xt72ng4gn07p https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt72ng4gn07p/data/mets.xml Flint, Timothy, 1780-1840. 1854 books b92-61-27078215 English Applegate, : Cincinnati : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Boone, Daniel, 1734-1820. First white man of the West, or, The life and exploits of Col. Dan'l Boone, the first settler of Kentucky; interspersed with incidents in the early annals of the country / by Timothy Flint. text First white man of the West, or, The life and exploits of Col. Dan'l Boone, the first settler of Kentucky; interspersed with incidents in the early annals of the country / by Timothy Flint. 1854 2002 true xt72ng4gn07p section xt72ng4gn07p
BOONE'S FIRST VIEW OF KENTUCKY.
Fair was the scene that lay Flowers of the fairest dyes,
Before the little band, Trees clothed in richest green;
Which p;,usel upon its toilsome way, And brightly smiled the deep-blue skit
To view this new found land. O'er this enchanting scene.
Field, stream and valley spread, Such was Kentucky then,
Far as the eye could gaze, With wild luxuriance blest;
V'ith sumner's beauty o'er them shed, Where no invading hand had been,
And sunlight's brightest rays. The garden of the West."
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THE
FIRST WHITE MAN OF THE
-W E S T ,
OR THE
LIFE AND EXPLOITS OF
COL. DAN'L. BOONE,
THE FIRST SETTLER OF KENTUCKY;
INTERSPERSED WITH INCIDENTS
IN TIM
EARLY ANNALS OF THE COUNTRY,
BY TIMOTHY FLINT.
CINCINNATI:
APPLEGATE COMPANY,
43 MAIN STREET.
1854.
Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1847, by
GEORGE CONCLIN
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District cf Ohio.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Birth of Daniel Boone-His early propensities-His pranks at school
-His first hunting expedition-And his encounter with a panther.
Removal of the family to North Carolina-Boone becomes a hunter
-Description of fire hunting, in which he was near committing a
sad mistake-Itsfortuniate result-and his marriage.
CHAPTER II.
Boone removes to the head waters of the Yadkin river-He meets
with Finley, who had crossed the mountains into Tennessee-They
agree to explore the wilderness wist of the Alleghanies together.
CHAPTER JIIJ
Boone, with Finley and others, start on their exploring expedition-
Boone kills a panther in the night-Their progress over the moun-
tains-They descend into the great valley-Description of the eow
country-Herds of buffaloes-'1heir wanderings in the iUilterness
CHAPTER IV.
The exploring party divide into different routes-Boone and Stewart
taken prisoners by the Indians, and their escape-Boone meets with
his elder brother and anotLer white man in the woods-Stewart kil.
'ed by the Indians, and the companion of the elder Boone destroyed
by wolves-The elder brother returns to North Carolina, leaving
Boone alone in the wilderness.
CHAPTER V.
Boone is pursued by the Indians, and eludes their pursuit-He encoun.
ters and kills a bear-The return of his brother with ammunition-
They explore the cu)untry-Boone kills a panther on the back of a
buffalo-They return to North Carolina.
CHAPTER VI.
Boone starts with his family to Kentucky-Their return to Clinch river
-He conducts a party of surveyors to the Falls of Ohio-He helps
build Boonesborough, and removes his family to the fort-His daugh-
ter and two of Col. Calloway's daughters taken prisoners by the
Indians-They pursue the Indians and rescue the captives.
CHAPTER VII.
Settlement of Harrodsburgh-Indian mode of besieging and warfare-
Fortitude and privation of the Pioneers-The Indians attack Har
rodsburgh and Boonesborough-Description of a Station-Attack
of Bryant's Station.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII.
Boone being attacked by two Indians near the Blue Licks, kills them
both-Is afterwards taken prisoner and marched to Old Chillicothe
-Is adopted by the Indians-Indian ceremonies.
CHAPTER IX.
Boone oucomes a favorite among the Indians-Anecdotes relating to ha
captivity-Their mode of tormenting and -burning prisoners-Theii
fortitude under the infliction of torture-Cohiceued attack on Boones-
borough-Boone escapes.
CHAPTER X.
Six hundred Indians attack Boonesborough-Boone and Captain
Smith go out to treat with the enemy under a flag of truce, and
are extricated from a treacherous attempt to detain them as pri-
soners-Defence of the fort-The Indians defeated-Boone goes
to North Carolina to bring back his family.
CHAPTER XI.
A sketch of the character and adventures of several other pioneers-
Harrod, Kentn, Logan, Ray, McAffee, and others.
CHAPTER XII.
Boone's brother killed, and Boone himself narrowly escapes from the
Indians-Assault upon Ashton's station-and upon the station near
Shelbyville-Attack upon McAree's station.
CHAPTER XIII.
Disastrous battle near the Blue Licks-General Clarke's expedition
against the Miami towns-Massacre of McClure's family-The
horrors of Indian assaults throughout the settlements-General
Harmcr's expedition-Defeat of General St. Clair-Gen. Wayne's
victory, and a final peace with the Indians.
CHAPTER XIV.
Rejoicings on account of the peace-Boone indulges his propensity for
hunting-Kentucky increases in population-Some account of their
conflictingg land titles-Progress of civil improvement destroying the
range of the hunter-Litigation of land titles-Boone loses his lands-
Removes from Kentucky to the Kaiiawha-Leaves the Kanawha and
goes to Missouri, where he is appointed Commandant.
CHAPTER XV.
Anecdotes of Colonel Boone, related by Mr. Atienbon-A remarkable
instarce of memory.
CHAPTER XVI.
Progress of improvement in Alissoun-Old age of Boone-Death of his
wife-He goes to reside with his son-His death-His personal ap.
pearance and character.
PREFACE.
Ouxa eastern brethren have entered heartily into the
pious duty of bringing to remembrance the character and
deeds of their forefathers. Shall we of the west allow
the names of those great men, who won for us, from the
forest, the savages, and wild beasts, our fair domain of
fertile fields and beautiful rivers, to fade into obliviont
They who have hearts to admire nobility imparted by na-
ture's great seal-fearlessness, strength, energy, saga-
city, generous forgetfulness of self, the delineation of
scenes of terror, and the relation of deeds of daring, wjll
not fail to be interested in a sketch of the life of the pio-
neer and hunter of Kentucky, DANIEL BOONE. Contem-
plated in any light, we shall find him in his way and walk,
a man as truly great as Penn, Marion, and Franklin, in
theirs. True, he was not learned in the lore of' lcs,
ortrained in the etiquette of cities. But he possess4 a
knowledge far more important in the sphere which Provi'.
dence called him to fill. He felt, too, the conscious digni-
ty of self-respect, and would have been seen as erect,
firm, and unembarrassed amid the pomp and splendor of
the proudest court in Christendom, as in the shade of his
own wilderness. Where nature in her own ineffaceable
characters has marked superiority, she looks down upon
the tiny and elaborate acquirements of art, and in all po-
sitions and in all time entitles her favorites to the involun-
tary homage of their fellow-men. They are the selected
pilots in storms, the leaders in battles, and the pioneers
gn the colonization of new countries.
PREFA.C I.
Such a man was Daniel Boone, and wonderfully was he
endowed by Providence for the part which he was called
to act. Far be it from us to undervalue the advantages
of education: It can do every thing but assume the pre-
rogative of Providence. God has reserved for himself the
attribute of creating. Distinguished excellence has never
been attained, unless where nature mi education, nativo
endowment and circumstances, have concurred. This
wonderful man received his commission for his achieve
ments and his peculiar walk from the sign manual of na
ture. He was formed to be a woodsman, and the adven
turous precursor in the first settlement of Kentucky. His
home was in the woods, where others were bewildered
and lost. It is a mysterious spectacle to see a man pos-
sessed of such an astonishing power of being perfectly fa-
miliar with his route and his resources in the depths of the
untrodden wilderness, where others could as little divine
their way, and what was to be done, as mariners on mid.
ocean, without chart or compass, sun, moon, or stars. But
thqA nature has bestowed these endowments upon some
men and denied them to others, is as certain as that she
has given to some animals instincts of one kind, fitting
them for peculiar modes of life, which are denied to others,
perhaps as strangely endowed in another way.
The following pages aim to present a faithful picture
of this singular man, in his wanderings, captivities, and
escapes. If the effort he successful, we have no fear that
the attention of the reader will wander. There is a charm
in such recitals, which lays its spell upon all. The grave
and gay, the simple and the learned, the young and gray-
haired alike yield to its influence.
We wish to present him in his strong incipient maniles-
tation3 of the development of his peculiar character in
boyhood. We then see him on foot and alone, witn no
R1,FACr.
companion but his dog, and no friend but his rifle, making
his way over trackless and unnamed mountains, and im
measurable forests, until he explores the flowering wil-
derness of Kentucky. Already familiar, by his own pe-
culiar intuition, with the Indian character, we see him
casting his keen and searching glance around, as the an-
cient woods rung with the first strokes of his axe, and
pausing from time to time to see if the echoes have star-
tled the red men, or the wild beasts from theirhair. We
trace him through all the succeeding exploraticns of the
Bloody Ground, and of Tennessee, until so many immi-
grants have followed in his steps, that he finds his privacy
too strongly pressed upon; until he finds the buts and
bounds of legal tenures restraining his free thoughts, and
impelling him to the distant and unsettled shores of the
Missouri, to seek range and solitude anew. We see him
there, his eyes beginning to grow dim with the influence
of seventy winters-as he can no longer take the unerring
aim of his rifle-casting wistful looks in the directionsof
the Rocky Mountains and the western sea; and sadly re-
winded that man has butone short life, in which to wander.
No book can be imagined more interesting than would
have been the personal narrative of such a man, written
by himself. What a new pattern of the heart he might
have presented ! But, unfortunately, he does not seem to
have dreamed of the chance that his adventures would go
down to posterity in the form of recorded biography. We
suspect that he rather eschewed books, parchment deeds,
and clerkly contrivances, as forms of evil; and held the
dead letter of little consequence. His associates were as
little likely to preserve any records, but those of memory,
of the daily incidents and exploits, which indicate charac-
ter and assume high interest, when they relate to a person
like the subsect of this narrative. These hutnters, unerring
PREWAC E.
in their aim to prostrate the buffalo on his plain, or to bring
down the geese and swans from the clouds, thought little
of any other use of the gray goose quill, than its market
value.
Had it been otherwise, and had these men themselves
furnished the materials of this narratye, we have no fear
that it would go down to futurity, a more enduring monu-
ment to these pioneers and hunters, than the granite col-
umns reared by our eastern brethren, amidst assembled
thousands, with magnificent array, and oratory, and songs,
to the memory of their forefathers. Ours would be the
record of human nature speaking to human nature in sim-
plicity and truth, in a language always impressive, and
always understood. Their pictures of their own felt suffi-
ciency to themselves, under the pressure of exposure and
want; of danger, wounds, and captivity; of reciprocal kind-
ness,warm from the heart; of noble forgetfulness of self,
unshrinking firmness, calm endurance, and reckless bra-
very, would be sure to move in the hearts of their readers
strings which never fail to vibrate to the touch.
But these inestimable data are wanting. Our materi-
als are comparatively few; and we have been often obliged
to balance between doubtful authorities, notwithstanding
the most rigorous scrutiny of newspapers and pamphlets,
whose yellow and dingy pages gave out a cloud of dust at
every movement, and the equally rigid examination of
clean modern books and periodicals.
LIFE OF DANIEL BOONE.
CHAPTER I.
Brth of Daniel Boone-His early propensities-His pranks at school
-His first hunting expedition-And his encounter with apanther.
Removi. of the family to North Carolina-Boone becomes a hunter
-Description of fire hunting, in which he was near committing a
sad mistake-Itsfortunate result-and his marriage.
DIFFERENT authorities assign a different birth
place to DANIEL BOoNr. One affirms that he was
born in Maryland, another in North Carolina, ano-
ther in Virginia, and still another during the transit
of his parents across the Atlantic. But they are all
equally in error. He was born in the year 1746,
in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, near Bristol, on the
right bank of the Delaware, about twenty miles
from Philadelphia. His father removed, when he
was three years old, to the vicinity of Reading, on
the head waters of the Schuylkill. From thence,
when his son was thirteen years old, he migrated to
North Carolina, and settled in one of the valleys of
South Yadkin.
The remotest of his ancestors, of whom there is
ary recorded notice, is Joshua Boone, an English
11
L12liri OF DANIEL BOO;
Catholic. He crossed the Atlantic to the shores ox
the Chesapeake Bay, with those who planted the
first germ of the colony of Maryland. A leading
motive to emigration with most of these colonists,
was to avoid that persecution on account of thei. re-
ligion, which however pleasant to inflict, they found
it uncomfortable to endure. Whether this gentleman
emigrated from this inducement, as has been asser-
ted, or not, it is neither possible, nor, as we deem,
important to settle; for we cannot find, that religious
motives had any direct influence in shaping the
character and fortunes of the hero of the woods.
Those who love to note the formation of character,
and believe in the hereditary transmission of pecu-
liar qualities, naturally investigate the peculiarities
of parents, to see if they can find there the origin of
those of the children. Many-and we are of the
number-consider transmitted endowment as the
most important link in the chain of circumstances,
with which character is surrounded. The most
splendid endowments in innumerable instances, have
never been brought to light, in defect of circumstan-
ces to call them forth. The ancestors of Boone were
not placed in positions to prove, whether he did or
did not receive his peculiar aptitudes a legacy from
his parents, or a direct gift from nature. He pre-
sents himself to us as a new man, the author and arti-
ficer of his own fortunes, and showing from the be-
ginning rudiments of character, of which history has
recorded no trace in his ancestors. The promise of
the future hunter appeared in his earliest boyhood.
He waged a war of extermination, as soon as he
12
LIFE OF DANIEL BOONT
could poise a gun, with squirrels, racoons, and wild
cats, at that time exceedingly annoying to the fields
and barn-yards of the back settlers.
No scholar ever displayed more decided pre-emi
nence in any branch of learning, than he did above
the boys of his years, in adroitness and success in
this species of hunting. This is the only distinct
and peculiar trait of character recorded of his early
years. The only transmitted fact of his early train-
ing is presented in the following anecdote.
In that section of the frontier settlement to which
Boone had removed, where unhewn log cabins, and
hewn log houses, were interspersed among the burnt
stumps, surrounded by a potato patch and cornfield,
as the traveller pursued his cow-path through the
deep forest, there was an intersection, or more prop-
erly concentration of wagon tracks, called the
"Cross Roads,"-a name which still designates a
hundred frontier positions of a post office, black-
smith's shop, and tavern. In the central point of
this metropolis stood a large log building, before
which a sign creaked in the wind, conspicuously let-
tered "Store and Tavern."
To this point, on the early part of a warm spring
morning, a pedestrian stranger was seen approaching
in the path leading from the east. One hand was
armed with a walking stick, and the other carried a
small bundle inclosed in a handkerchief. His aspect
was of a man. whose whole fortunes were in his
walking stick and bundle. He was observed to eye
the swinging sign with a keen recognitions inspiring
2
13
ALm OF DANIEL BOONE.
such courage as the mariner feels on entering the
desired haven.
His dialect betrayed the stranger to be a native
of Ireland. He sat down on the stoup, and asked in
his own peculiar mode of speech, for cold water. A
supply from the spring was readily handed him in a
gourd. But with an arch pause between remon-
strance and laughter, he added, that he thought cold
water in a warm climate injurious to the stomach
and begged that the element might be qualified with
a little whisky.
The whisky was handed him, and the usual con-
versation ensued,during which the stranger inquired
if a school-master was wanted in the settlement-or,
as he was pleased to phrase it, a professor in the
nigher branches of learning It is inferred that the
father of Boone was a person of distinction in the
settlement, for to him did the master of the "Store
and Tavern" direct the stranger of the staff and
bundle for information.
The direction of the landlord to enable him to
find the house of Mr. Boone, was a true specimen
of similar directions in the frontier settlements of the
present; and they have often puzzled clearer heads
than that of the Irish school-master.
"Step this way," said he,"and I will direct you
there, so that you cannot mistake your way. Turn
down that right hand road, and keep on it till you
cross the dry branch-then turn to your left, and go
up a hill-then take a lane to your right, which will
bring you to an open field-pass this, and you will
come to a path with three forks-take the middle
14
LIFB OF DANemL BOONa .
fork, and it will lead you through the woods in sight
of Mr. Boone's plantation."
The Irishman lost his way, invoked the saints, and
cursed his director for his medley of directions many
a time, before he stumbled at length on Mr. Boone's
house. He was invited to sit down and dine, in the
simple backwoods phrase, which is still the passport
to the most ample hospitality.
After dinner, the school-master made known hs
vocation, and his desire to find employment. To
obtain a qualified school-master in those days, andi in
such a place, was no easy business. This scarcity
of supply precluded close investigation of fitness. In
a word, the Irishman was authorized to enter upon
the office of school-master of the settlement. We
have been thus particular in this description, because
it was the way in which most teachers were then
employed.
It will not be amiss to describe the school-house;
for it stood as a sample of thousands of west country
school-houses of the present day. It was of la sp,
after the usual fashion of the time and place. Xu
dimension, it was spacious and convenient. Ti e
chimney was peculiarly ample, occupying one entire
side of the whole building, which was an exact
square. Of course, a log could be "snaked" to the
fire-place as long as the building, and a file of boys
thirty feet in length, could all stand in front of the
fire on a footing of the most democratic equality.
Sections of logs cut out here and there, admitted
light and air instead of windows. The surrounding
forest furnished ample supplies of fuel. A spring at
Is
ME OF DANIAL BOONZ.
hand, furnished with various gourds, quenched the
frequent thirst of the pupils. A ponderous punch.
eon door, swinging on substantial wooden hinges, and
shutting with a wooden latch, completed the appen-
dages of this primeval seminary.
To this central point might be seen wending from
the woods, in every direction of the compass, flaxen-
headed boys and girls, clad in homespun, brushing
away the early dews, as they hied to the place,
where the Ribernian, clothed in his brief authority,
sometimes perpetrated applications of birch without
rhyme or reason; but much oftener allowed his au-
thority to be trampled upon, according as the severe
or loving humor prevailed. This vacillating admin-
istration was calculated for any result, rather than
securing the affectionate respect of the children.
Scarcely the first quarter had elapsed, before mate.
rials for revelt had germinated under the very throne
of the school-master.
Young Boone, at this time,had reached the second
stage of teaching the young idea how to shoot. His
satchel already held paper marked with those myste-
rious hieroglyphics, vulgarly called pot-hooks, inten-
ded to be gradually transformed to those clerkly
characters, which are called hand-writing.
The master's throne was a block of a huge tree,
and could not be said, in any sense, to be a cushion
of down. Of course, by the time he had heard the
first lessons of the morning, the master was accustom.
ed to let loose his noisy subjects, to wanton and
bound on the grass, while he took a turn abroad to
refresh himself from his wearying duties. While he
LIFE OF DANIEL BOONE.
was thus unbending his mind, the observant urchins
had remarked, that he always directed his walk to a
deep grove not far distant. They had, possibly,
divined that the unequal tempers of his mind, and
his rapid transitions from good nature to tyrannical
moroseness, and the reverse, were connected with
these promenades. The curiosity of young Boone
had been partially excited. An opportunity soon
offered to gratify it.
Having one day received the accustomed permis-
sion to retire a few minutes from school, the darting
of a squirrel across a fallen tree, as he went abroad,
awakened his ruling passion. He sprang after the
nimble animal, until he found himself at the very
spot, where he had observed his school-master to
pause in his promenades. His attention was arres-
ted by observing a kind of opening under a little
arbor,. thickly covered with a mat of vines. Think-
ing, perhaps, that it was the retreat of some animal,
he thrust in his hand, and to his surprise drew forth
a glass bottle, partly full of whisky. The enigma
of his master's walks and inequalities of temper stood
immediately deciphered. After the reflection of a
moment, he carefully replaced the bottle in its posi-
tion, and returned to his place in school. In the
evening he communicated his discovery and the re-
sult of his meditations to the larger boys of the school
on their way home. They were ripe for revolt, and
the issue of their caucus follows:
They were sufficiently acquainted with fever and
ague, to have experimented the nature of tartar
emetic. They procured a bottle exactly like the
2
17
LIFE OF DANIEL BOONER
master's, filled with whisky, in which a copious quan.
tity of emetic had been dissolved. Early in the
morning, they removed the school-master's bottle,
and replaced it by theirs, and hurried back to their
places, panting with restrained curiosity, and a de-
sire to see what results would come from their med-
ical mixture.
The accustomed hour for intermission came. The
master took his usual promenade, and the children
hastened back with uncommon eagerness to resume
their seats and their lessons. The countenance of
the master alternately red and pale, gave portent of
an approaching storm.
"Recite your grammar lesson," said he, in a grow
ling tone, to one of the older boys.
"How many parts of speech are there"
"Seven, sir," timidly answered the boy.
"Seven, you numscull! is that the way you get
your lesson" Forthwith descended a shower of
blows on his devoted head.
"On what continent is Ireland " said he, turning
from him in wrath to another boy. The boy saw
the shower pre-determined to fall, and the medicine
giving evident signs of having taken effect. Before
he could answer, "I reckon on the continent of Eng-
land," he was gathering an ample tithe of drubbing.
"Come and recite your lemson in arithmetic" said
he to Boone, in a voice of thunder. The usually
rubicund face of the Irishman was by this time a
deadly pale. Slate in hand, the docile lad presert-
ed himself before his master.
"Take six from nine,and what remains"
Is
LIFE OF DANIEL BOONE.
"Three, sir."
"True. That will answer for whole numbers,
now for your fractions. Take three-quarters from
an integer, and what remains"
"The whole."
"You blockhead! you numscull!" exclaimed the
master, as the strokes fell like a hail shower; "let
me hear you demonstrate that."
"If I subtract one botfle of whisky, and replace
it with one in which I have mixed an emetic, will
not the whole remain, if nobody drinks it"
By this time the med.cine was taking fearful ef-
fect. The united acclamations and shouts of the
children, and the discovery of the compounder of
his medicament, in no degree tended to soothe the
infuriated master. Young Boone, having paid for
his sport by an ample drubbing, seized the oppor-
tune moment, floored his master, already weak and
dizzy, sprang from the door, and made for the woods.
The adventure was soon blazoned. A consultation
of the patrons of the school was held. Though
young Boone was reprimanded, the master was dis-
missed.
This is all the certain information we possess,
touching the training of young Boone, in the lore of
books and schools. Though he never afterwards
could be brought Lack to the restraint of the walls
of a school, it is well known, that in some way, in
after life, he possessed himself of the rudiments of a
common education. His love for hunting and the
woods now became an absorbing passion. He pos-
sessed a dog and a fowling piece, and with these he
19
LIFE OF DANIEL BOONE.
would range whole days alone through the woods,
often with no other apparent object, than the simple
pleasure of these lonely wanderings.
One morning he was observed as usual, to throw
the band, that suspended his shot bag, over one
shoulder, and his gun over the other, and go forth
aqcompanied by his dog. Night came, but to the
astonishment and alarm of his parents, the boy, ax
yet scarcely turned of fourteen, came not. Another
day and another night came, and passed, and still
he returned not. The nearest neighbors, sympa-
thizing with the distressed-parents, who considered
him lost, turned out, to aid in searching for him.
After a long and weary search, at a distance of a
league from any plantation, a smoke was seen ari-
sing from a temporary hovel of sods and blunches,
in which the astonished father found his child, appa-
rently most comfortably established is his new ex-
periment of house-keeping. Numerous skins of wild
animals were stretched upon his cabin, as trophies
of his hunting prowess. Ample fragments of their
flesh were either roasting or preparing for cookery.
It may be supposed, that such a lad would be the
theme of wonder and astonishment to the other boys
of his age.
At this early period, he hesitated not to hunt
wolves, and even bears and panthers. His exploits
of this kind were the theme of general interest in
the vicinity. Many of them are recorded. But we
pass over most of them, in our desire to hasten to
the exploits of his maturer years. We select a sin-
so
LIFE OF DANIEL BOONE.
gle one of the most unquestionable character, as a
sample for the rest.
In company with some of his young companions,
he undertook a hunting excursion, at a considerable
distance from the settlements. Near night-fall, the
group of young Nimrods were alarmed with a sharp
cry from the thick woods. A panther! whispered
the aflfighted lads, in accents scarcely above theit
breath, through fear, that their voice would betra v
them. The scream of this animal is harsh, and
grating, and one of the most truly formidable of
forest sounds.
The animal, when pressed, does not shrink from
encountering a man, and often kills him, unless he
is fearless and adroit in his defence. All the com-
panions of young Boone fled from the vicinity, as
fast as possible. Not so the subject of our narra-
tive. He coolly surveyed the animal, that in turn
eyed him, as the cat does a mouse, when preparing
to spring upon it. Levelling his rifle, and taking
deliberate aim, he lodged the bullet in the heart of
the fearful animal, at the very moment it was in the
act to spring upon him. It was a striking instance
:f that peculiar self-possession, which constituted
the most striking trait in his character in after life.
Observing these early propensities for the life of
a hunter in his son, and land having become dear
and game scarce in the neighborhood where he lived,
Boone's father formed the design of removing to re-
mote forests, not yet disturbed by the sound of the
axe, or broken by frequent clearings; and having
heard a good account of the country borderag upon
hi
/
/Stj
i l l
(gNSS0
LIFE OF DANIEL BOONF.
the Yadkin river, in North Carolina, he resolved to
remove thither. This river, which is a stream of
considerable size, has its source among the moun-
tains in the northeast part of North Carolina, and
pursues a beautiful meandering course through that
state until it enters South Carolina. After watering
the eastern section of the latter state, it reaches the
ocean a few miles above the mouth of the Santee.
Having sold his plantation, on a fine April morn-
ing he set forth for the land of promise-wife, chil-
dren, servants, flocks, and herds, forming a patriar-
chal caravan through the wilderness. No procession
bound to the holy cities of Mecca or Jerusalem,
was ever more joyful; for to them the forest was an
asylum. Overhung by the bright blue sky, envelo-
ped in verdant forests full of game, nought cared
they for the absence of houses with their locks and
latches. Their nocturnal caravansary was a clear
cool spring; their bed the fresh turf. Deer and tur
keys furnished their viands-hunger the richest sau-
ces of cookery; and fatigue and untroubled spirits a
repose unbroken by dreams. Such were the primi-
tive migrations of the early settlers of our country.
We love to meditate on them, for we hlave shared
them. We have fed from this table in the wilder-
ness. We have shared this mirth. We have heard
the tinkle of the bells of the flocks and herds gra.
zing among the trees. We have seen the moon
rise and the stars twinkle upon this forest scene; and
the remembrance has more than once marred the
pleasure of journeyings in the midst of civilization
9nd the refinements of luxury.
23
LIFE OF DANIEL BOONE.
The frontier country in which the family settled
was as yet an unbroken forest; and being at no great
distance from the eastern slope of the Alleghanies,
in the valleys of which game was abundant, it af-
forded fine range both for pasture and hunting.
These forests had, moreover, the charm of novelty,
and the game had not yet learned to fear the rifles
of the new settlers. It need hardly be added that
the spirits of young Boone exulted in this new hun-
ter's paradise. The father and the other sons settled
down quietly to the severe labor of making a farm,
assigning to Daniel the occupation of his rifle, as
aware that it was the only one he could be indu-
ced to follow; and probably from the experience,
that in this way he could contribute more effectually
to the establishment, than either of them in the pur
suits of husbandry.
An extensive farm was soon opened. T