Daniel Boone

Daniel Boone was born on the Pennsylvania frontier on November 2 1734. The son of English immigrant parents, he too became a wandering adventurer, ever curious about what lay ahead on the other side of the hill.

His family moved to the Yadkin Valley in North Carolina in 1751, and it was there that he met his future wife, Rebecca.

Daniel Boone served for a short time on the British side in the French and Indian War, but after his marriage in 1756, he settled into the life of a farmer, hunter, and explorer.

People who drifted west returned to the Yadkin Valley with tales of magnificent hunting and beautiful lands in Kentucky. Despite knowledge of warlike Indians in that area, Boone became fired with the idea of settling the new lands to the west. This led ultimately to his greatest endeavors, leading settlers through the Cumberland Gap, and the building of the Wilderness Road through eastern Kentucky in 1775.

In 1778, while serving the Colonial Army, Daniel Boone became a captive of the Shawnee tribe, but his experience as a woodsman and his knowledge of Indians enabled him to avoid the worst of their tortures and escaped after six months.

Throughout his life he continued to travel westward, always looking for new lands to settle. He traveled through Ohio, Illinois and Missouri, eventually settling in the latter territory. He died on September 26, 1820, at the age of 85.