Daniel Boone

Daniel Boone (November 2, 1734 [O.S.

October 22] – September 26, 1820) is an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits make him one of the first folk heroes of the United States.

Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now Kentucky, which is at this time part of Virginia but on the other side of the mountains from the settled areas.

Despite some resistance from American Indian tribes such as the Shawnee, in 1775 Boone blazes his Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap in the Appalachian Mountains from North Carolina and Tennessee into Kentucky.

There he founds the village of Boonesborough, Kentucky, one of the first American settlements west of the Appalachians.

Before the end of the 18th century, more than 200,000 European people migrate to Kentucky/Virginia by following the route marked by Boone.

Boone is a militia officer during the Revolutionary War (1775–83), which in Kentucky is fought primarily between the American settlers and the British-aided Native Americans.

Boone is captured by Shawnee warriors in 1778, who after a while adopt him into their tribe.

Later, he leaves the Indians and returns to Boonesborough to help defend the European settlements in Kentucky/Virginia.

Boone is elected to the first of his three terms in the Virginia General Assembly during the Revolutionary War, and fights in the Battle of Blue Licks in 1782.

Blue Lick is one of the last battles of the Revolutionary War, coming after the main fighting ended in October 1781.

Following the war, Boone works as a surveyor and merchant, but falls deeply into debt through failed Kentucky land speculation.

Frustrated with all the legal problems resulting from his land claims, in 1799 Boone emigrates to eastern Missouri, where he spends most of the last two decades of his life (1800–20).

Boone remains an iconic figure in American history.

He was a legend in his own lifetime, especially after an account of his adventures was published in 1784, making him famous in America and Europe.

After his death, he was frequently the subject of heroic tall tales and works of fiction.

His adventures — real and legendary — were influential in creating the archetypal Western hero of American folklore.

In American popular culture, he is remembered as one of the foremost early frontiersmen.

The epic Daniel Boone mythology often overshadows the historical details of his life.

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