Daniel Boone, American Folk Hero

Bloodlines of a Warrior

These are facts with a few of my opinions. This is my perspective. . Those of you who know me should now understand me when I say, 'It's in my blood."

The day Daniel Boone started to became a man was the day he couldn't just stand by any longer.

He was schooled by his parents. His father taught him tolerance. The local Indian kids were welcome to come hang out. He was a Quaker so his Moral Compass was always worked on as well. Like most parents of that era, His father used corporal punishment. Hitting his children until the child cried out. Daniel refused to cry. Once, his father asked him, " cant you cry out, boy?" That abuse shows us that he was proficient with his long suffering.. He gained most of his personal growth hunting with his friends, the Indians. But evidence does suggest his father was a thinking man.

In the next few years as his personality began to take shape, he decided he wanted a strong wife He had himself a few strategies to find one. Later in life he told his children, "There's method to my madness." He married Rebecca and together they had ten children..

He was a mean shot, with his rifle. He wasn't scared of anything. On the trail his peers would carve graffiti on the trees that were along their normal routes. History has recorded one such inscription to read; "Daniel Boone was here. Killed a bear in this very spot." His skills were making him very popular, locally.

Great waves of migration hit his home state of Pennsylvania. He decided to move his family from their home. It had become too violent. The new comers and local Indians were constantly fighting. He moved to the country. 

Still he complained of too many people. The Indians spoke of An Ancient place with grassy fields. So he decided they'd travel there one spring day. They hit the trail in the month of May.

Once they arrived in this new land they realized there were locals there too.

The Indians of Kentucky robbed him and told him they own the land and animals. If he came back they'd kill him. If they hadn't have killed a member of his party, he may not have went back.

He went back to Pennsylvania and gathered a large group of people. They pushed back into Kentucky. The confrontation lead to the torture and death of one of his sons. He was devastated.. 

He couldn't stay away from Kentucky. War with the Indians and the Government was in full swing. He was surviving a War zone.He became a killing machine. The U.S. Government hired him to rescue some citizens that they had hired. They were under attack. They needed a Hero. He was just trying to kill the pain of his loss. 

After he saved their asses Uncle Sam solicited him to join the U.S. military. He moved quickly through the ranks. His first writings are recorded from that time of his life.  

.After spending the next couple decades settling people through out Kentucky. They named a Town after him. Boonesborough. He and his family struggled to survive the fighting. One day his daughter broke camp with a friend, without permission. The Indians kidnapped them. He tracked those savages down and rescued her. A hero.

Word traveled of his story. Paintings and writings are left to remind us of that inspiration.

His fight continued until Humility greeted him during one savage battle. He was rescued by his best friend. A few Indians attacked. He was shot in the foot and nearly killed. Three braves were hot on him. One of them even grabbed hold of him. His buddy beat them down then carried his a*s home.

Time passed and he healed behind the walls. Until The fort needed salt. It was winter. Soon people would start to go hungry. He gathered some men and went out, over the walls. A hero was needed and his ears heard the cry.

The trail was brutal and unforgiving. The British had mobilized with the Indians and his group was overwhelmed. In spite of his men's protests He saw the best strategy was surrendered. The Indians Took him to Ohio where he was sold to a Chief . This great leader adopted him. 

Seen as a great warrior from an enemy. They wanted to understand him. It wasn't long before they named him Big Turtle. Because to them, he held the interests of the world on his back. He was a powerful man. In their religion, Earth rested on A great turtle in Space.

Meanwhile, the British were trying to radicalize him to their fight for the states. Those repeated attempts cause his countrymen back home to think he was turned. 

He wasn't. It took him four months to escape. He traveled one hundred and sixty miles in four days. With the Indians and Britts hot on his a*s. . He was his own hero.

When he broke from the trees, the Fort opened up and they brought him inside. He told them all he learned. He told them A huge force was massing. Soon it would be coming. He was not believed. They were not prepared for what was to come.

For eleven days the force pummeled the fort,. The call of A hero was heard, once again. In spite of all of the abuse from his peers. He pulled them together and the account of the defense of Boonesborrough became a major part of our Revolutionary War history. The city prevailed with Daniel Boone at the head of the prevailing forces.

After the fighting stopped, Daniel was put on trial for defecting, back when he surrendered.The people found him innocent! His military commission was returned to him and he was promoted.

When the dust settled though his internal battle left him really hurt. He felt betrayed. He left the first town that was named after him. Never to return again.

Put in command of almost a couple hundred soldiers, he killed his pain by hunting Indian Terrorists. His pride clouded his judgment. The native Americans killed another of his sons. His pain drove him to make a powerful statement. "I can not reflect upon the scene, yet sorrow fills my heart." He later referred to it as the lowest moments of his life. He fell out of the fighting.

It wasn't long before his stories gained the attention of A wealthy writer. This man wrote stories of his adventures and he was turned into an international star. In A decades time. The British, Germans, French and other Europeans came to see him as the image of an "American Frontiersman". The philosopher of the woods. A French Author explained him as the embodiment of freedom.

Daniel took his fame and bought himself A General Store. He then took on survey jobs using the business to finance further adventures. He was in his fifty's at this time of his life. He began to buy up land. Unfortunately he wasn't a very skilled surveyor. His work caused him to have a few lawsuits. He was sued. His lands were taken from him.

In A crazy twist he was elected at that time, in Virginia. So he uprooted and blazed a trail to his first political office. It wasn't long though before he felt trappings of the job. His contempt for the way society worked grew. His soul cried out for the trail. Within A year he resigned his office. He returned to his woods in Kentucky.

Over the next fifteen years the government and the courts stripped him off all his property. He was only able to hang onto what he put in his kids names. 

He was old. Beaten up. He kept alert and suffered in silence. The Spanish set up in Missouri and were giving away free land. Inspired by the spirit of his passion, He uprooted his family once again. He Blazed A Trail. With the blood of the hero running thick and hot through his veins, he loaded his wagons and pushed his family to leave. 

The cops came looking for him. Word came down that he had A warrant for his arrest. Taking his land and pride wasn't enough. They wanted his freedom. His soul! 

Meanwhile the same government names a County after him. Against all odds, once again he escapes. 

He never set foot in Kentucky again.

The Spanish made him the leader of their militia. His political career began to ignite once again as he was also made Justice of the Peace. Once again he began to amass land.

In A decades time, Missouri became A state. They say,"His records were inadequate". Uncle Sam stripped his lands from him. He was seventy five. His health was beginning to fail. A judge stepped up to advocate for him. He petitioned congress with A cry for justice.

In five years time he was granted land to bury himself on. A year too late to enjoy. His wife passed away. The woman who was strong enough to stand by his side through all of this turmoil. He was crushed. He found refuge with the Indians who had captured him back in Kentucky.

Kentucky stripped their lands as well. He got them to his land and they hunted together till his final days. He passed in his sons home. They buried him next to his wife. 

Fifteen years later congress moved the remain of his wife and his body back to Kentucky.

Later in history stories of his life spread far and wide. Powerful iconic figures of our history were inspired. Davey Crockette, to name one.

A fiction Character was created in his honor. Which inspired plays and poem, novels, Television, etc., 

Telling his story.

These are facts. Those of you who know me should now understand me when I say, 'It's in my blood." I'm just rolling with the punches.

-Larry Boone Jr.