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Blood and Treasure: Daniel Boone and the Fight for America's First Frontier
The Instant New York Times Besteller
National Bestseller
"[The] authors’ finest work to date." — Wall Street Journal
The explosive true saga of the legendary figure Daniel Boone and the bloody struggle for America's frontier by two bestselling authors at the height of their writing power--Bob Drury and Tom Clavin.
It is the mid-eighteenth century, and in the 13 colonies founded by Great Britain, anxious colonists desperate to conquer and settle North America’s “First Frontier” beyond the Appalachian Mountains commence a series of bloody battles. These violent conflicts are waged against the Native American tribes whose lands they covet, the French, and finally against the mother country itself in an American Revolution destined to reverberate around the world.
This is the setting of Blood and Treasure, and the guide to this epic narrative is America’s first and arguably greatest pathfinder, Daniel Boone—not the coonskin cap-wearing caricature of popular culture but the flesh-and-blood frontiersman and Revolutionary War hero whose explorations into the forested frontier beyond the great mountains would become the stuff of legend. Now, thanks to painstaking research by two award-winning authors, the story of the brutal birth of the United States is told through the eyes of both the ordinary and larger-than-life men and women, white and red, who witnessed it.
This fast-paced and fiery narrative, fueled by contemporary diaries and journals, newspaper reports, and eyewitness accounts, is a stirring chronicle of the conflict over America’s “First Frontier” that places the reader at the center of this remarkable epoch and its gripping tales of courage and sacrifice.
National Bestseller
"[The] authors’ finest work to date." — Wall Street Journal
The explosive true saga of the legendary figure Daniel Boone and the bloody struggle for America's frontier by two bestselling authors at the height of their writing power--Bob Drury and Tom Clavin.
It is the mid-eighteenth century, and in the 13 colonies founded by Great Britain, anxious colonists desperate to conquer and settle North America’s “First Frontier” beyond the Appalachian Mountains commence a series of bloody battles. These violent conflicts are waged against the Native American tribes whose lands they covet, the French, and finally against the mother country itself in an American Revolution destined to reverberate around the world.
This is the setting of Blood and Treasure, and the guide to this epic narrative is America’s first and arguably greatest pathfinder, Daniel Boone—not the coonskin cap-wearing caricature of popular culture but the flesh-and-blood frontiersman and Revolutionary War hero whose explorations into the forested frontier beyond the great mountains would become the stuff of legend. Now, thanks to painstaking research by two award-winning authors, the story of the brutal birth of the United States is told through the eyes of both the ordinary and larger-than-life men and women, white and red, who witnessed it.
This fast-paced and fiery narrative, fueled by contemporary diaries and journals, newspaper reports, and eyewitness accounts, is a stirring chronicle of the conflict over America’s “First Frontier” that places the reader at the center of this remarkable epoch and its gripping tales of courage and sacrifice.
383 pages, Hardcover
First published April 20, 2021
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March 17, 2022
Daniel Boone had always despised, and would for the rest of his life, his outsize reputation as an Indian fighter. He maintained that dealing with belligerent Native Americans, whether via combat or negotiation, was for the most part a matter of luck and instinct. His rescue by Simon Kenton was evidence of the former, his quick thinking on the Licking River, the latter. He was vastly more proud of his ability to endure the burdens of a huntsman’s life with a seemingly preternatural stoicism. Now, it was as if the patience he had honed over a lifetime of stalking game through the deep woods was in anticipation of this moment. He would need that gift in the coming months.When I was a kid, one of my favorite possessions was a bona fide, official Davy Crockett coonskin cap. No actual raccoons suffered to create that bit of headgear. Disney had made several live-action films in the 1950s (TV mini-series’ really) celebrating Davey Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier. Crockett may have actually worn one that wild creatures suffered to provide. Daniel Boone preferred beaver hats. Although Crockett and Boone were born a half-century apart their deaths were separated by a mere sixteen years. But to young TV viewers in the 1950s the two seemed inseparable, played on the screen by the same actor, Fess Parker, wearing pretty much the same costumes, no doubt saving Disney some wardrobe expenses.
Fess Parker - image from the California Wine Club
The memories I retain of the shows are much-faded, but I doubt much has been lost. Civilized American good guy frontiersmen (Crockett) or pioneer (Boone) doing battle with hostile indigenous residents, and battling corruption among his own people. Standard TV fodder of the 1950s and early 1960s, with the usual doses of humble wisdom, and little mention made of the genocide that was being foisted on sundry North American native peoples.
Bob Drury - image from Macmillan
It was the chance to fill that cavernous memory hole with some actual information, on at least one of Fess Parker’s greatest roles, that drew me to Blood and Treasure. On finishing the book, it was possible to drop a coin into that chasm and hear it hit bottom, after a reasonable wait, much better than hearing nothing prior.
Tom Clavin - image from The Southampton Press
There is history and there is Boone. It is the information on both that is of great value here. Those of my generation at least know the name Daniel Boone, even if our image of him may have been the product of Disneyfication. I expect there are many, born later, to whom the name Boone is likelier to summon images of a baseball figure, a town or city by that name, or a brand of sickly alcoholic beverage. He was a fascinating real-world character, whatever hat he chose to wear. The authors report in the C-Span interview that, unlike Parker’s cinema-friendly 6’5”, Daniel Boone was actually 5’7” or 5’8,” a typical height for a man of his times. He had several cousins, however who were over six feet and Boone was concerned that a raccoon skin cap would make him look even smaller. He favored a felt hunter’s hat that was made of beaver.
A child’s “Davy Crockett” hat – image from the Smithsonian
The character himself is fascinating, presenting both as a man of his era, and a person with some 21st century sensibilities. Daniel Boone was born in what is now Berks County, Pennsylvania, in 1734, the 6th of eleven children, to Quaker immigrants from England and Wales. The family ran afoul of local public opinion when one of their children married outside the religion, while visibly pregnant. When another, Boone’s brother, Israel, also married outside the faith, and dad stood by him, Pop was excommunicated. Daniel stayed away from the church after that. Three years later the family moved to North Carolina. While Boone carried a bible with him on his long hunts, considered himself a Christian and had all his children baptized, he was not exactly a bible thumper. He was open to other ways of viewing the world. This willingness to learn would serve him well. Boone was fascinated by and respectful of Indian ways as a kid. He spent considerable time with Native Americans, studying their culture, and learning their woodland hunting, tracking, and survival skills. He learned the birdsongs of local avian life, studied the use of plants for medicinal purposes, learned Indian crafts. He was a proficient enough hunter that by age twelve he was providing game meat for his family. His gift for frontier life was clear very early on. In a way he was a frontiersman savant, like those 7-year-olds who play Rachmaninoff as if it’s no big deal. By fifteen he was considered the finest hunter in the area.
Daniel Boone by Alonzo Chappel – circa 1861 - From the National Portrait Gallery, via Wikimedia
He had considerable respect for his wife, Rebecca, maintaining impressive wisdom about their relationship. After he had been away on a long hunt, for a year, for example, he returned home to be presented with a new daughter. He could count high enough to figure that the child was not his. Rebecca told him that she had thought he was dead (not an unlikely excuse at the time) and had fallen for someone who looked very much like Daniel, his younger brother. Daniel coped, noting with an impressive sense of humor that he had married a full-blooded woman, not a portrait of a saint, raised the girl as his own, and was grateful that Rebecca had at least kept it in the family.
He confronts many personal challenges over the years, losing several children (he and Rebecca had ten) to illness or Indian attacks. The book opens with the torture and murder of his teenage son, James. He is called on time and time again to work with militia or government military units. He served with the British in their conflict with their French rivals for North American influence. He was a part of many of the conflicts that took part in the western colonial lands in the late 18th century. I had not heard of any of these. Drury and Clavin point out their often very surprising significance.
Boone was not initially cast to star in this novel. Drury and Clavin, with more than a few history book pelts in their saddlebags, had written about the wars waged on the plains Indians, many of whom had been pushed west by the advancing white invaders, and wanted to trace that process back. The book covers, roughly, the period from the 1730s,when Boone was born, to 1799, when he moved his family west to Missouri. The book was supposed to be about how the Indians had been driven out of the land between the Appalachians and the Mississippi. In doing their research, however, Boone kept turning up, a Zelig-like character, involved in many of the seminal events of his time. Served with a British regiment? Check. Served with George Washington? Check. Developed the primary trail through the Cumberland Gap? You betcha. He even established a town that would be named after him, Boonesborough, and led the defense of a western fort, the loss of which might have changed the outcome of the American Revolution. The man really was a legend in his own time. A natural leader, he partook of many of the important battles that occurred between settlers, through their militias and their English backers, and both the native people they were attempting to displace and their French allies. He functioned as a diplomat as well, respected by many of the Indians and seen as a man of his word, not a common attribute at the time. And so he became the narrative thread that pulled together a large number of related, but disconnected parts.
The frontier in the 18th century was the Appalachian Mountains. The Wild, Wild West was the land between the Appalachians and the Mississippi. The English had entered into treaties with Indian tribes that basically drew a line there. We will allow our colonists to advance only so far, and no farther. The colonists, however, were more than happy to roll their eyes, mutter a “whatever” or the 18th century equivalent, and continue pushing westward, making life difficult for just about everyone. I was reminded of contemporary settlers, eager to occupy land outside their legal realm. At least some of this westward movement was driven by land speculation, including by some founding father sorts. I know it is tough to believe that real-estate developers might be anything other than sober, law-abiding capitalists, but, like the poor, it appears that we will always have them with us.
Drury and Clavin offer a look at the diverse tribes that occupied the areas in conflict, showing differences among them. One particularly horrifying episode involved a group of Indians who had converted to the Moravian faith, a sect of Christianity. They were pacifists, took up no arms, but were slaughtered anyway by a group of American Rangers in what became known as the Moravian Massacre, a shameful episode, widely talked about at the time. We also see leaders of one tribe, in negotiations, willingly ceding land to their white counterparts, when they, in fact, had no hold over that land at all. I was reminded of the contemporary situation in Afghanistan, among other places, where tribal allegiances easily trump larger national demands. Many of the most effective, and memorable of Indian leaders are shown, impressive in their tactical leadership, creativity, and tenacity.
The American Revolution was more an eastern than western conflict, but there were times when battles on the western frontier might have determined a different outcome to the colonial attempt to separate from the motherland. These were mostly, no, they were entirely, news to me.
It is in learning about so many of these turning points that the value of the book is most manifest. If, like me, your knowledge of American history has been shaped primarily by what we learned in grade school, high school, and college, and absorbed from popular culture, you will get a very strong sense of just how much we do not know, and had never suspected. In a way, it was like opening up the back of a mechanical watch and seeing all the intricate gears at work, impacting each other to produce the simple result of indicating the time of day. Getting there is not so simple. Nor is truly appreciating how 21st century America came to be what it is today. This book offers an up-close look at some of those gears.
My reading experience of this book was wildly divergent. I found it to be a very difficult read for the first half, at least, dragging myself through anywhere from ten to thirty pages a day for what seemed forever. Even then, I recognized that there was a lot of valuable information to be absorbed, so stuck with it. It is true that there are a lot of characters passing through these pages, a bounty of place names, a plethora of battles, skirmishes, and conflicts that were significant and interesting. But it felt so overwhelming that the TMI sirens were blaring repeatedly.
But at a certain point, some of the characters, through repeated appearance, became recognizable. Oh, yeah, I remember him now. Wasn’t he the one who…? Yep, that’s the guy. At a certain point it was not a duty to return to the book, fulfilling a felt obligation, trying to learn something, but a joy. Quite a switch, I know. But as I read the latter half of the book, it became clear that this was not just a rich history book, but quite an amazing adventure story, a saga, filled with deeds heroic and dastardly. There are many compelling characters in these pages, and so many ripping yarns that reading this became like sailing through something by George R. R. Martin. Taking the analogy to the next step, I have zero doubt that, with the many compelling narratives at play in this book, it would make a fantastic GoT-level TV series. It certainly has the blood and gore to play at that level, the territorial rivalries, the vanity, backstabbing, the double-dealing, the battles, sieges, murders, tortures and war crimes, but also the underlying content to give it all a lot more heft. This is how nations are created. This is how they grow. These are the people who paid the price for that creation. These are the decisions that were made, the promises broken and kept, the lies told, the excuses offered. Sorry, no dragons, or other mythical beasts, but there is, at the core, a bona fide legend. (James Fenimore Cooper’s Last of the Mohicans was inspired by Boone rescuing his kidnapped daughter, Jemima) Thankfully, it will require no blood for you to check this one out, and only a modest amount of treasure.
Like the Cherokee, the tribes north of the Ohio River strongly suspected that America’s War for Independence was being fought over Indian land despite high-minded slogans about taxation without representation. It was the Shawnee who recognized the earliest that this internecine conflict among the whites could only end badly for the tribe should the rapacious colonists prevail. Native American support of the Crown, in essence, was the lesser of two evils. It was not the British, after all, who had begun desecrating Kanta-ke with cabins and cornfields.Review first posted – May 21, 2021
Publication dates
----------April 20, 2021 - hardcover
----------March 15, 2022 - trade paperback
I cross-posted this review on my site, Coots's Review. Stop by, say Hi!
I received this book as an e-pub from St Martin’s Press via NetGalley in return for a fair review. No raccoons, beavers, or other wildlife were harmed providing headgear used during the writing of this review.
=============================EXTRA STUFF
Links to Bob Drury’ personal site, and to Tom Clavin’s personal and FB pages
Items of Interest
-----C-Span - Interview with Drury and Clavin - video - 50:08 – This one is all you will need
-----Gulliver’s Travels - Boone’s favorite book
-----National Museum of American History - The saga of Davy Crockett's coonskin cap
-----Wiki on the Moravian Massacre
-----Wiki for Last of the Mohican
-----Gutenberg – full text of Last of the Mohicans
February 26, 2021
Blood and Treasure – Daniel Boone and the Fight for America’s First Frontier
by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin is an extremely well written history and biography book. While it covers Daniel Boone’s life, it also covers the history and events of the times and shows where they intersect.
The author brought a strong sense of time and place to the people and events in the book. It is not just a recitation of facts, but a story of the people and events. It draws the reader into Daniel Boone’s world. It also doesn’t shy away from the grimmer aspects of life in the 1700’s and early 1800’s as well as some less than amazing aspects of Boone’s life. He was definitely an extraordinary pioneer that was a capable leader, hunter, and fighter with a work ethic he got from observing his parents. However, he was much more than this. He was fascinated by Native American culture, weapons, clothing, jewelry, and medicines from an early age. But he also struggled throughout his life with financial debt. His marriage to Rebecca Bryan was also fascinating. They both had to have a lot of patience and be slow to anger.
The authors don’t shy away from the various wars that followed European immigrants coming to the New World. These had a severe detrimental effect on Native Americans resulting in loss of homelands, loss of hunting grounds, starvation, disease, loss of life through war, and other adverse effects on their culture. This is not the sanitized history and biography books that one often reads in school. It also debunks some of the legends about Daniel Boone.
Men, women, and children were killed by the colonists, the British, the French, and the Native Americans; not just one or two of these. This book doesn’t gloss over the negative aspects of life or human activities and the atrocities that occurred. We need to learn what really occurred.
It was interesting to read about the intertribal dynamics and how they changed over time. Additionally, communication and semantic misunderstandings often had grave consequences. The book’s timeline includes the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War so the actions of several other famous people of the times are included.
The prose was very readable and did not feel like so many dry nonfiction books. The writing style kept me engaged throughout. Overall, this book was well-written and well-researched. I learned a lot and want to read more by these authors. My only quibble is that there were no maps of the times included in the book. However, I was able to find some applicable maps online. Readers that like history and adventure may enjoy this book as much as I did.
St. Martin’s Press, Bob Drury and Tom Clavin provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for April 20, 2021.
The author brought a strong sense of time and place to the people and events in the book. It is not just a recitation of facts, but a story of the people and events. It draws the reader into Daniel Boone’s world. It also doesn’t shy away from the grimmer aspects of life in the 1700’s and early 1800’s as well as some less than amazing aspects of Boone’s life. He was definitely an extraordinary pioneer that was a capable leader, hunter, and fighter with a work ethic he got from observing his parents. However, he was much more than this. He was fascinated by Native American culture, weapons, clothing, jewelry, and medicines from an early age. But he also struggled throughout his life with financial debt. His marriage to Rebecca Bryan was also fascinating. They both had to have a lot of patience and be slow to anger.
The authors don’t shy away from the various wars that followed European immigrants coming to the New World. These had a severe detrimental effect on Native Americans resulting in loss of homelands, loss of hunting grounds, starvation, disease, loss of life through war, and other adverse effects on their culture. This is not the sanitized history and biography books that one often reads in school. It also debunks some of the legends about Daniel Boone.
Men, women, and children were killed by the colonists, the British, the French, and the Native Americans; not just one or two of these. This book doesn’t gloss over the negative aspects of life or human activities and the atrocities that occurred. We need to learn what really occurred.
It was interesting to read about the intertribal dynamics and how they changed over time. Additionally, communication and semantic misunderstandings often had grave consequences. The book’s timeline includes the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War so the actions of several other famous people of the times are included.
The prose was very readable and did not feel like so many dry nonfiction books. The writing style kept me engaged throughout. Overall, this book was well-written and well-researched. I learned a lot and want to read more by these authors. My only quibble is that there were no maps of the times included in the book. However, I was able to find some applicable maps online. Readers that like history and adventure may enjoy this book as much as I did.
St. Martin’s Press, Bob Drury and Tom Clavin provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for April 20, 2021.
March 12, 2021
This book about Daniel Boone starts off with the graphic killing of Boone’s son by the Indians. This nonfiction continued to keep my interest throughout. It does a masterful job of combining historic facts (battles, politics) with details about not only Boone’s life but several other well known figures (George Washington).
This is one of those nonfiction books that reads almost like fiction. The authors give us both big and small pictures of the times and places. I loved seeing how decisions by the British made in England played out in the Yadkin Valley of what became North Carolina. I hadn’t a clue that a royal proclamation made in 1763 designed to stop a war with the Indians played into the start of the colonists’ unhappiness with England.
This book doesn’t spare the reader from a lot of gruesome details. Indians and settlers alike killed, tortured and mutilated anyone they caught.
I was unaware of the role the Indians played during the Revolutionary War and how they used the “civil war” among the whites, as they saw it, to attempt to take back their lands. And, of course,in the end, both English and Americans hung them out to dry.
Drury and Calvin have a wealth of information, which allows for copious amounts of detail.
My thanks to netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.
This is one of those nonfiction books that reads almost like fiction. The authors give us both big and small pictures of the times and places. I loved seeing how decisions by the British made in England played out in the Yadkin Valley of what became North Carolina. I hadn’t a clue that a royal proclamation made in 1763 designed to stop a war with the Indians played into the start of the colonists’ unhappiness with England.
This book doesn’t spare the reader from a lot of gruesome details. Indians and settlers alike killed, tortured and mutilated anyone they caught.
I was unaware of the role the Indians played during the Revolutionary War and how they used the “civil war” among the whites, as they saw it, to attempt to take back their lands. And, of course,in the end, both English and Americans hung them out to dry.
Drury and Calvin have a wealth of information, which allows for copious amounts of detail.
My thanks to netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.
April 20, 2022
A very good book, but at times a bit tedious as authors tried to use unnecessarily obtuse wording. Well researched and brought to the fore a lot of facts and stories that one never learns about Daniel Boone who is one of our lesser known early American folk heroes. This book also does a fine job in telling those early frontier wars between settlers, British, French and American Indians. A book I recommend to all lovers of history, but for the casual reader it certainly is not as readable as those History books by H.W. Brands. For my full review follow me at www.viewsonbooks.com
September 12, 2021
The focus of this book is twofold. It is as much about the life of Daniel Boone (1734-1820) as abut 18th century American history and the conflicts between American colonists and Native Americans. The French and Indian War, the Cherokee War, the War for Independence and the many other disputes, conflicts and battles between the indigenous people of America and the colonists can be viewed as the backdrop for the events in Daniel Boone’s life. Make no mistake, this is a book about conflicts, battles and wars between the red- and white-skinned peoples of America.
At the book’s end, it is noted that white Americans have been battling Native Americans for three centuries. It might be said to be the longest war of all time. A Chinese professor states this. It is an appropriate summary to the book.
I went into this book to learn about Daniel Boone. I did not realize I was getting myself into a book where the central focus would be conflict and warfare. As I read, I realized this to be unavoidable; this was the world Daniel Boone lived in. The picture drawn is not pretty.
The author separates fact from legend. This I appreciate. The book is extensively researched. Source material is sited.
The focus of the book shifts somewhat—the first half has more history, general American history. The latter half has more about particular events in Boone’s life.
I was worried I would not get a feel for Boone’s character, but by the end I found that I had. He was a man who had to explore and discover new places. He was not a man of business—he earned money and then lost it. With the passage of years, he became more involved in politics. He killed many a Native American, but at the same time he respected their ways and customs. One example-–he dressed as they did. First and foremost, he was a frontiersman and a pathfinder. This we learn as we follow his path from Pennsylvania to North Carolina to Kentucky to Missouri.
We learn not only of Daniel Boone, but of his large, Quaker family too. He loved his wife and his children…..and he could forgive.
The author does not always express himself clearly. He infers rather than states exactly what he wants said. This annoyed me when it occurred. It was as though what he was saying was so obvious to him, the message could be joked about or implied. Sometimes he uses idioms or expressions I fail to grasp. Other times, fancy words are used rather than the simple. In non-fiction, I prefer a straightforward presentation of facts. I prefer clarity.
George Newburn narrates the audiobook. His voice is strong and clear. Four stars for the narration.
At the book’s end, it is noted that white Americans have been battling Native Americans for three centuries. It might be said to be the longest war of all time. A Chinese professor states this. It is an appropriate summary to the book.
I went into this book to learn about Daniel Boone. I did not realize I was getting myself into a book where the central focus would be conflict and warfare. As I read, I realized this to be unavoidable; this was the world Daniel Boone lived in. The picture drawn is not pretty.
The author separates fact from legend. This I appreciate. The book is extensively researched. Source material is sited.
The focus of the book shifts somewhat—the first half has more history, general American history. The latter half has more about particular events in Boone’s life.
I was worried I would not get a feel for Boone’s character, but by the end I found that I had. He was a man who had to explore and discover new places. He was not a man of business—he earned money and then lost it. With the passage of years, he became more involved in politics. He killed many a Native American, but at the same time he respected their ways and customs. One example-–he dressed as they did. First and foremost, he was a frontiersman and a pathfinder. This we learn as we follow his path from Pennsylvania to North Carolina to Kentucky to Missouri.
We learn not only of Daniel Boone, but of his large, Quaker family too. He loved his wife and his children…..and he could forgive.
The author does not always express himself clearly. He infers rather than states exactly what he wants said. This annoyed me when it occurred. It was as though what he was saying was so obvious to him, the message could be joked about or implied. Sometimes he uses idioms or expressions I fail to grasp. Other times, fancy words are used rather than the simple. In non-fiction, I prefer a straightforward presentation of facts. I prefer clarity.
George Newburn narrates the audiobook. His voice is strong and clear. Four stars for the narration.
July 12, 2021
Daniel Boone’s story is legendary, but few of us know any of the particulars of his life and achievements, beyond the forging of the Cumberland Gap. When I saw this book, I leapt at the chance to read it. My thanks go to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for the review copy; this book is for sale now.
Boone’s life is often held up as a testament to what an individual can accomplish if he is hardworking and determined; yet though he was both of those things, this bit of lore is also partly myth. Boone is born into a well-to-do family, pioneers to be certain, but not ones forced to build fortunes from scratch. After parting ways with the Quakers in Pennsylvania, the family moves south. Daniel is in love with the wilderness, and his physical strength, health, and stamina, combined with courage, resourcefulness, and a capacity to think on his feet make him a natural born explorer. He is an excellent hunter, and so he makes his living by selling animal pelts; also, it turns out that bears are delicious. (Sorry, Smokey.) But as others move westward, the game begins to dry up, and so he moves further westward than anybody else.
Boone is renowned as an Indian fighter, but the truth is complicated, and it’s political. There were a great many tribes involved, and often as not they were enemies with one another, at least in the beginning. In some cases, land was sold by a tribe that actually had no claim to it in the first place. This explodes the notion taught to us as children, that the Native peoples found the notion of selling land incomprehensible because of its sacredness; we see one tribe for whom this is true, but there were plenty of instances where a treaty was knowingly made, yet other factors also made it unenforceable. Most of all, Caucasian Americans failed to understand the lack of a top down decision-making structure within the tribes, and so often a chief or other leader would sign, but others within his tribe weren’t bound by his individual decision.
Then too, there’s the little matter of the American Revolution. Alliances are constantly made and broken, involving the British, French, Spanish, and Patriots. At one point, Boone loses his considerable acreage because his land is granted him by the Spanish, but the Louisiana Purchase renders his title null and void.
But it is the detailed recounting of Boone’s explorations (almost never alone, except in an emergency, so there goes the myth of the rugged individual) that makes this book fascinating. The scrapes he gets into, and how he gets out of them; the harrowing fates that befall those around him. He is captured and escapes multiple times. And although the women in his life get little ink, my heart goes out to Rebecca, his wife, who is left alone with the younger children for months and months on end, often without any idea as to where his travels have taken him, and whether he’s coming back. There are so many ways to die out there, and it’s not like anyone can send her a telegram to let her know if everyone is killed. At one point, she gives him up for dead, and when he finally shows up, she is pregnant, and the baby cannot be his! She tells him that she believed herself a widow, and so she turned to his brother; Boone decides this is understandable, since that’s pretty much what widows are expected to do, and since his brother looks like him, it won’t be obvious to others that he isn’t the father.
Even more interesting, however, is his daughter, Jemima. Her strength and cunning in dangerous circumstances—particularly when she is kidnapped and plays a part in her own rescue—make me wish she had her own biography. Were gender roles not so restrictive, she would have made an outstanding lieutenant, and perhaps successor to her father.
I initially didn’t believe I could give this work a five star rating, because the sources provided aren’t well integrated, and Clavin has relied tremendously on one source, a biography written long ago by Draper. But after I read the endnotes, I realized that even if he had been merely rewriting Draper’s book for a modern audience, it would be a great service. The social and political perspectives dominant when Draper’s book was written would make most of us blanch today, particularly with regard to race and gender, and yet, Draper did a masterful job with research, extensively reviewing Boone’s family and others still living at the time. I came away convinced that Clavin knows his subject well, and though I taught American history and government for decades, I learned a great deal from this one nifty book.
Highly recommended.
Boone’s life is often held up as a testament to what an individual can accomplish if he is hardworking and determined; yet though he was both of those things, this bit of lore is also partly myth. Boone is born into a well-to-do family, pioneers to be certain, but not ones forced to build fortunes from scratch. After parting ways with the Quakers in Pennsylvania, the family moves south. Daniel is in love with the wilderness, and his physical strength, health, and stamina, combined with courage, resourcefulness, and a capacity to think on his feet make him a natural born explorer. He is an excellent hunter, and so he makes his living by selling animal pelts; also, it turns out that bears are delicious. (Sorry, Smokey.) But as others move westward, the game begins to dry up, and so he moves further westward than anybody else.
Boone is renowned as an Indian fighter, but the truth is complicated, and it’s political. There were a great many tribes involved, and often as not they were enemies with one another, at least in the beginning. In some cases, land was sold by a tribe that actually had no claim to it in the first place. This explodes the notion taught to us as children, that the Native peoples found the notion of selling land incomprehensible because of its sacredness; we see one tribe for whom this is true, but there were plenty of instances where a treaty was knowingly made, yet other factors also made it unenforceable. Most of all, Caucasian Americans failed to understand the lack of a top down decision-making structure within the tribes, and so often a chief or other leader would sign, but others within his tribe weren’t bound by his individual decision.
Then too, there’s the little matter of the American Revolution. Alliances are constantly made and broken, involving the British, French, Spanish, and Patriots. At one point, Boone loses his considerable acreage because his land is granted him by the Spanish, but the Louisiana Purchase renders his title null and void.
But it is the detailed recounting of Boone’s explorations (almost never alone, except in an emergency, so there goes the myth of the rugged individual) that makes this book fascinating. The scrapes he gets into, and how he gets out of them; the harrowing fates that befall those around him. He is captured and escapes multiple times. And although the women in his life get little ink, my heart goes out to Rebecca, his wife, who is left alone with the younger children for months and months on end, often without any idea as to where his travels have taken him, and whether he’s coming back. There are so many ways to die out there, and it’s not like anyone can send her a telegram to let her know if everyone is killed. At one point, she gives him up for dead, and when he finally shows up, she is pregnant, and the baby cannot be his! She tells him that she believed herself a widow, and so she turned to his brother; Boone decides this is understandable, since that’s pretty much what widows are expected to do, and since his brother looks like him, it won’t be obvious to others that he isn’t the father.
Even more interesting, however, is his daughter, Jemima. Her strength and cunning in dangerous circumstances—particularly when she is kidnapped and plays a part in her own rescue—make me wish she had her own biography. Were gender roles not so restrictive, she would have made an outstanding lieutenant, and perhaps successor to her father.
I initially didn’t believe I could give this work a five star rating, because the sources provided aren’t well integrated, and Clavin has relied tremendously on one source, a biography written long ago by Draper. But after I read the endnotes, I realized that even if he had been merely rewriting Draper’s book for a modern audience, it would be a great service. The social and political perspectives dominant when Draper’s book was written would make most of us blanch today, particularly with regard to race and gender, and yet, Draper did a masterful job with research, extensively reviewing Boone’s family and others still living at the time. I came away convinced that Clavin knows his subject well, and though I taught American history and government for decades, I learned a great deal from this one nifty book.
Highly recommended.
April 13, 2021
Daniel Boone was a man who wore many hats. Perhaps you picture him in his iconic coon cap to accessorize his buckskin shirt and britches -- a rifle perched on his shoulder. After reading this new release, I have a much more comprehensive view of the famous pioneer and his role in colonizing the area west of the Ohio River and as a part of the Revolutionary War. In his 70+ years, Daniel was a son, brother, husband, father, hunter, scout, guide, negotiator, real estate mogul, engineer, and more. He was larger than life and times were messy. This meticulously researched volume shed so much light on what it was like to live in the mid to late 18th century. There was so much blood shed over the treasure of the land and quest for freedom. My horizons have been widened considerably and I have gained a larger understanding of the plight of the indigenous peoples as our country expanded beyond the Appalachians. You might be wondering, why my rating is not five stars. There are two reasons: 1) The ARC I read did not have maps and I process new information more efficiently with visual aids. 2) There were a large number of names and places introduced and I would have loved access to an index to revisit the other mentions of that person or place in the narrative. Coincidentally, I had already been planning to rewatch 'The Last of the Mohicans.' Can't think of a better movie to complement this book.
Thank you to St. Martins Press for sending me a paperback ARC of this fascinating new book. It truly is a treasure.
Thank you to St. Martins Press for sending me a paperback ARC of this fascinating new book. It truly is a treasure.
February 13, 2021
Amazing.
This is possibly the best history book I have read for a long time. Kudos to the authors for clear, concise, and engaging prose and substantial research. By the time I was only 25% of the way through the galley I had already learned a lot about the Native American tribes that existed in the 1700’s. I also learned a huge amount about the French and Indian Wars and how the French and British recruited Native American tribes to fight the colonists.
The book focuses on Daniel Boone and contemporaneous events such as the Revolutionary War. Boone and his travel are placed in the center and events are explained around him. And not just events like treaties and wars. The context of his world is explained at each relevant point, including the vast numbers of beaver that lived in wild areas, the extensive range of the American Buffalo in the 1700’s, and the botany of certain areas. Boone lived from 1734 to 1820, so his life was a part of the infancy of the nation.
Numerous colonists, Native Americans, British, and Canadians are profiled when they are introduced into the timeline. This adds important background for understanding the actions of people living at the time, and most importantly, Daniel Boone.
The story ranges from the northeast in Pennsylvania, down to Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, and even the British Colonies of East Florida and West Florida. Exploration of the Illinois Territory and fighting there during the Revolutionary War is also covered.
Emphasis is given to Boone’s search for and experiences in the Native Americans’ storied land of Kanta ke (Kentucky). In going into wild lands where Native Americans lived, he was captured at least 3 times, the last time with the result that he was adopted into the Shawnee tribe. Adoption could be a brutal process and happened to both white and black people.
The narrative covers significant amounts of Native American history. I had no idea Potawotami and Chippewa Indians fought colonists on the British side. Large numbers of Shawnee, Delaware, and Mingo also fought on behalf of the British in the western territories. Also discussed are numerous brutal raids, battles, and skirmishes with what could be called atrocities or war crimes on both sides of the fence. The authors cite a statistic that during the entirety of the Revolutionary War, the mortality rate of colonists in the 13 Colonies was 1%, while that of “westerly” colonists settling west of the Appalachians was a staggering 7%. I had no idea so much of the Revolutionary War was fought far to the west of the 13 Colonies.
This history is of particular interest to me since my family research has revealed that a portion of my father’s family lived in western Virginia, northwestern North Carolina, and northeastern Tennessee (not far from Kentucky), in the 1700s-1800s.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in Native American, Revolutionary War, or U.S. history in general.
Thank you to authors Bob Drury and Tom Clavin, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for allowing me to read such a fantastic book!
This is possibly the best history book I have read for a long time. Kudos to the authors for clear, concise, and engaging prose and substantial research. By the time I was only 25% of the way through the galley I had already learned a lot about the Native American tribes that existed in the 1700’s. I also learned a huge amount about the French and Indian Wars and how the French and British recruited Native American tribes to fight the colonists.
The book focuses on Daniel Boone and contemporaneous events such as the Revolutionary War. Boone and his travel are placed in the center and events are explained around him. And not just events like treaties and wars. The context of his world is explained at each relevant point, including the vast numbers of beaver that lived in wild areas, the extensive range of the American Buffalo in the 1700’s, and the botany of certain areas. Boone lived from 1734 to 1820, so his life was a part of the infancy of the nation.
Numerous colonists, Native Americans, British, and Canadians are profiled when they are introduced into the timeline. This adds important background for understanding the actions of people living at the time, and most importantly, Daniel Boone.
The story ranges from the northeast in Pennsylvania, down to Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, and even the British Colonies of East Florida and West Florida. Exploration of the Illinois Territory and fighting there during the Revolutionary War is also covered.
Emphasis is given to Boone’s search for and experiences in the Native Americans’ storied land of Kanta ke (Kentucky). In going into wild lands where Native Americans lived, he was captured at least 3 times, the last time with the result that he was adopted into the Shawnee tribe. Adoption could be a brutal process and happened to both white and black people.
The narrative covers significant amounts of Native American history. I had no idea Potawotami and Chippewa Indians fought colonists on the British side. Large numbers of Shawnee, Delaware, and Mingo also fought on behalf of the British in the western territories. Also discussed are numerous brutal raids, battles, and skirmishes with what could be called atrocities or war crimes on both sides of the fence. The authors cite a statistic that during the entirety of the Revolutionary War, the mortality rate of colonists in the 13 Colonies was 1%, while that of “westerly” colonists settling west of the Appalachians was a staggering 7%. I had no idea so much of the Revolutionary War was fought far to the west of the 13 Colonies.
This history is of particular interest to me since my family research has revealed that a portion of my father’s family lived in western Virginia, northwestern North Carolina, and northeastern Tennessee (not far from Kentucky), in the 1700s-1800s.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in Native American, Revolutionary War, or U.S. history in general.
Thank you to authors Bob Drury and Tom Clavin, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for allowing me to read such a fantastic book!
April 24, 2021
I have read several of Tom Clavin's books and have enjoyed them all! I always learn something new about America's early history. One thing I appreciate about his books is that he keeps the story interesting. It isn't just dry historical nonfiction....he keeps it interesting and entertaining. These books don't read like a textbook, but rather an unfolding of history by someone who obviously loves it.
Drury and Clavin build a history of the early push beyond the Appalachian mountains using obviously in-depth research and contemporary sources including diaries, newspaper articles and firsthand stories. That makes this book about the real Daniel Boone and the time he lived in -- not not a re-telling of the myth behind the man. This book is about the man....not the larger than life hero from old fiction novels and television shows. And it doesn't pull punches. The foray into the unsettled west was bloody, violent and grim at times. Native American tribes were brutalized, and attacked those venturing into their lands to save their way of life. Men, women and children died. Many, many of them.
Loved this book! As usual I'm going to buy a hardback copy for my husband and the audio book for myself. For me these books always warrant a revisit. And my husband loves history as much as I do.
I'm definitely eagerly awaiting the next book from both of these authors!
**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from St. Martins Press. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**
Drury and Clavin build a history of the early push beyond the Appalachian mountains using obviously in-depth research and contemporary sources including diaries, newspaper articles and firsthand stories. That makes this book about the real Daniel Boone and the time he lived in -- not not a re-telling of the myth behind the man. This book is about the man....not the larger than life hero from old fiction novels and television shows. And it doesn't pull punches. The foray into the unsettled west was bloody, violent and grim at times. Native American tribes were brutalized, and attacked those venturing into their lands to save their way of life. Men, women and children died. Many, many of them.
Loved this book! As usual I'm going to buy a hardback copy for my husband and the audio book for myself. For me these books always warrant a revisit. And my husband loves history as much as I do.
I'm definitely eagerly awaiting the next book from both of these authors!
**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from St. Martins Press. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**
January 28, 2023
I have always found Daniel Boone to be quite fascinating, and also a polarizing character. So I couldn’t resist this saga of not only Boone, but of the fight for the western frontier in Kentucky at the same time the American Revolution was in full swing. The book describes how resources of men and ammunition are secured for all parts of the country for the near constant battles on all fronts. Yet throughout it all, Daniel Boone manages to command attention and resources to keep people alive in Boonesborough, KY. He lived to the great age of 86.
October 14, 2021
I had high hopes for this book, but unfortunately was very quickly disappointed. I hoped it would be a patriotic, and historical account of Daniel Boone. Unfortunately like many other information sources in our world today, this has been tainted by the plague of being “woke.” According to woke doctrine, you are either racist or anti-racist. For those who are defined as anti-racist, you must admit you are racist and state what you are actively doing to combat your personal bias against anything that’s not white.
This book first hints of this doctrine with its disclaimer in the note to readers:
“Further, regarding the term Indian: as two white authors chronicling a historical epoch so crucial to the fate of America’s indigenous peoples, we relied on historical context…”. The text goes on to justify why they use the word Indian.
Ok, so I decided to get over that and continue to read the book.
The wokeness struck again in chapter 3 (page 31) where the book was describing America’s “long hunters.” The book described in great detail, these mountain men, that would be gone for as long as two years in the wilderness gathering furs, etc on long hunts to support their families. In regard to these men, with no further justification states:
“although their racist disdain for America’s indigenous peoples was manifest - here Boone was the outlier - they adopted Indian dress and hunting techniques as their own”
I grow fatigued hearing this lie of white racism and woke propaganda. I put the book down and didn’t pick it back up.
I highly recommend finding a book about Daniel Boone that was written during a time that the world wasn’t indoctrinated with this lie.
This book first hints of this doctrine with its disclaimer in the note to readers:
“Further, regarding the term Indian: as two white authors chronicling a historical epoch so crucial to the fate of America’s indigenous peoples, we relied on historical context…”. The text goes on to justify why they use the word Indian.
Ok, so I decided to get over that and continue to read the book.
The wokeness struck again in chapter 3 (page 31) where the book was describing America’s “long hunters.” The book described in great detail, these mountain men, that would be gone for as long as two years in the wilderness gathering furs, etc on long hunts to support their families. In regard to these men, with no further justification states:
“although their racist disdain for America’s indigenous peoples was manifest - here Boone was the outlier - they adopted Indian dress and hunting techniques as their own”
I grow fatigued hearing this lie of white racism and woke propaganda. I put the book down and didn’t pick it back up.
I highly recommend finding a book about Daniel Boone that was written during a time that the world wasn’t indoctrinated with this lie.
June 6, 2021
Daniel Boone’s role in the bloody struggle of America’s original 13 colonies to cross the country’s first frontier - the Appalachian Mountains. Full of information not typically known, the true exploits of America’s most famous frontiersman, the role the British played in organizing the various Indian tribes against the colonists and just how brutal and unforgiving life was on the edge of America’s frontier. A very engaging and enthralling look at a pivotal moment in our country’s history.
March 2, 2022
Great story. Too many “big” words used throughout this book. I had to stop and look up meaning constantly. One word said in the definition that it isn’t used anymore.
Febrile
Quotidian
Shibboleth
Just to name a few
Febrile
Quotidian
Shibboleth
Just to name a few
February 8, 2022
Rating somewhere between a 3 and 4.
My reading of this book was different because I had read The Taking of Jemima Boone by Matthew Pearl a couple of months earlier. The theme and scope of this book is much larger (authors said book started as a general history of the opening of the "over the mountains" lands but since Daniel Boone showed up in almost all those stories, he became focus of book). But many of the characters are the same, looked at from different viewpoints and sometimes different moments in time.
Authors Drury and Clavin are sympathetic to the native American tribes and leaders who are a part of this story but since Pearl just focuses on a few who had the most impact on early Boonesborough, the Indians come across more as real people and individuals and there's more of a sense of maybe this story could possibly have played out differently.
One character who did not show up in Jemima Boone but is quite startling here is George Rogers Clark, the older brother of explorer William Clark. As tough and stubborn as Daniel Boone in the woods (but much bloodier), he was the military leader during the Indian wars of the Revolutionary War.
I realized how little I know about American geography and early history north of Tennessee once I began reading this. Boonesborough was significant because once over the mountains, the lands of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio as well as Kentucky opened up for the hunters and settlers. The book has maps, thankfully, but I still got out an atlas occasionally.
I know these authors write popular and well received histories but I was not as impressed as I expected to be by their research. Occasionally, something just didn't sound right (when they referred to Boone rival Richard Calloway's background as "Southern Baptist"). But this is a fascinating story of a critical moment in American history, well-written, it kept my interest.
Often not an easy read . . . the book opens with the death and torture of young James Boone, Daniel's oldest son, and other stories of both hunter/settler and Indian village massacres. But it is all our history.
My reading of this book was different because I had read The Taking of Jemima Boone by Matthew Pearl a couple of months earlier. The theme and scope of this book is much larger (authors said book started as a general history of the opening of the "over the mountains" lands but since Daniel Boone showed up in almost all those stories, he became focus of book). But many of the characters are the same, looked at from different viewpoints and sometimes different moments in time.
Authors Drury and Clavin are sympathetic to the native American tribes and leaders who are a part of this story but since Pearl just focuses on a few who had the most impact on early Boonesborough, the Indians come across more as real people and individuals and there's more of a sense of maybe this story could possibly have played out differently.
One character who did not show up in Jemima Boone but is quite startling here is George Rogers Clark, the older brother of explorer William Clark. As tough and stubborn as Daniel Boone in the woods (but much bloodier), he was the military leader during the Indian wars of the Revolutionary War.
I realized how little I know about American geography and early history north of Tennessee once I began reading this. Boonesborough was significant because once over the mountains, the lands of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio as well as Kentucky opened up for the hunters and settlers. The book has maps, thankfully, but I still got out an atlas occasionally.
I know these authors write popular and well received histories but I was not as impressed as I expected to be by their research. Occasionally, something just didn't sound right (when they referred to Boone rival Richard Calloway's background as "Southern Baptist"). But this is a fascinating story of a critical moment in American history, well-written, it kept my interest.
Often not an easy read . . . the book opens with the death and torture of young James Boone, Daniel's oldest son, and other stories of both hunter/settler and Indian village massacres. But it is all our history.
November 28, 2023
What I thought would be a solid biography of Daniel Boone was actually partially Boone, more the history of French, English and America conflicts with the Native Americans. The other problem I had was there were no author notes to clarify where information came from, only a "selected" bibliography, Being the purist I am, concerning research, this did not sit well with me.
There is a lot of blood (as the title implies) in this book, so be warned if this something that bothers you. Immediately the books begins with the savage death of Boones son, which to me was a good sign that this book would be in-depth on Boone and his family. From that point on though, until 3/4 through, we learned more about other settlers, the Indian Nation and all the wars that took place during this time. All fine and good, if that is what you are looking for.
I expected more, thus just a so-so rating from me.
There is a lot of blood (as the title implies) in this book, so be warned if this something that bothers you. Immediately the books begins with the savage death of Boones son, which to me was a good sign that this book would be in-depth on Boone and his family. From that point on though, until 3/4 through, we learned more about other settlers, the Indian Nation and all the wars that took place during this time. All fine and good, if that is what you are looking for.
I expected more, thus just a so-so rating from me.
February 15, 2021
This book was exactly what I was hoping for. Not only does it succeed as a concise, thorough, and meticulously researched account of the conquest of America's first frontier, it also manages to bring the people and events of this time and place exploding to life with colorful and surprisingly intimate details. The geography, history and storytelling are enough to earn this book 4 stars, but the true magic (and thus, 5 stars) comes from how it reveals the soul and character of the people that created this chapter in U.S. history without any sort of political commentary. The authors let the facts speak for themselves and , in turn, reveal a picture of a nation that is deeply flawed at its core despite how badly it wants to think of itself as a superior model for the rest of the world. The truth is, this country will never be "great" until we come to grips with our horrific past and go through a genuine and authentic reckoning. We are simply not who we think we are...and, sadly, we never have been.
June 18, 2021
I learned a few new things from "Blood and Treasure" about Daniel Boone, a hero of whom I read much in my youth. And this book seems to have been originally written to treat him well. The work is not overly stoked with "woke" themes of hatred, and one wonders if the sprinkling of woke criticisms of an American hero who lived within another time and culture were necessary to get published today.
We see the rules of warfare centuries past, criticized from the parlor armchair today. The rationalization of Indian barbarism and their victimhood as a superior economy and culture supplanted theirs (survival of the fittest). And then there is slavery.
Several times the authors point out that Boone owned slaves and that his family "most certainly ... owned black human beings" given that they were wealthy, even though slavery was an anomaly (their own words) per the census (so they had to stretch to an assumption to pile on the dirt).
Ironically, the authors don't call what the Indians did slavery. The authors describe how the Indians raided other tribes, and American immigrant settlements, to steal, pillage, rape, and take slaves -- including Daniel Boone at one time. The authors romanticize slavery by Indians as "adoption" or "transmogrification" -- you're not a white slave, your a transmogrified Indian slave. A survey of history written before the 1960s shows these "adoptees" were kept against their will, forced to work without compensation, raped, beaten and mutilated by their keepers. So the reader sees that forced subjugation of the weak by the strong is a natural human condition absent the love-thy-neighbor strictures of Christianity that were written into the Declaration, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Emancipation Proclamation, and finally enforced through the death and mutilation of 642,427 Union soldiers (most of them white) who ultimately wiped slavery from the nation.
Fortunately, the overwhelming preponderance of good that Boone did for his family, neighbors and for the nation are also described here. And his physical feats and heroism, his sacrifices made from love for his fellow man, are not tarnished by the culture of his time.
We see the rules of warfare centuries past, criticized from the parlor armchair today. The rationalization of Indian barbarism and their victimhood as a superior economy and culture supplanted theirs (survival of the fittest). And then there is slavery.
Several times the authors point out that Boone owned slaves and that his family "most certainly ... owned black human beings" given that they were wealthy, even though slavery was an anomaly (their own words) per the census (so they had to stretch to an assumption to pile on the dirt).
Ironically, the authors don't call what the Indians did slavery. The authors describe how the Indians raided other tribes, and American immigrant settlements, to steal, pillage, rape, and take slaves -- including Daniel Boone at one time. The authors romanticize slavery by Indians as "adoption" or "transmogrification" -- you're not a white slave, your a transmogrified Indian slave. A survey of history written before the 1960s shows these "adoptees" were kept against their will, forced to work without compensation, raped, beaten and mutilated by their keepers. So the reader sees that forced subjugation of the weak by the strong is a natural human condition absent the love-thy-neighbor strictures of Christianity that were written into the Declaration, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Emancipation Proclamation, and finally enforced through the death and mutilation of 642,427 Union soldiers (most of them white) who ultimately wiped slavery from the nation.
Fortunately, the overwhelming preponderance of good that Boone did for his family, neighbors and for the nation are also described here. And his physical feats and heroism, his sacrifices made from love for his fellow man, are not tarnished by the culture of his time.
August 3, 2021
A fast-paced biography of the famous pioneer, which doubles as a popular history of western North Carolina and central Kentucky in the very eventful mid and late 18th century, when this country was born. I usually advise readers to start with the publisher's blurb, but my word.... Not this one.
I read the book after seeing the WSJ's enthusiastic review, https://www.wsj.com/articles/blood-an...
(Paywalled. As always, I'm happy to email a copy to non-subscribers)
Excerpt:
"Messrs. Drury and Clavin have interwoven the life of the iconic pioneer Daniel Boone with the bloody and brutal early decades of the trans-Appalachian frontier to produce “Blood and Treasure: Daniel Boone and the Fight for America’s First Frontier.” This may be the authors’ finest work to date. Unquestionably, “Blood and Treasure” is among the most redolent of time and place. I felt myself immersed in the sights, sounds and smells of frontier life, as well as the lurking dangers and gruesome deep-forest clashes between grasping frontiersmen and Native Americans defending their country—such are the authors’ keen descriptive powers. Numerous excellent maps enhance the text."
And here's a good professional review, freely available online:
https://www.appalachianhistory.net/20...
Boone, like many of his compatriots, had itchy feet: I recall the authors writing that the average American colonist of the time moved six times in their lifetime. Back when moving was really hard.
And the level of violence, between the American colonists and the Indians who were there first, was simply appalling. I had to stop for breaks, or skim some of the worst. It was a real battle for the cellar, between the colonists and the natives, for atrocities. Some kindness at the start, which evaporated pretty soon. If graphic scenes of torture and death offend you -- well, you've been warned. Really, really bad.
I didn't take notes. It's an absorbing read, if you like good popular history. Strong 4 stars: highly recommended.
I read the book after seeing the WSJ's enthusiastic review, https://www.wsj.com/articles/blood-an...
(Paywalled. As always, I'm happy to email a copy to non-subscribers)
Excerpt:
"Messrs. Drury and Clavin have interwoven the life of the iconic pioneer Daniel Boone with the bloody and brutal early decades of the trans-Appalachian frontier to produce “Blood and Treasure: Daniel Boone and the Fight for America’s First Frontier.” This may be the authors’ finest work to date. Unquestionably, “Blood and Treasure” is among the most redolent of time and place. I felt myself immersed in the sights, sounds and smells of frontier life, as well as the lurking dangers and gruesome deep-forest clashes between grasping frontiersmen and Native Americans defending their country—such are the authors’ keen descriptive powers. Numerous excellent maps enhance the text."
And here's a good professional review, freely available online:
https://www.appalachianhistory.net/20...
Boone, like many of his compatriots, had itchy feet: I recall the authors writing that the average American colonist of the time moved six times in their lifetime. Back when moving was really hard.
And the level of violence, between the American colonists and the Indians who were there first, was simply appalling. I had to stop for breaks, or skim some of the worst. It was a real battle for the cellar, between the colonists and the natives, for atrocities. Some kindness at the start, which evaporated pretty soon. If graphic scenes of torture and death offend you -- well, you've been warned. Really, really bad.
I didn't take notes. It's an absorbing read, if you like good popular history. Strong 4 stars: highly recommended.
July 11, 2023
DNF, I got about 100 pages in.
Is there any actual Daniel Boone in this book about Daniel Boone?
I've read maybe three or four cool stories of Boone, and about 90 pages of boring crap. Not the least of which is this woke messaging about racism and colonialism. Considering the Indians were all racist towards each other (one of the tribe called themselves the "only-real-people;" what do you think that implies?), they killed each other, murdered each other, and took slaves just like EVERY OTHER ANCIENT CIVILIZATION.
That gets really old to read, and it is all that is in this book. In fact, the author even makes a point to say Daniel Boone was NOT like that and actually adopted their ways to help him hunt. Daniel Boone was actually way ahead of his time for race relations.
So a book about a someone who is not a racist is completely monopolized by how everyone is a racist.
I wanted to read about Daniel Boone.
Is there any actual Daniel Boone in this book about Daniel Boone?
I've read maybe three or four cool stories of Boone, and about 90 pages of boring crap. Not the least of which is this woke messaging about racism and colonialism. Considering the Indians were all racist towards each other (one of the tribe called themselves the "only-real-people;" what do you think that implies?), they killed each other, murdered each other, and took slaves just like EVERY OTHER ANCIENT CIVILIZATION.
That gets really old to read, and it is all that is in this book. In fact, the author even makes a point to say Daniel Boone was NOT like that and actually adopted their ways to help him hunt. Daniel Boone was actually way ahead of his time for race relations.
So a book about a someone who is not a racist is completely monopolized by how everyone is a racist.
I wanted to read about Daniel Boone.
January 27, 2024
I've always been enchanted about Frontier America, and how the first settlers (sans Native Americans) sought new lands further west from the east coast. Daniel Boone, a name most recognize, but some is myth, like how plays and TV shows have him wearing a coonskin hat, when based on historical records, his was not the one to wear this.
This book travels from where Boone is born in Pennsylvania, to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia as a kid, then into the Yadkin River Valley of NC as a teen. His father helped with teaching him the ways of hunting, but he also studied native Americans.
Most of the book covers his adult life heading west into Kentucky. There are chapters and sub-parts of chapters that delve into other Americans of that time, including George Washington, George Rogers Clark, Patrick Henry, as well as Native Americans such as Pontiac, Tecumseh and Blackfish.
This is the history not taught when I was in school. You always heard about the brutality of the Indians, and saw it portrayed in older movies and TV shows, but the early settlers/Americans/Colonialists of the late 18th century were equally brutal in their handling of the Native Americans.
Pretty much there will always be good and evil amongst all cultures, races and ethnic groups.
Daniel Boone and the tragedies and triumphs he endured show us how determined he was, despite the fact he was a poor man with money.
Just the fact that he traveled miles upon miles either by foot or horse and the territory he covered is amazing. Since I live in southwest Virginia, and know much of the area of the southern Appalachians, picturing the trek was not too hard, though in person, in having all the infrastructure and modern amenities, you have to move away from that into the woods/forests/mountains of where he and many others walked to get a feel of the hardships one may encounter (bad weather, treacherous terrain, animals, enemies, etc).
This is my first book by Drury and Clavin, and I liked the writing style and the flow. Will likely read some of their other books. Though there are some maps and photos in the book, would have loved to had more.
This book travels from where Boone is born in Pennsylvania, to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia as a kid, then into the Yadkin River Valley of NC as a teen. His father helped with teaching him the ways of hunting, but he also studied native Americans.
Most of the book covers his adult life heading west into Kentucky. There are chapters and sub-parts of chapters that delve into other Americans of that time, including George Washington, George Rogers Clark, Patrick Henry, as well as Native Americans such as Pontiac, Tecumseh and Blackfish.
This is the history not taught when I was in school. You always heard about the brutality of the Indians, and saw it portrayed in older movies and TV shows, but the early settlers/Americans/Colonialists of the late 18th century were equally brutal in their handling of the Native Americans.
Pretty much there will always be good and evil amongst all cultures, races and ethnic groups.
Daniel Boone and the tragedies and triumphs he endured show us how determined he was, despite the fact he was a poor man with money.
Just the fact that he traveled miles upon miles either by foot or horse and the territory he covered is amazing. Since I live in southwest Virginia, and know much of the area of the southern Appalachians, picturing the trek was not too hard, though in person, in having all the infrastructure and modern amenities, you have to move away from that into the woods/forests/mountains of where he and many others walked to get a feel of the hardships one may encounter (bad weather, treacherous terrain, animals, enemies, etc).
This is my first book by Drury and Clavin, and I liked the writing style and the flow. Will likely read some of their other books. Though there are some maps and photos in the book, would have loved to had more.
March 14, 2021
This is a well-researched history of Daniel Boone and westward expansion. Drawing from tons of documentation, the authors bring to life the various men and women who traveled into the unknown of western America and faced the perils, often not surviving.
Daniel Boone is an amazing person, he seems bigger than life. But the research and documentation the authors refer to throughout the book make this man’s life believable. He had an extremely strong and independent family behind him, that aspect was most interesting to me.
It’s somber reading this when we know all along what happened to the Indian culture. Their lands were invaded, their homes and tribes annihilated, and history was written by the victor. But I write this review comfortably sitting on a patch of land where that exact history occurred (Missouri). That’s the downside of historical writing; we know how it ends.
I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions, the detail, and the life these authors breathed into their characters. I regret what happened to the Indian culture in the occupation of western America, but sadly, so goes the evolution of Man.
Sincere thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date is April 20, 2021.
Daniel Boone is an amazing person, he seems bigger than life. But the research and documentation the authors refer to throughout the book make this man’s life believable. He had an extremely strong and independent family behind him, that aspect was most interesting to me.
It’s somber reading this when we know all along what happened to the Indian culture. Their lands were invaded, their homes and tribes annihilated, and history was written by the victor. But I write this review comfortably sitting on a patch of land where that exact history occurred (Missouri). That’s the downside of historical writing; we know how it ends.
I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions, the detail, and the life these authors breathed into their characters. I regret what happened to the Indian culture in the occupation of western America, but sadly, so goes the evolution of Man.
Sincere thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date is April 20, 2021.
March 10, 2021
Very much enjoyed this! Although, I would say that this is more of a history of the mid-eighteenth century with a focus on Daniel Boone, as there was a lot that did not center around Boone in this book. I don't mind that at all, but just a head's up. I thought Drury and Clavin did an amazing job of researching and relaying the chaos and events of this time period. I was exceptionally pleased to see that this was not a sugarcoated account of interactions with Native Americans and that there was plenty of respect, detail, and nuance included in all of their accounts. If you, like me, are lacking at all in your knowledge of this time period in what is now the United States, then this is a great book to pick up.
April 21, 2022
This book regales the history of Daniel Boone with intense and colorful detail, the kind of man myths are made of. The history is fuller than the myth. This is a period of American history I only know through childrens' stories. I enjoyed this book, although the events are as rough as the the frontier was untamed. The savagery which both the white settlers and native Indians wrought on each other sickened me. I can't say who was more brutal, but the river of blood and tears runs wide and deep through our history.
March 7, 2021
This book is a billed as a biography of Daniel Boone and the opening of the original American northwest. The book is intended for a wide audience and is written in that manner. The chapters are short with some going into great detail and others not so much. It is an enjoyable read as I have read many books by both authors and found them engaging and entertaining. This book presents a good overview treatment of both the life of Daniel Boone and opening up the country west of the Appalachians. There are several others books that treat both subjects in greater detail for those that desire more than what the book presents.
I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook page.
I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook page.
February 15, 2022
This book should have been titled, "The Fight for America's First Frontier, and Daniel Boone." So much of the book is devoted to events in which Daniel Boone had no part, that it is easy to forget that the book is marketed as a biography of Boone. The entire book is written that way, giving detailed accounts of individual conflicts of the French and Indian War, and frontier wars related to the Revolutionary War, and short vignettes focused on Boone. It felt to me as if two story were written parallel to each other, without either really merging with the other. For someone who was once a legendary figure in American history, the author seems to me to consistently present Boone to be something much less. Having finished the book, I really don't feel as I learned any more about Daniel Boone than when I started. If your interest is in Daniel Boone, I wouldn't recommend this work.
May 16, 2021
Very little about Daniel Boone, authors using a 22nd century lens trying to push their narrative.
April 25, 2021
The biographer has one main advantage and one main disadvantage. The advantage is perspective: you have a fuller understanding of your subject’s story and their times than they themselves ever had. You can know things about them that they never knew about themselves. The disadvantage is that you can’t fully share the subject’s perspective, understand how their thinking developed, what influenced their worldview and how they made decisions. You can approach their thinking by reading what they wrote about themselves and inferring their motivations, but you can’t always grasp what was going on inside their heads.
One of the ways to deal with this drawback, especially the farther back you go from the present, is to do what you can to explain the circumstances and factors that shaped the subject and their worldview. In telling the story of Daniel Boone, biographers Bob Drury and Tom Clavin must tell the story of the frontier in the late colonial and revolutionary period, which usually gets filed in the American imagination as “the French and Indian Wars” and quickly forgotten.
Drury and Clavin set the stage for young Daniel Boone’s wandering, and for his key role in the expansion of the frontier, by examining what was taking place around him --- the importance of the river transportation network, the formidable barrier of the Appalachians, the rivalries of the Native American tribes, and the power politics of the European colonizers. Boone follows George Washington in a doomed English incursion in the area near present-day Pittsburgh and comes away with a disdain for the British leadership.
But he also hears the rumors about Kentucky, which at the time was a contested borderland between rival tribes; its plentiful natural resources and game simultaneously made Kentucky ripe for white settlement. Boone was a “market hunter” in his youth, killing and skinning deer to bring their prized hides to market. Drury and Clavin explain that this is where the term “buck” comes from since deer hides were as good as currency.
Because this area of history is so often neglected, it’s extremely helpful that the authors pause in telling Boone’s story to provide the missing perspective. Many factors went into Boone’s decision to move across the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky aside from mere wanderlust and commercial exploitation --- the decimation of the Native American tribes by smallpox, the expanding colonial population, and the emerging independent spirit of the colonists.
This is especially helpful in terms of the focus placed on the tribes that were ultimately displaced and dispossessed by Boone and the settlers who came after him. BLOOD AND TREASURE is clear about the human cost of American expansion beyond the Appalachians, portraying Boone not so much as a heroic pioneer but as one of many participants in what turned out to be an unequal struggle.
The history of the frontier, from the Cumberland Gap to Sutter’s Mill to the Oklahoma Land Rush, has always been wreathed in fable. Drury and Clavin, to their credit, aren’t in the mythmaking business and present Daniel Boone as a player in a larger theater rather than a protean force of nature. BLOOD AND TREASURE highlights an oft-forgotten stage of American history and does it --- and its subject --- justice.
Reviewed by Curtis Edmonds
One of the ways to deal with this drawback, especially the farther back you go from the present, is to do what you can to explain the circumstances and factors that shaped the subject and their worldview. In telling the story of Daniel Boone, biographers Bob Drury and Tom Clavin must tell the story of the frontier in the late colonial and revolutionary period, which usually gets filed in the American imagination as “the French and Indian Wars” and quickly forgotten.
Drury and Clavin set the stage for young Daniel Boone’s wandering, and for his key role in the expansion of the frontier, by examining what was taking place around him --- the importance of the river transportation network, the formidable barrier of the Appalachians, the rivalries of the Native American tribes, and the power politics of the European colonizers. Boone follows George Washington in a doomed English incursion in the area near present-day Pittsburgh and comes away with a disdain for the British leadership.
But he also hears the rumors about Kentucky, which at the time was a contested borderland between rival tribes; its plentiful natural resources and game simultaneously made Kentucky ripe for white settlement. Boone was a “market hunter” in his youth, killing and skinning deer to bring their prized hides to market. Drury and Clavin explain that this is where the term “buck” comes from since deer hides were as good as currency.
Because this area of history is so often neglected, it’s extremely helpful that the authors pause in telling Boone’s story to provide the missing perspective. Many factors went into Boone’s decision to move across the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky aside from mere wanderlust and commercial exploitation --- the decimation of the Native American tribes by smallpox, the expanding colonial population, and the emerging independent spirit of the colonists.
This is especially helpful in terms of the focus placed on the tribes that were ultimately displaced and dispossessed by Boone and the settlers who came after him. BLOOD AND TREASURE is clear about the human cost of American expansion beyond the Appalachians, portraying Boone not so much as a heroic pioneer but as one of many participants in what turned out to be an unequal struggle.
The history of the frontier, from the Cumberland Gap to Sutter’s Mill to the Oklahoma Land Rush, has always been wreathed in fable. Drury and Clavin, to their credit, aren’t in the mythmaking business and present Daniel Boone as a player in a larger theater rather than a protean force of nature. BLOOD AND TREASURE highlights an oft-forgotten stage of American history and does it --- and its subject --- justice.
Reviewed by Curtis Edmonds
January 26, 2021
America - Eighteenth Century
America's early growing pains before the formation of a new republic was a time of exploration and movement for those who were anxious to escape the routines of life in cities and towns. Rumors of plenty of land, abundant game, and freedom from taxation and laws made plenty of men (and a few women) determined to live a life where they are in control. The stories from frontiersmen of the almost mythical Cumberland Gap, great rivers, and open lands to the west fascinated many, including one independent man named Daniel Boone.
Daniel was born to Squire and Sarah Boone in the wilds of Pennsylvania, the eldest son, and a wild "child" from birth. When he was supposed to be tending to the family's livestock, he, instead, was exploring the backcountry, studying the flora and fauna. His skill as a hunter soon became legendary as he supplied his family with all forms of wildlife. Daniel was also intrigued by the occasional visits of the local Native Americans, Delaware and Shawnee, who came to their township to trade. He took to copying their dress, and learning their medicinal practices. His independent streak would stay with him all of his life. With their Pennsylvania homeland getting too crowded, Squire Boone moved his family to North Carolina, opening up more land for Daniel to explore.
It was his wanderlust that set Daniel and his family, including his wife Rebecca, to keep moving west as he grew into adulthood. As his own family grew, Daniel had to find ways to support them, so hunting and trapping became his life. But exploring was also high on his list of living life to the fullest. Unfortunately, it also meant leaving his family for months on end, and at one time he was gone for a year. When he returned from that trip, he was mildly stunned to discover that Rebecca, who thought he was dead, had delivered another baby while he was gone, and it certainly wasn't his. But Daniel, being Daniel, was forgiving and accepted the child as his own. The baby was, in fact, Daniel's own brother's!
Times being what they were, the British and the French were at odds even thousands of miles from their own countries. When the French and Indian War began, Daniel joined the North Carolina militia, and was in several battles, including the Battle of Monongahela and the Battle of Fort Duquesne in which he had to fight Indians. It wouldn't be his last encounters with them.
When Daniel kept hearing about a way to get west of the mountains through a pass, known as the Cumberland Gap, he set out with others to find it, with the help of an Irishman who felt that he knew the correct direction. It was obvious to Daniel and his men that the pathway was correct after finding that buffalo, elk, and probably humans traversed it. So, while Boone is the one who is given credit for discovering it, clearly Indians and possibly other white men had been there before.
Boone's legendary life included his involvement with Lord Dunmore's War which was between settlers in Kentucky and Native Americans, and one the settlers won. He was later hired to survey land in Kentucky and he founded the colony of Boonsborough.
While known for being a frontiersman, land surveyor, and fabled hunter, Daniel was lousy as a businessman. His land speculation kept him in perpetual debt. However, his reputation usually was helpful in getting work. When the War for Independence broke out, he served as a militia officer in Kentucky, where much of the fighting was with Indians.
BLOOD AND TREASURE is quite a detailed read. Daniel Boone was a legend, but he was also just a man of his times. He owned slaves, he respected the Native Americans, but in the end, would be no kinder than most white men to them, and he had a terrible head for business, so his family suffered for that over and over again. What I enjoyed, in a sad way, the most about this book was the history of what the white people did to the Native Americans. Yes, the Indians responded by doing gruesome things to those they attacked, but they ultimately paid the bigger price of losing their lands, and their dignity
Brilliantly written and impeccably researched, BLOOD AND TREASURE brings to light the amazing history of not only Daniel Boone, but how our fledgling country began its spread to the west.
America's early growing pains before the formation of a new republic was a time of exploration and movement for those who were anxious to escape the routines of life in cities and towns. Rumors of plenty of land, abundant game, and freedom from taxation and laws made plenty of men (and a few women) determined to live a life where they are in control. The stories from frontiersmen of the almost mythical Cumberland Gap, great rivers, and open lands to the west fascinated many, including one independent man named Daniel Boone.
Daniel was born to Squire and Sarah Boone in the wilds of Pennsylvania, the eldest son, and a wild "child" from birth. When he was supposed to be tending to the family's livestock, he, instead, was exploring the backcountry, studying the flora and fauna. His skill as a hunter soon became legendary as he supplied his family with all forms of wildlife. Daniel was also intrigued by the occasional visits of the local Native Americans, Delaware and Shawnee, who came to their township to trade. He took to copying their dress, and learning their medicinal practices. His independent streak would stay with him all of his life. With their Pennsylvania homeland getting too crowded, Squire Boone moved his family to North Carolina, opening up more land for Daniel to explore.
It was his wanderlust that set Daniel and his family, including his wife Rebecca, to keep moving west as he grew into adulthood. As his own family grew, Daniel had to find ways to support them, so hunting and trapping became his life. But exploring was also high on his list of living life to the fullest. Unfortunately, it also meant leaving his family for months on end, and at one time he was gone for a year. When he returned from that trip, he was mildly stunned to discover that Rebecca, who thought he was dead, had delivered another baby while he was gone, and it certainly wasn't his. But Daniel, being Daniel, was forgiving and accepted the child as his own. The baby was, in fact, Daniel's own brother's!
Times being what they were, the British and the French were at odds even thousands of miles from their own countries. When the French and Indian War began, Daniel joined the North Carolina militia, and was in several battles, including the Battle of Monongahela and the Battle of Fort Duquesne in which he had to fight Indians. It wouldn't be his last encounters with them.
When Daniel kept hearing about a way to get west of the mountains through a pass, known as the Cumberland Gap, he set out with others to find it, with the help of an Irishman who felt that he knew the correct direction. It was obvious to Daniel and his men that the pathway was correct after finding that buffalo, elk, and probably humans traversed it. So, while Boone is the one who is given credit for discovering it, clearly Indians and possibly other white men had been there before.
Boone's legendary life included his involvement with Lord Dunmore's War which was between settlers in Kentucky and Native Americans, and one the settlers won. He was later hired to survey land in Kentucky and he founded the colony of Boonsborough.
While known for being a frontiersman, land surveyor, and fabled hunter, Daniel was lousy as a businessman. His land speculation kept him in perpetual debt. However, his reputation usually was helpful in getting work. When the War for Independence broke out, he served as a militia officer in Kentucky, where much of the fighting was with Indians.
BLOOD AND TREASURE is quite a detailed read. Daniel Boone was a legend, but he was also just a man of his times. He owned slaves, he respected the Native Americans, but in the end, would be no kinder than most white men to them, and he had a terrible head for business, so his family suffered for that over and over again. What I enjoyed, in a sad way, the most about this book was the history of what the white people did to the Native Americans. Yes, the Indians responded by doing gruesome things to those they attacked, but they ultimately paid the bigger price of losing their lands, and their dignity
Brilliantly written and impeccably researched, BLOOD AND TREASURE brings to light the amazing history of not only Daniel Boone, but how our fledgling country began its spread to the west.
May 7, 2021
In the mid-eighteenth century, Daniel Boone was a frontiersman and Revolutionary War hero. He and his family explored and settled the frontier that is today Virginia and Kentucky.
"Blood and Treasure" tells the story of Boone's adventures, exploits and trials. It's a heartbreaking story about British, French and the new nation's attitudes toward Native Americans.
Be prepared for quite a bit of blood and guts in this book. "Settling" the frontier required violence and fighting that occurred on both the white and Indian side.
The book is a fast read, though, with plenty of interesting history and research. It tells a different side of the story and reveals the challenges of all involved parties.
"Blood and Treasure" tells the story of Boone's adventures, exploits and trials. It's a heartbreaking story about British, French and the new nation's attitudes toward Native Americans.
Be prepared for quite a bit of blood and guts in this book. "Settling" the frontier required violence and fighting that occurred on both the white and Indian side.
The book is a fast read, though, with plenty of interesting history and research. It tells a different side of the story and reveals the challenges of all involved parties.
April 20, 2022
3.5 stars (between good and really good)
Daniel Boone led quite a remarkable life. His reputed exploits seem almost legendary, but it looks like they are largely true. These include his pathbreaking through the Cumberland Gap establishing an effective travel route through the Appalachian Mountains, his escape from captivity and solo trek through the wilderness to warn Boonesborough of an impending Indian attack and to then to lead in its defense, and the incredible tracking and rescue of his daughter after she was kidnapped by Indians—the inspiration for “The Last of the Mohicans.”
Overall, there is a great deal of interesting history here about America’s expansion over the Appalachians and the inevitable conflicts with the people that already lived there.
Daniel Boone led quite a remarkable life. His reputed exploits seem almost legendary, but it looks like they are largely true. These include his pathbreaking through the Cumberland Gap establishing an effective travel route through the Appalachian Mountains, his escape from captivity and solo trek through the wilderness to warn Boonesborough of an impending Indian attack and to then to lead in its defense, and the incredible tracking and rescue of his daughter after she was kidnapped by Indians—the inspiration for “The Last of the Mohicans.”
Overall, there is a great deal of interesting history here about America’s expansion over the Appalachians and the inevitable conflicts with the people that already lived there.
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