June
7, 1769, frontiersman Daniel Boone first ventured through the
Cumberland Gap—a pass in the Appalachian Mountains—into the land
now known as Kentucky. Even though the British, who still ruled their
American colonies, had outlawed settling west of the Appalachian
mountains, Boone ignored the edict and soon led a team of loggers in
widening the path, creating what they called Wilderness Road. This
became white settlers' main route to the West, and Boone's own wife
and daughter are thought to be the first Anglo-American women to
settle in Kentucky.
Daniel
Boone helped fight the Revolutionary War against the British whose
law he had ignored, and he was able to save the town he had helped
found, Boonesborough, by warning “the British are coming.” This
warning was apparently not a midnight ride, so it gets no press, but
Boone did have to escape from some Shawnee Indians who were holding
him prisoner in order to get the news to his family and friends.
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| This is the TV version of Daniel Boone from my childhood. |
Because
Boone is so legendary in Kentucky, that state has declared June 7 to
be Boone Day.
- Here is the story of Boone's journey to Kentucky.
- Learn more about Daniel Boone in this earlier post.
Also
on this date:
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