Daniel Boone was born in November 1734 and died around 85 years later in September 26, 1820. But in the intervening time period, he made a name for himself that still resonates throughout American history.
Boone the Pioneer
He was an all-American woodsman, pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman. As a matter of fact, his many exploits along the rugged American frontier have effectively gone on to make him one of the first American folk heroes.
Daniel Boone is most famous for the exploration as well as the settlement of the area that now comprises of the modern state of Kentucky. When he was born the area was still considered to be a part of the Virginia territory. However, it was considered to be too far away from the settled parts of the country as it was located on the less easily traveled western side of the Appalachian Mountains.
As a young man, Danial Boone used to supplement his meager farm income through the then popular occupation of hunting and trapping wild game birds and animals. He would then sell their pelts and skins in the bustling fur market.
As game animals became scarce, he went further away from the settled territories and thereby learned how to access even the roughest of areas. Not only did he cross over by himself, but also blazed a well-beaten path for many others to follow suit. He met with stiff resistance from native Indian tribes and especially the Shawnee nation, but he persevered over all struggles and hardships. He blazed his very own self-created wilderness road – a path that stretched from North Carolina and Tennessee and via the Cumberland Gap, into the very heart of the Cumberland Mountains, all the way into the greater Kentucky area.
Boone the Settler
Once he settled there, he went on to establish the pioneering village of Boones Borough, Kentucky. This was one of the very first all-American settlements that lay west of the Appalachian Mountains. It got established within a couple of decades just before the end of the 18th century. Literally hundreds of thousands of Americans pioneers had migrated to the Kentucky and Western Virginia region, by simply following the well-marked route, that had been created by Danial Boone. Getting caught up in the politics of the times, he had also fought in the American Revolutionary wars in the 1770s and the 1780s.
Boone has achieved an iconic status in 18th and early 19th American history. He was a living legend who was revered and respected in his own lifetime, especially since his adventures were published and embellished not just by writers but also though word of mouth.
In modern day American popular culture, he is remembered as one of the foremost early frontiersmen that made USA the great country it is today.
Carl Dane - Western Author 