Pioneer Spirit

Author David McCullough has great admiration and gratitude for the young and talented Americans who left home and risked their careers and homeland to travel to Paris, France, beginning in the early 1830s and continuing on until the turn of the century. In fact, he sees them as true pioneers and an important part of American history. He makes the comment that one doesn't have to "go west to be a pioneer." The young and talented artists and professionals who made the dangerous journey across the Atlantic for the opportunity to learn with the best, possessed the pioneer spirit. Their goals were to study at the best schools and under the foremost instructors in order to develop their god-given talent and return to America to elevate it in the areas of art and medicine.

These young and talented American citizens were ambitious and inspired by the promise...