Why Daniel Boone?

Daniel Boone is America’s pioneer hero,
and his life is essential to sharing the story of our Becoming America.

From his home in North Carolina, Boone first crossed through Cumberland Gap in 1769, later marking Boone Trace in 1775 for others to follow into the promise of Kentucky. Near the end of the American Revolution, he was captured in Charlottesville in 1781 by British troops while serving in the Virginia legislature. During the 1780s, he was ever-present in the settling of the Kentucky frontier, giving rise to its statehood only three years after the new republic was ratified into being and began in 1789, the first new state to be added from the westering American frontier.

From his birth in Pennsylvania to his passing at almost 86 in Missouri, the life of Daniel Boone spans across and intertwines through the telling of our formative years as an emerging new nation. By following in his footsteps, we encounter a remarkable opportunity to explore, to expand, and to relive the story of our Becoming America.