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Daniel Boone - Frontiersman & Explorer
(1734 - 1820) |
Daniel Boone was a hunter and trapper who became
famous for exploring Kentucky and founding it's
first colonial settlement. He had numerous encounters
with a number of Indian tribes and fought in
the French and Indian War. Boone marked a trail
through the Cumberland Gap and spent time living
amongst the Shawnee as a prisoner. Daniel Boone
later fought in the American Revolution.
This page details facts about Daniel Boone's
life and the events that shaped his history.
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Daniel Boone the Explorer -
Fun Facts for Kids ! |
Daniel Boone Fact
1: |
Daniel Boone was born on 2 November 1734
in Oley Valley, Pennsylvania. His father, Squire Boone,
and mother, Sarah Morgan, were Quakers. Daniel Boone had
only a meagre amount of formal education, however he was
able to read and write. |
Daniel Boone Fact
2: |
At that time, families relied on hunting
for the majority of their food so Daniel Boone was taught
hunting skills at an early age. It is believed that he learned
some of his skills from the local Lenape Indians. |
Daniel Boone Fact
3: |
Squire Boone was expelled from the
Quakers in 1747 when he defended his eldest son who
had married outside of the community. Earlier, in 1742,
his eldest daughter had also married outside the community.
His wife and younger children continued to attend the
church. |
Daniel Boone
Fact 4: |
Squire Boone sold his land in
1750 and settled, with his family, on the Yadkin
River, North Carolina. Leaning toward the Christian
religion, Daniel Boone no longer attended church. |
Daniel Boone
Fact 5: |
Following the outbreak of
the French and Indian War, a militia was called
up by Matthew Rowan, the North Carolina Governor.
Daniel Boone volunteered and served as a Wagoner. |
Daniel Boone
Fact 6: |
Daniel Boone returned home
from the war and, on 14 august 1756, he married
Rebecca Ryan. She was a neighbour whose brother
had married Daniel Boone’s sister. All ten of
their children were baptised. |
Daniel Boone
Fact 7: |
With a need to support his
family, Daniel Boone turned to his hunting skills
and set about hunting and trapping animals for
their pelts. |
Daniel Boone
Fact 8: |
In 1758 the Cherokee Indians
raided the Yadkin River Valley. As a result,
Daniel Boone moved his family north to Culpeper
County, Virginia, and served in the North Carolina
Militia. In 1762, after peace was made with
the Cherokees, Boone and his family returned
to the Yadkin River Valley. |
Daniel Boone
Fact 9: |
In 1767 Daniel Boone entered
Kentucky while on a long hunt with his brother
Squire. While there he met up with John Findley,
a Wagoner he had met in the North Carolina Militia
when serving during the French and Indian War.
Finley had previously told Boone how Kentucky
was a fertile land with an abundance of game
for hunting. |
Daniel Boone Fact 10: |
In May 1769 Daniel Boone headed to Kentucky
on a hunting expedition. In June he and a companion were
captured by Indians. After a week they managed to escape
and returned to their camp. When they arrived they found
that their pelts had been stolen and their other companions
had gone. After a period of exploration, Daniel Boone returned
home. |
Daniel Boone Fact 11: |
On 25 September 1773 Daniel Boone and
his family, together with approximately fifty others, headed
for Kentucky with the intention of establishing a settlement. |
Daniel Boone Fact 12: |
A number of the indigenous Indian tribes
had signed a treaty with the British at Fort Stanwix that
ceded Kentucky to the British. However, when a hunting party,
led by Boone’s eldest son, left the main group, they were
attacked and brutally killed by Indians opposed to the settlement.
Following this action, Boone and the remainder of the group
abandoned their plans. |
Daniel Boone Fact 13: |
This marked the beginning of hostilities
between Virginia and the Indians (mainly the Shawnees) which
became know as Dunmore’s War. In 1774 Daniel Boone and a
companion covered over eight hundred miles of Kentucky warning
colonials of the troubles. |
Daniel Boone Fact 14: |
Back in Virginia Daniel Boone gained
promotion in the militia to Captain when he helped to defend
Settlements against the Indians. Towards the end of 1774
the Shawnee Indians withdrew their claim on Kentucky. |
Daniel Boone Fact 15: |
When Dunmore’s War was over, Daniel Boone
was hired to make and mark a trail through the Cumberland
Gap to Central Kentucky. With approximately thirty workers,
he took the trail to the Kentucky River and established
Boonesborough. In 1775 Daniel Boone then returned to collect
his family and other colonials to the new settlement. |
Daniel Boone Fact 16: |
Many Indians were unhappy at losing Kentucky
and saw the outbreak of the American Revolution, in 1775,
as an opportunity to eject the settlers. The constant attacks
by the Indians led to many of the colonists abandoning their
settlements, however three fortified settlements remained
in place, one of which was Boonesborough. |
Daniel Boone Fact 17: |
On 14 July 1776 three girls, one of whom
was Daniel Boone’s daughter, were kidnapped from outside
Boonesborough by Shawnee Indians. Boone and a small party
from Boonesborough gave chase, eventually ambushing them
two days later when they stopped to eat. They rescued the
girls and drove away the Indians. |
Daniel Boone Fact
18: |
In April 1777 Boonesborough was attacked
by the Shawnee and their Chief, Blackfish. Daniel Boone,
who was outside the fort at the time, was shot in the
ankle and carried back inside. The Indians continued
their attacks, killing the cattle and destroying the
crops outside the fort. |
Daniel Boone
Fact 19: |
In January 1778 Daniel Boone,
now recovered, set off with a party of thirty men
to get salt from the Licking River salt springs.
The salt was required to preserve the low stock
of meat that remained. While hunting to feed the
party, Daniel Boone was captured by Blackfish and
his Indians. With the Indians outnumbering his party
of men, Boone returned with the Indians and persuaded
his men to surrender without a fight. |
Daniel Boone
Fact 20: |
Chief Blackfish wanted to
take this opportunity to capture Boonesborough,
however Daniel Boone managed to convince him
to hold off by stating that Boonesborough would
surrender in the spring. Boone managed to carry
off this deception so convincingly that many
of his party believed he had changed sides. |
Daniel
Boone Fact 21: |
Blackfish forced Boone
and his men to ‘run the gauntlet’ and adopted
some of the men, including Boone, into their
tribe. In June 1778, when he learned that
Blackfish intended to attack Boonesborough,
Boone escaped the tribe and managed to travel
the one hundred and sixty miles back to
Boonesborough in five days. |
Daniel
Boone Fact 22: |
Upon his arrival,
Daniel Boone discovered that his family,
apart from his daughter Jemima, had
assumed he was dead and gone back to
North Carolina. Having made the salt
collecting party surrender, and staying
with the Shawnee for several months,
Boone’s loyalty was called into question.
Daniel Boone answered his critics by
leading an attack on the Shawnee and
taking part in a successful defence
of Boonesborough against an attack led
by Blackfish. |
Daniel Boone Fact 23: |
Daniel Boone
faced a court martial for surrendering
to, and staying with, the Shawnee.
After the court heard his evidence,
he was acquitted and given a promotion. |
Daniel
Boone Fact 24: |
In 1779 Daniel Boone
brought his family back to Kentucky,
however rather than resettle in Boonesborough,
he created the settlement of Boone’s
Station nearby. He became a Lieutenant
Colonel in the Fayette County Militia
in 1780 and fought in several battles
during the American Revolutionary War
(1775 – 1783). |
Daniel
Boone Fact 25: |
By 1795 Daniel Boone had
been involved in many business ventures, in
both Kentucky and Virginia, which ultimately
failed, however in 1798 Boone County was founded
and named after him. |
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Daniel Boone Fact 26:
In 1799 Daniel Boone and his family left
Kentucky and settled in Spanish held Louisiana, which would
later become Missouri. Following the Louisiana Purchase
in 1803, Missouri became part of the United States.
Daniel Boone Fact 27:
Daniel Boone remained in Missouri for
the rest of his life, continuing to hunt and trap for as
long as he was physically able.
Daniel Boone Fact 28:
He died, of natural causes,
on 26 September 1820 in the home of his son Nathan. He was
buried next to his wife Rebecca who had died seven years
earlier in 1813.
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Daniel Boone the Explorer
(1734 - 1820) Fun Facts Info for Kids ! |
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