Chapter I: Introduction

Daniel Boone was the ideal of the American pioneer--brave, cool, self-reliant, a dead shot with his rifle, a consummate master of woodcraft, with sturdy frame, hopeful at all times, and never discouraged by disasters which caused many a weaker spirit to faint by the way. All that the pen of romance depicts in the life of one whose lot is cast in the Western forests, marked the career of Boone. In the lonely solitudes he encountered the wild animal and the fiercer wild man; and he stood on the bastions at Boonesborough through the flaming sun or the solemn hours of night, exchanging shots with the treacherous Shawanoe, when every bullet fired was meant to extinguish a human life; he was captured by Indians three times, his companions were shot down at his side, his daughter was carried away by savages and quickly rescued by himself and a few intrepid comrades, his oldest boy was shot dead before he set foot in Kentucky, and another was killed while bravely fighting at Blue Licks; the border town named after him was assaulted and besieged by overwhelming bodies of British and Indians, his brother was slain and he himself underwent all manner of hardship and suffering.

Yet through it all, he preserved his honest simplicity, his unswerving integrity, his prudence and self-possession, and his unfaltering faith in himself, in the future of his country, and in God.

He lived through this crucial period to see all his dreams realized, and Kentucky one of the brightest stars in the grand constellation of the Union.

Such a life cannot be studied too closely by American youth; and in the following pages, we have endeavored to give an accurate description of its opening, its eventful progress and its peaceful close, when, in the fullness of time and in a ripe old age, he was finally laid to rest, honored and revered by the great nation whose possessions stretch from ocean to ocean, and whose "land is the fairest that ever sun shone on!"

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Birth of Daniel Boone--Fondness for Hunting--An Alarming
Absence--A Pedagogue of the Olden Time--Sudden Termination
of Young Boone's School Education--Removal to North
Carolina--Boone's Marriage--His Children 1

CHAPTER II.

Social Disturbances in North Carolina--Eve of the American
Revolution--Boone's Excursions to the West--Inscription on
a Tree--Employed by Henderson and Company--The "Regulators"
of North Carolina--Dispersed by Governor Tryon--John
Finley--Resolution to go West 11

CHAPTER III.

The Party of Exploration--Daniel Boone the Leader--More than
a Month on the Journey--On the Border of Kentucky--An
Enchanting View--A Site for the Camp--Unsurpassed Hunting--An
Impressive Solitude--No Signs of Indians 19

CHAPTER IV.

Boone and Stuart start out on a Hunt--Captured by Indians
and Disarmed--Stuart's Despair and Boone's Hope--A Week's
Captivity--The Eventful Night 28

CHAPTER V.

The Escape--The Hunters find the Camp Deserted--Change of
Quarters--Boone and Kenton--Welcome Visitors--News from
Home--In Union there is Strength--Death of Stuart--Squire
Boone returns to North Carolina for Ammunition--Alone in
the Wilderness--Danger on Every Hand--Rejoined by his
Brother--Hunting along the Cumberland River--Homeward
Bound--Arrival in North Carolina--Anarchy and Distress--Boone
remains there Two Years--Attention directed towards
Kentucky--George Washington--Boone prepares to move Westward 34

CHAPTER VI.

Leaving North Carolina--Joined by a Large Company at
Powell's Valley--Glowing Anticipations--Attacked by
Indians in Cumberland Gap--Daniel Boone's Eldest
Son Killed--Discouragement--Return to Clinch River
Settlement--The Check Providential--Boone acts as a Guide
to a Party of Surveyors--Commissioned Captain by Governor
Dunmore, and takes command of Three Garrisons--Battle of
Point Pleasant--Attends the making of a Treaty with Indians
at Wataga--Employed by Colonel Richard Henderson--Kentucky
claimed by the Cherokees--James Harrod--The First Settlement
in Kentucky--Boone leads a Company into Kentucky--Attacked
by Indians--Erection of the Fort at Boonesborough--Colonel
Richard Henderson takes Possession of Kentucky--The Republic
of Transylvania--His Scheme receives its Death-blow--Perils
of the Frontier--A Permanent Settlement made on Kentucky Soil 46

CHAPTER VII.

Boone Rejoins his Family at the Clinch River Settlement--Leads
a Company of Immigrants into Kentucky--Insecurity of
Settlers--Dawn of the American Revolution--British Agents
Incite the Indians to Revolt against the Settlements 61

CHAPTER VIII.

Comparative Quiet on the Frontier--Capture of Boone's Daughter
and the Misses Callaway by Indians--Pursued by Boone and
Seven Companions--Their Rescue and Return to their Homes 69

CHAPTER IX.

General Uprising of the Indians--The Border Rangers--Attack
upon Boonesborough--Repulse of the Assailants--Second Attack
by a Larger Force and its Failure--Arrival of Forty-five
Men--Investment of Logan's Fort--Timely Arrival of Colonel
Bowman with Reinforcements--Attack upon Harrodsburg 79

CHAPTER X.

A Diner-out--The "Hannibal of the West"--Election of General
Clark and Gabriel Jones as Delegates to the Virginia
Legislature--Their Journey to the Capital--General Clark
obtains the Loan of a Large Supply of Ammunition--Erection of
the County of Kentucky--General Clark attacked and pursued by
Indians on his Voyage down the Ohio--Conceals the Ammunition
and delivers it safely at the Border Stations--General
Clark marches upon Kaskaskia and captures the obnoxious
Governor Rocheblave--Governor Hamilton of Detroit organizes
an Expedition against the Settlements--General Clark
captures Fort St. Vincent and takes Governor Hamilton a
Prisoner--Captures a Valuable Convoy from Canada and Forty
Prisoners--Secures the Erection of Important Fortifications
by Virginia 85

CHAPTER XI.

Boone leads a Party to the Blue Licks to make Salt--Capture
of Boone and Surrender of the Entire Party--Conducted to
Detroit--His Captors Refuse to Exchange him--He is Adopted
by the Shawanoes--He discovers a Formidable Expedition is
to move against Boonesborough--The Attack Postponed--Boone
leads a Party against an Indian Town on the Scioto--Encounter
with a War Party--Returns to Boonesborough--The State
Invested by Captain Duquesne and a Large Force--Boone and the
Garrison determine to Defend it to the Last--Better Terms
Offered--Treachery Suspected--The Attack--The Siege Raised 96

CHAPTER XII.

The Peculiar Position of Boonesborough--Boone rejoins his
Family in North Carolina--Returns to Boonesborough--Robbed
of a Large Amount of Money--Increased Emigration to the
West--Colonel Rogers and his Party almost Annihilated--
Captain Denham's Strange Adventure 112

CHAPTER XIII.

Colonel Bowman's Expedition--Its Disastrous Failure--Death
of Boone's Son--Escape of Boone--Colonel Byrd's Invasion--
Capture of Ruddell's and Martin's Station--Daring Escape
of Captain Hinkston 120

CHAPTER XIV.

Colonel Clark's Invasion of the Indian Country--Boone is
Promoted to the Rank of Colonel--His Brother Killed at
Blue Licks and Boone narrowly Escapes Capture--Attack
upon the Shelbyville Garrison--News of the Surrender of
Cornwallis--Attack upon Estill's Station--Simon Girty the
Renegade--He Appears before Bryant's Station, but Withdraws 130

CHAPTER XV.

Arrival of Boone With Re-enforcements--Pursuit of the
Indian Force--Boone's Counsel Disregarded--A Frightful
Disaster--Reynold's Noble and Heroic Act--His Escape 136

CHAPTER XVI.

General Clark's Expedition--A Dark Page in American History--
Colonel Crawford's Disastrous Failure and his own Terrible
Fate--Simon Girty 144

CHAPTER XVII.

Adventures of the Spies White and M'Clelland--Daring Defence of
her Home by Mrs. Merrill--Exploits of Kernan the Ranger 155

CHAPTER XVIII.

The Three Counties of Kentucky united into One District--
Colonel Boone as a Farmer--He outwits a Party of Indians
who seek to capture him--Emigration to Kentucky--Outrages
by Indians--Failure of General Clark's Expedition 172

CHAPTER XIX.

General Harmar's Expedition against the Indians--Colonel
Hardin Ambushed--Bravery of the Regulars--Out-generaled by
the Indians--Harmar and Hardin Court-martialed--General St.
Clair's Expedition and its Defeat 180

CHAPTER XX.

The Brilliant Victory of Mad Anthony Wayne brings Peace to the
Frontier--Boone Loses his Farm--He Removes to Missouri--Made
Commandant of the Femme Osage District--Audubon's Account of
a Night with Colonel Boone--Hunting in his Old Age--He Loses
the Land granted him by the Spanish Government--Petitions
Congress for a Confirmation of his Original Claims--The
Petition Disregarded 186

CHAPTER XXI.

Last Days of Colonel Boone--Reinterment of the Remains of
Himself and Wife at Frankfort--Conclusion 201

GENERAL SIMON KENTON.

CHAPTER I.

Birth of Kenton--Desperate Affray with a Rival--Flees to the
Kentucky Wilderness--He and Two Companions attacked by
Indians--One is Killed and the Survivors Escape--Rescued,
after great Suffering--Kenton spends the Summer alone in the
Woods--Serves as a Scout in the Dunmore War--Kenton and Two
Friends settle at Upper Blue Lick--Joined by Hendricks, who
meets with a Terrible Fate 207