By Wilbur F. Gordy in 1903

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Daniel Boone (1734-1820) - In the mid 1700’s the English colonists lived almost entirely between the Alleghany Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. This continued to be their narrow boundaries up to the beginning of the American Revolution. However, by the end of the war, the western boundary extended to the Mississippi River and a number of pioneers and backwoodsmen began to move westward.

One of the most noted of these pioneers was Daniel Boone. He was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania on October 22, 1734, the sixth of eleven children in a family of Quakers. Caring little for books as a child, he spent most of his time hunting and fishing. He loved the woods and soon became an expert rifleman. An early story tells of when he was just a young boy he wandered one day into the forest some distance from home, where he built himself a rough shelter of logs. There, he would spend days at a time with only his rifle and game for company. This free, wild life trained him for his future career as a fearless hunter and woodsman.

Daniel Boone engraving.

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When Daniel was about 13, he moved with his family to North Carolina and settled on the Yadkin River. As a young man, he served with the British military during the French and Indian War (1754–1763), a struggle for control of the land beyond the Appalachian Mountains. In 1755, he was working as a wagon driver in General Edward Braddock's attempt to drive the French out of the Ohio Country, which ended the Braddock expedition at what is known as the Battle of the Monongahela. Boone returned home after the defeat, and on August 14, 1756, married Rebecca Bryan, a neighbor in the Yadkin Valley. The couple initially lived in a cabin on his father's farm before building a small cabin in the wilderness, far removed from other settlers' homes. The couple would eventually have ten children.

In 1759, a conflict erupted between European colonists and the Cherokee Indians, their former allies in the French and Indian War. After the Yadkin Valley was raided by the Cherokee, many families, including the Boones, fled to Culpepper County, Virginia. Boone served in the North Carolina militia during this "Cherokee Uprising", and his hunting expeditions deep into Cherokee territory beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains separated him from his wife for about two years.

During this time, Boone began exploring the territory to the west pushing his way as far as Boone's Creek, a branch of the Watauga River in Eastern Tennessee. Near this creek there yet stands a beech-tree with the inscription: "D. Boon Cilled a Bar [killed a bear] on [this] tree in the year 1760".

On May 1, 1869, Boone, with five other men, started out to cross the Alleghany Mountains. For five weeks the bold travelers picked their way through the pathless woods. In June, they reached Kentucky; they were rewarded for all the hardships they had endured. For here was a beautiful country with an abundance of game, including deer, bears, and great herds of bison. Deciding to stay for a while, they promptly put up a log shelter.

Six months after their arrival Boone and a man named Stewart had an unpleasant experience. While off on a hunting expedition, they were captured by an Indian party. For seven days the warriors carefully guarded their prisoners. But on the seventh night, having gorged themselves with game killed during the day, the Indians fell into a sound sleep. Boone, while pretending to be asleep, had been watching this opportunity, quietly awoke Stewart, and the two crept stealthily away. Returning to their camp, they found it deserted what had become of their friends they never learned.

Some weeks later Boone was pleasantly surprised by the appearance at the camp of his brother, Squire Boone, and a companion. The four men lived together without incident, until one day Stewart was surprised and shot by some Indians. Stewart's death so terrified the man who had accompanied Squire Boone that he gave up the wilderness life and returned to his home.