Daniel Boone

Daniel Boone (1734-1820) learned his woodsmanship from his dad who gave Daniel his first rifle when Daniel was only 12 years old.  Soon after that Daniel shot his first bear.  Daniel's dad, Squire Boone, was a blacksmith and weaver.  (Now there's an unlikely combination!)

In 1749, when Boone was 15, he and his family picked up stakes and moved to Rowan County, North Carolina, on the Yadkin River.  Being an enterprising young man with skills, he started his own hunting business.


In 1755, during the French and Indian War (that's the French and the Indians ganging up on the English colonists to run them out of North America), Boone served as a wagoner for British Brigadier General Edward Braddock in the Battle of the Monongahela in an attempt to capture the French Fort Duquesne (now known as Pittsburgh, Ohio.)  The French prevailed, and Daniel only got away because of his well-honed survival skills.  He also got away on one of those horses he used to pull his wagon!

In 1756 he married, saying, all a man needed was "A good gun, a good horse and a good wife."

In 1769 I guess Boone made the discovery of his lifetime, the one he's truly remembered for.  He led an expedition of four men on a "boys trip out," Boone found the now famous Cumberland Gap through the mountains to the North American west.  In 1775 he packed up his family of wife and six children, moved through the Gap, and carved a settlement out of the wilderness named Boonesboro.

Now, folks, if you think it was all roses, think again.  We are truly talking wilderness and hostile Indians.  Boone even had one of his daughters kidnapped by the Indians!  Boone, being the man he was, stole her back, but this was no easy move he and wife Rebecca made.  I just don't know if they make families like theirs anymore - or ever will again!  We are all pretty much wimps nowadays.  In the years that followed, Boone was shot in the ankle during an Indian attack and even captured himself by the Shawnee!  Finally, all the settlers got their money together, gave it to Daniel, and he set out to buy land permits.  (Wait a minute.  The Indians owned the land, Daniel fought for the land, but now he has to BUY permits from the British to live on it??  The arrogance of government never ceases to amaze me.)  Poor Daniel got waylaid by thieves who took everyone's money.  Nothing in life is simple...

In 1780, Daniel fought with Colonel George Rogers Clark (brother of William Clark of Lewis and Clark fame) in the Battle of Piqua during the American Revolution (1775- 1783).  Strangely enough, the Battle of Piqua was the largest military engagement of the American Revolution west of the Allegheny Mountains, but for some weird reason the history books give no mention of it. 

First, Clark planned to secure a supply location.  This was accomplished (where Riverfront Stadium is located today in Cincinnati!), and Clark left Daniel there to guard the supplies.  (Remember, an army travels on its stomach.)  Then Clark and his forces moved on to Chillicothe, Ohio.  (This is significant to our family because our mother was born in Chillicothe, Texas - namesake of Chillicothe, Ohio.)  The battle took place here against the British-supported Indians.  Their 4,000 strong force stood against Clark's 1,000 men.  The colonists prevailed because they weren't just fighting the Revolution, but they were also trying to stop the British-supported Indians from sneak attacks against their homes and families. Well, that and Colonel Clark's superior tactics.

In 1788 Boone and his family moved north to Point Pleasant (now in West Virginia) where he served as a lieutenant colonel and county legislative delegate.  Later he moved one final time west into Missouri.  He spent the rest of his life doing what he loved most - hunting.