David McCullough, acclaimed historian and Pittsburgh native, is at work on the book “The Pioneers,” about the courageous first settlers of the Northwest Territory. The Ohio River, which begins at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers in Pittsburgh, was the gateway to that territory in the late 1700s and early 1800s.

The author will recount the story through generations of extraordinary families that explored and settled the Northwest Territory. The book will be published by Simon & Schuster in 2019.

The 83-year-old author is a two-time recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, which was awarded to him for his biographies of U.S. Presidents Harry S. Truman and John Adams. ...