheltered millions of brave, prosperous and happy freemen.

Within fifty years of their coming, Ohio had a million and a half of people, and had already made such rapid strides in its internal improvement, its systems of navigation, its jurisprudence, and its enlargement of public education, as to become an example to some of the older states.