Daniel Boone

Daniel Boone was a settler and explorer in the Kentucky frontier in the 1700s. His experience as a woodsman, hunter, tracker and marksman made him the basis for stories that were a combination of truth and legend.

Boone’s participation in exploration was an important part of American history, and he is considered to be a folklore hero.

 

Where did they live?

Boone was born in 1734 in the colony of Pennsylvania. He was the son of a farmer, and he had 11 brothers and sisters. Daniel worked on the farm and was chopping wood at five years old and at ten was caring for the cows.

This may have been the basis for his love of the outdoors and his dislike for being inside. He taught himself a bit of tracking while he was watching the cows.

He looked at the tracks in the woods for small game.

Facts about Daniel Boone

• Daniel’s friendship with some of the native Delaware Indians gave him the benefit of learning from their teachings. They showed him how to survive in the woods, trap, hunt, and track. Daniel associated with the Indians so much that he began to dress like them.
• When he was 13, he got his first rifle and proved to have a natural talent at shooting. His family would send him out to hunt, and he was sometimes gone for days. He always brought back enough food for everyone.
• Boone’s world was turned upside down in 1751 when his family moved to Yadkin Valley, North Carolina. He adapted quickly, using his hunting skills to help his family purchase around 1,300 acres of land. It wasn’t long until he earned the name of the best sharpshooter in the area and won every contest that he entered.
• In 1754 the French Indian War began, and it was between the alliance of the Indians and the French against the British colonies. Daniel signed up with the British army and was a blacksmith and a supply wagon driver. He escaped on horseback when the French Indian fighters defeated the British.
• When Daniel got home,, he got married to a lady named Rebecca, and they followed some advice about the area called Kentucky, west of the Appalachian Mountains. Boone’s first expedition to Kentucky was in 1769, and it was then that he discovered the narrow pass through the Appalachian Mountainss called the Cumberland Gap. When he exited to the other side,, he found meadows perfect for farming and lots of wild game.
• Daniel convinced his brother to go to Kentucky, and they trapped furs. During their time there,, he was capture by the Shawnee Indian tribe. It seems that the British had told the Shawnee that this land was theirs,and they took all of Daniel’s horses, guns, and furs, telling him to leave and not return.
• By 1775 Boone and a group of men made another expedition to Kentucky, and they constructed a road that was called the Wilderness Trail. They spent a long time building small bridges for wagons to cross. It took Daniel three years to build a fort in the areas, and they called the settlement Boonesborough. It was then that Daniel brought his family to Kentucky to settle down.
• The Native Indians still didn’t want the settlers there on their land, and they had regular attacks on the fort. Over time, Daniel’s daughter was captured, and he rescued her, and then Daniel was captured, and he escaped.

  Boone and his family relocated to West Virginia and then later moved to Missouri. Daniel was always outdoors hunting and exploring the woods and did so until he died.

What did you learn?

How did Daniel Boone first teach himself to track?

by following small game tracks as he took care of the cows

What was the name of the settlement that Daniel and others built in Kentucky?

Boonesborough

Which Native American tribe did Daniel become friends with growing up?

Delaware Indians

What jobs did Daniel do when he signed up to fight in the French Indian War?

Blacksmith and a supply wagon driver

What made Daniel Boone leave Kentucky?

Too many Indian attacks

What were the last two states that Daniel Boone and his family lived in?

West Virginia and Missouri