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LIFE & TIMES OF COL. DANIEL BOONE
Life of Daniel Boone, the Great Western Hunter and Pioneer,
Comprising an Account of His Early History; His Daring and
Remarkable Career as the First Settler of Kentucky; His
Thrilling Adventures with the Indians, and His Wonderful Skill,
Coolness and Sagacity under All the Hazardous and Trying
Circumstances of Western Border Life
To Which Is Added His Autobiography Complete as Dictated by
Himself, and Showing His Own Belief That He Was an Instrument
Ordained to Settle the Wilderness
by
CECIL B. HARTLEY
[Illustration: BOONE'S INDIAN TOILETTE. PAGE 132]
[Illustration: The Old Fort at Boonesborough]
PREFACE
The subject of the following biography, the celebrated Colonel Daniel
Boone, is one of the most remarkable men which this country has produced.
His character is marked with originality, and his actions were important
and influential in one of the most interesting periods of our
history--that of the early settlement of Kentucky. Boone is generally
acknowledged as the founder of that State. His having explored it alone
to a considerable extent; his leading the earliest bands of settlers;
his founding Boonesborough, the nucleus of the future State; his having
defended this and other stations successfully against the attacks of the
Indians; and the prominent part which he took in military affairs at
this period of distress and peril, certainly render his claims to the
distinguished honor of founding Kentucky very strong.
But Boone, personally, reaped very little benefit from his patriotic and
disinterested exertions. The lands which he had first cultivated and
defended, were taken from him by the chicanery of the law; other lands
granted to him by the Spanish government were lost by his inattention to
legal forms; and in his old age he was without an acre of land which he
could call his own. A few years before his death a small tract, such as
any other settler in Missouri was entitled to, was granted him by
Congress. But he has left to his numerous posterity a nobler
inheritance--that of an imperishable fame in the annals of his country!
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
The family of Daniel Boone--His grandfather emigrates to America,
and settles in Bucks County, Pennsylvania--Family of Daniel Boone's
father--Account of Exeter, the birth-place of Boone--Birth of Daniel
Boone--Religion of his family--Boone's boyhood--Goes to
school--Anecdote--Summary termination of his schooling.
CHAPTER II.
Removal of Boone's father and family to North Carolina--Location on
the Yadkin River--Character of the country and the people--Byron's
description of the Backwoodsmen--Daniel Boone marries Rebecca Bryan--His
farmer life in North Carolina--State of the country--Political troubles
foreshadowed--Illegal fees and taxes--Probable effect of this state of
things on Boone's mind--Signs of movement.
CHAPTER III.
The Seven Years' War--Cherokee War--Period of Boone's first
long Excursion to the West--Extract from Wheeler's History of
Tennessee--Indian accounts of the Western country--Indian traders--Their
Reports--Western travelers--Doherty--Adair--Proceedings of the
traders--Hunters--Scotch traders--Hunters accompany the traders to the
West--Their reports concerning the country--Other adventurers--Dr.
Walker's expedition--Settlements in South-western Virginia--Indian
hostilities--Pendleton purchase--Dr. Walker's second expedition--Hunting
company of Walker and others--Boone travels with them--Curious monument
left by him.
CHAPTER IV.
Political and social condition of North
Carolina--Taxes--Lawsuits--Ostentation and extravagance of foreigners
and government officers--Oppression of the people--Murmurs--Open
resistance--The Regulators--Willingness of Daniel Boone and others to
migrate, and their reasons--John Finley's expedition to the West--His
report to Boone--He determines to join Finley in his next hunting
tour--New company formed, with Boone for leader--Preparations for
starting--The party sets out--Travels for a month through the
wilderness--First sight of Kentucky--Forming a camp--Hunting buffaloes
and other game--Capture of Boone and Stuart by the Indians--Prudent
dissimulation--Escape from the Indians--Return to the old camp--Their
companions lost--Boone and Stuart renew their hunting.
CHAPTER V.
Arrival of Squire Boone and a companion at the camp of Daniel
Boone--Joyful meeting--News from home, and hunting resumed--Daniel
Boone and Stuart surprised by the Indians--Stuart killed--Escape
of Boone, and his return to camp--Squire Boone's companion lost
in the woods--Residence of Daniel Boone and Squire Boone in the
wilderness--Squire returns to North Carolina, obtains a fresh supply
of ammunition, and again rejoins his brother at the old camp--Daniel
Boone's own account of this remarkable period of his life--His return to
North Carolina--His determination to settle in Kentucky--Other Western
adventurers--the Long hunters--Washington in Kentucky--Bullitt's
party--Floyd's party--Thompson's survey--First settlement of Tennessee.
CHAPTER VI.
Daniel Boone remains two years in North Carolina after his return from
the West--He prepares to emigrate to Kentucky--Character of the early
settlers to Kentucky--The first class, hunters--The second class, small
farmers--The third class, men of wealth and government officers.
CHAPTER VII.
Daniel Boone sets out for Kentucky with his family and his brother,
Squire Boone--Is joined by five families and forty men at Powell's
Valley--The party is attacked by Indians, and Daniel Boone's oldest son
is killed--The party return to the settlements on Clinch River--Boone,
at the request of Governor Dunmore, goes to the West and conducts a
party of surveyors to Virginia--Boone receives the command of three
garrisons and the commission of Captain--He takes a part in the Dunmore
war--Battle of Point Pleasant and termination of the war.
CHAPTER VIII.
The militia discharged--Captain Boone returns to his family--Henderson's
company--Various companies of emigrants to Kentucky--Bounty
lands--Harrod's party builds the first log-cabin erected in Kentucky,
and founds Harrodsburg--Proceedings of Henderson's company--Agency of
Captain Boone--He leads a company to open a road to Kentucky
River--Conflicts with the Indians--Captain Boone founds
Boonesborough--His own account of this expedition--His letter to
Henderson--Account of Colonel Henderson and the Transylvania
Company--Failure of the scheme--Probability of Boone having been several
years in the service of Henderson.
CHAPTER IX.
Description of the Old Fort at Boonesborough--Usual methods of
fortifications against the Indians--Arrival of more settlers at
Boonesborough--Captain Boone returns to the Clinch River to bring out
his family--He enlists new emigrants and starts for Kentucky--Reinforced
by a large party at Powel's Valley--Arrival at Boonesborough--Arrival of
many new settlers at Boonesborough and Harrod's settlement--Arrival of
Kenton, Floyd, the McAfees, and other distinguished persons--Arrival of
Colonel Richard Callaway.
CHAPTER X.
Disturbed state of the country in 1775--Breaking out of the Revolutionary
war--Exposed situation of the Kentucky settlements--Hostility of the
Indians excited by the British--First political convention in the
West--Capture of Boone's daughter and the daughters of Colonel
Callaway by the Indians--Their rescue by a party led by Boone and
Callaway--Increased caution of the colonists at Boonesborough--Alarm
and desertion of the Colonies in the West by land speculators and
other adventurers--A reinforcement of forty-five men from North
Carolina arrive at Boonesborough--Indian attack on Boonesborough in
April--Another attack in July--Attack on Logan's Fort, and siege--Attack
on Harrodsburg.
CHAPTER XI.
Arrival of George Rogers Clark in Kentucky--Anecdote of his
conversation with Ray--Clark and Jones chosen as delegates for the
Colonies to the Virginia Legislature--Clark's important services in
obtaining a political organization for Kentucky, and an abundant supply
of gunpowder from the government of Virginia--Great labor and difficulty
in bringing the powder to Harrodstown--Clark's expedition against
Kaskaskias--Surprise and capture of their fort--Perilous and difficult
march to Vincennes--Surprise and capture of that place--Extension of the
Virginian settlements--Erection of Fort Jefferson.
CHAPTER XII.
Scarcity of salt at Boonesborough--Boone goes to Blue Licks to make
salt, and is captured by the Indians--Taken to Chilicothe--Affects
contentment, and deceives the Indians--Taken to Detroit--Kindness of the
British officers to him--Returns to Chilicothe--Adopted into an Indian
family--Ceremonies of adoption--Boone sees a large force of Indians
destined to attack Boonesborough--Escapes, and gives the alarm, and
strengthens the fortifications at Boonesborough--News of delay by the
Indians on account of Boone's escape--Boone goes on an expedition to the
Scioto--Has a fight with a party of Indians--Returns to Boonesborough,
which is immediately besieged by Captain Duquesne with five hundred
Indians--Summons to surrender--Time gained--Attack commenced--Brave
defense--Mines and countermines--Siege raised--Boone brings his family
once more back to Boonesborough, and resumes farming.
CHAPTER XIII.
Captain Boone tried by court-martial--Honorably acquitted and
promoted--Loses a large sum of money--His losses by law-suits and
disputes about land--Defeat of Colonel Rogers's party--Colonel Bowman's
expedition to Chilicothe--Arrival near the town--Colonel Logan attacks
the town--Ordered by Colonel Bowman to retreat--Failure of the
expedition--Consequences to Bowman and to Logan.
CHAPTER XIV.
Invasion of Kentucky by Captain Byrd's party--He captures the garrisons
at Ruddle's Station and Martin's Fort--Colonel Clark's invasion of the
Indian country--He ravages the Indian towns--Adventure of Alexander
McConnell--Skirmish at Pickaway--Result of the expedition--Boone goes
to the Blue Licks with his brother--Attacked by the Indians--Boone's
brother killed--Boone promoted to the rank of Lieutenant
Colonel--Clark's galley--Squire Boone's Station removed to Bear's
Creek--Attack by the Indians--Colonel Floyd's defeat--Affair of the
McAfees--Attack on McAfee's Station repelled--Fort Jefferson
evacuated--Attack on Montgomery Station--Rescue by General Logan.
CHAPTER XV.
News of Cornwallis's surrender--Its effects--Captain Estill's
defeat--Grand army of Indians raised for the conquest of Kentucky--Simon
Girty's speech--Attack on Hoy's Station--Investment of Bryant's
Station--Expedient of the besieged to obtain water--Grand attack
on the fort--Repulse--Regular siege commenced--Messengers sent to
Lexington--Reinforcements obtained--Arrival near the fort--Ambushed and
attacked--They enter the fort--Narrow escape of Girty--He proposes a
capitulation--Parley--Reynolds' answer to Girty--The siege
raised--Retreat of the Indians.
CHAPTER XVI.
Arrival of Reinforcements at Bryant's Station--Colonel Daniel
Boone, his son and brother among them--Colonels Trigg, Todd, and
others--Consultation--Apprehensions of Boone and others--Arrival at the
Blue Licks--Rash conduct of Major McGary--Battle of Blue Licks--Israel
Boone, Colonels Todd and Trigg, and Majors Harland and McBride
killed--Retreat of the whites--Colonel Boone nearly surrounded by
Indians--Bravery of Netherland--Noble conduct of Reynolds--The fugitives
meet Colonel Logan with his party--Return to the field of battle--Logan
returns to Bryant's Station.
CHAPTER XVII.
The Indians return home from the Blue Licks--They attack the settlements
in Jefferson County--Affair at Simpson's Creek--General Clark's
expedition to the Indian country--Colonel Boone joins it--Its
effect--Attack of the Indians on the Crab Orchard settlement--Rumor of
intended invasion by the Cherokees--Difficulties about the treaty with
Great Britain--Hostilities of the Indians generally stimulated by
renegade whites--Simon Girty--Causes of his hatred of the whites--Girty
insulted by General Lewis--Joins the Indians at the battle of Point
Pleasant--Story of his rescuing Simon Kenton--Crawford's expedition, and
the burning of Crawford--Close of Girty's career.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Season of repose--Colonel Boone buys land--Builds a log house and goes
to farming--Kentucky organized on a new basis--Colonel Boone surprised
by Indians--Escapes--Manners and customs of the settlers--The autumn
hunt--The house-warming.
CHAPTER XIX.
Condition of the early settlers as it respects the mechanic
arts--Throwing the tomahawk--Athletic sports--Dancing--Shooting at
marks--Scarcity of Iron--Costume--Dwellings--Furniture--Employments--The
women--Their character--Diet--Indian corn.
CHAPTER XX.
Indian hostilities resumed--Expedition of Davis, Caffre, and
McClure--Attack on Captain Ward's boat--Affair near Scagg's
Creek--Growth of Kentucky--Population--Trade--General Logan calls
a meeting at Danville--Convention called--Separation from Virginia
proposed--Virginia consents--Kentucky admitted as an independent
State of the Union--Indian hostilities--Expedition and death of
Colonel Christian--Expedition of General Clark--Expedition of General
Logan--Success of Captain Hardin--Defeat of Hargrove--Exploits of Simon
Kenton--Affairs at the Elkhorn settlements--Treaty--Barman's expedition.
CHAPTER XXI.
Colonel Boone meets with the loss of all his land in Kentucky,
and emigrates to Virginia--Resides on the Kenhawa, near Point
Pleasant--Emigrates to Missouri--Is appointed commandant of a
district--Mr. Audubon's narrative of a night passed with Boone.
CHAPTER XXII.
Colonel Boone receives a large grant of land from the Spanish
Government of Upper Louisiana--He loses it--Sketch of the history
of Missouri--Colonel Boone's hunting--He pays his debts by the sale
of furs--Taken sick in his hunting camp--Colonel Boone applies
to Congress to recover his land--The Legislature of Kentucky
supports his claim--Death of Mrs. Boone--Results of the application
to Congress--Occupations of his declining years--Mr. Harding paints
his portrait.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Last illness, and death of Colonel Boone--His funeral--Account of his
family--His remains and those of his wife removed from Missouri, and
reinterred in the new cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky--Character of
Colonel Boone.
LIFE AND TIMES OF COLONEL DANIEL BOONE.
CHAPTER I.
The family of Daniel Boone--His grandfather emigrates to America,
and settles in Bucks County, Pennsylvania--Family of Daniel Boone's
father--Account of Exeter, the birth-place of Boone--Birth of
Daniel Boone--Religion of his family--Boone's boyhood--Goes to
School--Anecdote--Summary termination of his schooling.
The immediate ancestors and near relations of the American Boone family,
resided at Bradwinch about eight miles from Exeter, England. George
Boone the grandfather of Daniel, emigrated to America and arrived, with
Mary his wife, at Philadelphia, on the 10th of October, 1717. They
brought with them eleven children, two daughters and nine sons. The
names of three of the sons have come down to us, John, James, and
Squire. The last of these, Squire Boone, was the father of Daniel.
George Boone, immediately after his arrival in America, purchased a
large tract of land in what is now Bucks County, which he settled, and
called it Exeter, after the city near which he was born. The records
distinguish it only as the township of Exeter, without any county. He
purchased also various other tracts in Maryland and Virginia; and our
tradition says, among others, the ground on which Georgetown, District
of Columbia, now stands, and that he laid the town out, and gave it his
own name. His sons John and James lived and died on the Exeter
purchase.[1]
Daniel Boone's father, Squire Boone, had seven sons and four daughters,
viz.: James,[2] Samuel, Jonathan, Daniel, George, Squire, Edward, Sarah,
Elizabeth, Mary, and Hannah.
Exeter Township is situated in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and now has a
population of over two thousand. Here Daniel Boone was born, on the 11th
of February, 1735.[3]
The maiden name of Boone's mother was Sarah Morgan. Some dispute has
arisen respecting the religious persuasion of the Boone family. It would
appear, on a review of the whole controversy, that before their removal
to this country, the Boones were Episcopalians; but during their
residence in Pennsylvania they permitted themselves to be considered
Quakers. What sort of a Quaker Daniel Boone himself was, will be
apparent in the course of our narrative.
Exeter, the native place of Daniel Boone, was at this period a small
frontier settlement, consisting of log-houses, surrounded with woods,
which abounded with game of various kinds and were occasionally infested
with hostile Indians. It is not surprising that Daniel, passing the
period of his boyhood in such a place, should have acquired at an early
age the accomplishments of a hunter and woodsman. From a mere child it
was his chief delight to roam in the woods, to observe the wild haunts
of Nature, and to pursue the wild animals which were then so abundant.
Of the boyhood of Daniel Boone, one of his biographers gives the
following account. Speaking of the residence of the family at Exeter,
he says:[4]
"Here they lived for ten years; and it was during this time that their
son Daniel began to show his passion for hunting. He was scarcely able
to carry a gun when he was shooting all the squirrels, raccoons, and
even wild-cats (it is said), that he could find in that region. As he
grew older, his courage increased, and then we find him amusing himself
with higher game. Other lads in the neighborhood were soon taught by him
the use of the rifle, and were then able to join him in his adventures.
On one occasion, they all started out for a hunt, and, after amusing
themselves till it was almost dark, were returning homeward, when
suddenly a wild cry was heard in the woods. The boys screamed out,
'A panther! A panther!' and ran off as fast as they could. Boone stood
firmly, looking around for the animal. It was a panther indeed. His eye
lighted upon him just in the act of springing toward him: in an instant
he leveled his rifle, and shot him through the heart."
"But this sort of sport was not enough for him. He seemed resolved to go
away from men, and live in the forests with these animals. One morning
he started off as usual, with his rifle and dog. Night came on, but
Daniel did not return to his home. Another day and night passed away,
and still the boy did not make his appearance. His parents were now
greatly alarmed. The neighbors joined them in making search for the lad.
After wandering about a great while, they at length saw smoke rising
from a cabin in the distance. Upon reaching it, they found the boy. The
floor of the cabin was covered with the skins of such animals as he had
slain, and pieces of meat were roasting before the fire for his supper.
Here, at a distance of three miles from any settlement, he had built his
cabin of sods and branches, and sheltered himself in the wilderness."
"It was while his father was living on the head-waters of the
Schuylkill that young Boone received so far as we know, all his
education. Short indeed were his schoolboy days. It happened that an
Irish schoolmaster strolled into the settlement, and, by the advice of
Mr. Boone and other parents, opened a school in the neighborhood. It was
not then as it is now. Good school-houses were not scattered over the
land; nor were schoolmasters always able to teach their pupils. The
school-house where the boys of this settlement went was a log-cabin,
built in the midst of the woods. The schoolmaster was a strange man;
sometimes good-humored, and then indulging the lads; sometimes surly and
ill-natured, and then beating them severely. It was his usual custom,
after hearing the first lessons of the morning, to allow the children to
be out for a half hour at play, during which time he strolled off to
refresh himself from his labors. He always walked in the same direction,
and the boys thought that after his return, when they were called in, he
was generally more cruel than ever. They were whipped more severely, and
oftentimes without any cause. They observed this, but did not know the
meaning of it One morning young Boone asked that he might go out, and
had scarcely left the school-room when he saw a squirrel running over
the trunk of a fallen tree. True to his nature, he instantly gave chase,
until at last the squirrel darted into a bower of vines and branches.
Boone thrust his hand in, and, to his surprise, laid hold of a bottle of
whiskey. This was in the direction of his master's morning walks, and he
thought now that he understood the secret of much of his ill-nature. He
returned to the school-room; but, when they were dismissed for that day,
he told some of the larger boys of his discovery. Their plan was soon
arranged. Early the next morning a bottle of whiskey, having tartar
emetic in it, was placed in the bower, and the other bottle thrown away.
At the usual hour, the lads were sent out to play, and the master
started on his walk. But their play was to come afterward; they longed
for the master to return. At length they were called in, and in a little
time saw the success of their experiment. The master began to look pale
and sick, yet still went on with his work. Several boys were called up,
one after the other, to recite lessons, and all whipped soundly, whether
right or wrong. At last young Boone was called out to answer questions
in arithmetic. He came forward with his slate and pencil, and the master
began: 'If you subtract six from nine, what remains?' said he. 'Three,
sir,' said Boone. 'Very good,' said the master; 'now let us come to
fractions. If you take three-quarters from a whole number, what
remains?' 'The whole, sir,' answered Boone. 'You blockhead!' cried the
master, beating him; 'you stupid little fool, how can you show that?'
'If I take one bottle of whiskey,' said Boone, 'and put in its place
another in which I have mixed an emetic, the whole will remain if nobody
drinks it!' The Irishman, dreadfully sick, was now doubly enraged.
He seized Boone, and commenced beating him; the children shouted and
roared; the scuffle continued until Boone knocked the master down upon
the floor, and rushed out of the room. It was a day of freedom now for
the lads. The story soon ran through the neighborhood; Boone was rebuked
by his parents, but the schoolmaster was dismissed, and thus ended the
boy's education."
"Thus freed from school, he now returned more ardently than ever to his
favorite pursuit. His dog and rifle were his constant companions, and
day after day he started from home, only to roam through the forests.
Hunting seemed to be the only business of his life; and he was never so
happy as when at night he came home laden with game. He was an untiring
wanderer."
Perhaps it was not a very serious misfortune for Daniel Boone that his
school instruction was so scanty, for, "in another kind of education,"
says Mr. Peck,[5] "not unfrequent in the wilds of the West, he was an
adept. No Indian could poise the rifle, find his way through the
pathless forest, or search out the retreats of game, more readily than
Daniel Boone. In all that related to Indian sagacity, border life, or
the tactics of the skillful hunter, he excelled. The successful training
of a hunter, or woodsman, is a kind of education of mental discipline,
differing from that of the school-room, but not less effective in giving
vigor to the mind, quickness of apprehension, and habits of close
observation. Boone was regularly trained in all that made him a
successful backwoodsman. Indolence and imbecility never produced a
Simon Kenton, a Tecumthè, or a Daniel Boone. To gain the skill of an
accomplished hunter requires talents, patience, perseverance, sagacity,
and habits of thinking. Amongst other qualifications, knowledge of human
nature, and especially of Indian character is indispensable to the
pioneer of a wilderness. Add to these, self-possession, self-control,
and promptness in execution. Persons who are unaccustomed to a frontier
residence know not how much, in the preservation of life, and in
obtaining subsistence, depends on such characteristics!"
In the woods surrounding the little settlement of Exeter, Boone had
ample opportunity for perfecting himself in this species of mental
discipline, and of gaining that physical training of the limbs and
muscles so necessary in the pursuits of the active hunter and pioneer.
We have no record of his ever having encountered the Indians during his
residence in Pennsylvania. His knowledge of their peculiar modes of
hunting and war was to be attained not less thoroughly at a somewhat
later period of life.
[Footnote 1: "Pittsburg Gazette," quoted by Peck.]
[Footnote 2: The eldest, James, was killed by the Indians in 1773, and
his son Israel was killed at the battle of Blue Licks, August 19th,
1782.]
[Footnote 3: Bogant gives 11th of February, 1735. Peck, February, 1735.
Another account gives 1746 as the year of his birth, and Bucks County
as his birth-place. The family record, in the hand writing of Daniel
Boone's uncle, James, who was a school master, gives the 14th of July,
1732.]
[Footnote 4: "Adventures of Daniel Boone, the Kentucky Rifleman." By the
author of "Uncle Philip's Conversations."]
[Footnote 5: "Life of Daniel Boone" By John M. Peck.]