Daniel Boone Book Report

Daniel Boone was born November 2, 1734 in a log cabin in Berks County, near Pennsylvania. Boone is one of the most famous pioneers in history. He spent most of his life exploring and settling the American frontier.

Boone had little formal education, but he did learn the skills of a woodsmen early in life. By age 12 his hunting skill and skill with a rifle helped keep his family well provided with wild game. In 1756 Boone married Rebecca Bryan, a pioneer woman with great courage and patience. He spent most of the next ten years hunting and farming to feed his family. In 1769 a trader and old friend, John Findley, visited Boone's cabin. Findley was looking for an overland route to Kentucky and needed a skilled woodsman to guide him. In 1769 Boone, Findley and five men traveled along wilderness trails and through the Cumberland gap in the Appalachian mountains into Kentucky. They found a "hunter's paradise" filled with buffalo, deer, wild turkey and meadows ideal for farming. Boone vowed to return with his family one day.

In 1775 Boone and 30 other woodsmen were hired to improve the trails between the Carolinas and the west. The resulting route reached into the heart of Kentucky and became known as the "Wilderness Road." That same year Boone built a fort and village called Booneborough in Kentucky, and moved his family over the Wilderness Trail to their new home.

Boone had numerous encounters with the native people of Kentucky. In 1776 Shawnee warriors kidnapped his daughter and two other girls. Two days later Boone caught up with the Indians, and through surprise attack rescued the girls. In 1778 he was captured by another band of Shawnee. Boone learned that the tribe was planning an attack on Boonseborough. He negotiated a settlement with Chief Blackfish of the Shawnee, preventing the attack. The Indians admired their captive for his skill as a hunter and woodsman. Boone was adopted into their tribe as a son