In 1788, the first band of pioneers set out from New England for the Northwest Territory under the leadership of Revolutionary War veteran, General Rufus Putnam, settling in what is now Marietta, on the banks of the Ohio River.  They created a town in a primeval wilderness; coping with frontier realities such as floods and fires, wolves and bears, no roads or bridges, no guarantees of any sort, and all the while negotiating a contentious and sometimes hostile relationship with the native people of the area.