Daniel Boone

Daniel Boone

Daniel Boone was born November 2, 1734 in a log cabin in Reading Pennsylvania. His parents were Quakers. They lived on a small farm where his family ran a blacksmith shop and were weavers.

Boone rarely attended school. He worked on the farm and spent his time hunting. When Boone was 12 years old his parents gave him his first rifle. Boone was already very good with a gun before he received this gift. In 1750 Boone's family moved to North Carolina.

During the French and Indian War Boone joined General Edward Braddock's expedition and tried to drive out the French from Fort Duquesne which is now Pittsburgh. Braddock was ambushed. Boone was able to escape. He returned home and was married. At age 21 Boone married Rebecca who was just 17 years old. Rebecca and Boone moved because Boone felt there were too many people in the area.

In 1769 Boone and Rebecca lived in the Yadkin Valley in North Carolina. He learned about the Watauga Country from John Finley. Finley told Boone about the blue-green water and the giant forests. Boone organized a group of six men which including his brother-in-law, John Stuart, and his brother Squire. He packed his haversack, gathered his powder horn and bullet pouch, and saddled his horse. Daniel Boone and six men decided to go to a new land that was just beyond the Appalachian Mountains. His thought was that if he could stand in his front yard and see smoke from a neighbor's chimney that it had become too crowded.

On this trip Boone dressed like a true outdoorsman. He wore a fringed hunting shirt that came almost to his knees. He carried a tomahawk and a knife in his belt. Leather straps over Boone's shoulder held his powder horn and pouch. He liked wearing a black felt hat.

Boone set out to find new land with more “elbow room”. Boone crossed the mountains and followed the Watauga River on an Indian trail called the Warriors' Path to a place now named Butler, Tennessee. During his journey he came across three trappers Julius Dugger, Andrew Greer and John Honeycutt. These men are recorded as being the first white men to settle the area which is now Johnson County. Boone then traveled farther into the wilderness into the area now known as "Kaintuckee". On this trip Boone noticed his horse hobbling. He left the horse in a pasture of green grass near a stream. He continued on with the group to "Kaintuckee". Boone stayed in Kentucky trapping and hunting for two years.

In the spring of 1771 on his return trip home Boone followed the same trail through a valley in East Tennessee. He was stopped by the Cherokee who took all his furs and skins. Boone continued on home. In the beautiful valley where he had left his horse to die two years earlier Boone found his horse not only alive, but fat and handsome with a sleek coat. When the horse saw Boone he whinnied and trotted over to meet Boone. Boone wrapped his arms around his horse "Old Roan". Ever since the stream through this valley has been called Roan Creek after Boone's horse.

Boone make several trips back and forth to this area before settling there. He told many people about the land he had traveled through on his journeys. Boone was quoted as saying you'll find, “plenty of rich fertile soil, an abundance of game, and timber for log cabins." In 1773 a group took Boone's advice and set out for Kentucky. They turned back when the Indians tortured and killed Boone's oldest son James.

In 1775 Richard Henderson bought land from the Cherokee Indians. He sent Boone to improve the trails to his new land in Kentucky. Boone chose a site by the Kentucky River for a fort. He built the fort in 1775. After this Boone went back to get his wife and daughter Jemima. He took them to the fort which was named Boonesborough.

In 1778 Boone was captured by Shawnee Indians. They took him to their village north of the Ohio River. Chief Blackfish adopted Boone into the tribe. One day Boone heard a war party was going to attack Boonesborough. Boone escaped to warn his friends.

After the warning the men in Boonesborough made the fort stronger. The women stored extra and food and water inside the fort. The first Indian attack failed. The Shawnee then began to dig a tunnel under the fort. When the men in the fort saw this they built a tunnel too. They plan to meet the Indians in the middle. Then the Indians started shooting flaming arrows into the fort. Luckily rain came. The rain not only put out the fires, but caved in the Indians' tunnel. With this defeat Blackfish left.

After the Revolutionary War was over Boone tried to sell his land in Kentucky. The United States said he had registered his land with the Spanish, not the United States so he had no right to it. The land was not his.

After this in 1799 Boone moved to Missouri. He was appointed magistrate in the district by the Spanish. Boone was responsible for keeping law and order. He had to judge law cases. In 1814 this land became part of the United States. Again Boone lost his land. Finally the United States gave Boone part of the land back as a reward for helping millions move west. Boone lived there rest of his life in Missouri.

Boone died September 26, 1820. After his death his remains were moved to Frankfort, Kentucky. In 1915 The Daniel Boone Trail was marked through North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. The trail begins on the Yadkin River and ends at Boonesborough. Boone’s route, now know as the Boone Heritage Trail, enters Johnson County at Trade and continues through Shouns, Mountain City, and Laurel Bloomery, Tennessee then through Damascus, Virginia on into Kentucky.