Daniel Boone by Roger Pocock (1908)
Daniel Boone, by Roger Pocock, traces the life of the Devon Quaker's son who became the backwoods marksman, axman and scout of Kentucky. Boone first crosses the mountains into Kentucky when hunting and trapping still pay well in that unspoiled hunting ground, and there he and his wife's brother Stuart are captured by Shawnees, who take their horses and gear but let them go with food and a warning. Boone and Stuart track the Indians to recover stolen plunder, are recaptured, and only escape burning through Boone's charm and their vanishing into the cane brakes; Stuart is later scalped, leaving Boone to hunt on alone until he has earned enough furs to repay his debts. As colonists swarm westward, Boone leads thirty frontiersmen in cutting a two-hundred-mile pack-trail into Kentucky, at a cost of several scalps, and founds the stockaded village of Boonesborough, proud that his wife and daughters are its first women settlers. When war breaks out between the colonies and the crown, the British officer Hamilton at the Illinois forts sends Tories, French Canadians and Indian allies against the rear of the rebellion, and Kentucky bears the brunt: settlements burned, four forts holding on through years of war. During a salt-gathering expedition on the Licking River, Boone is captured again by Shawnees who are marching on Boonesborough. To save the fort and its women and children, he persuades his own men to surrender rather than let the war party reach the settlement. A council votes narrowly, fifty-nine to sixty-one, to sell the prisoners to Hamilton rather than burn them. On the march north the Indians grow fond of Boone and adopt him into the tribe of Chief Black Fish, renaming him Big Turtle after stripping his hair, bathing and painting him. Boone feigns contentment for four months, becoming a trusted hunter, until he learns of a new expedition against Boonesborough and flees, evading pursuit for five days to reach the fort exhausted and starving. The fort prepares for a siege by a hundred Canadians and four hundred Indians against fifty defenders and twenty-five women. Hamilton forbids bloodshed and offers safe passage, and Boone spins out negotiations while awaiting relief. A treaty parley turns treacherous when Indian envoys try to seize the white commissioners, who break free and the siege begins in earnest: a mine is dug and detected by muddy water in the river, flaming arrows are extinguished by the women, and eventually the attackers withdraw. Meanwhile George Rogers Clark leads a Kentucky force that captures the Illinois forts and Vincennes, taking Hamilton prisoner. Later in the war another raid besieges Logan's fort, saved when the women boldly fetch water under the eyes of ambushed Indians. Boone and his son Israel ride with the relief force; despite Boone's warning, the pursuing Kentuckians cross the Licking River into an ambush by Wyandots and Shawnees, and in the rout Boone carries his mortally wounded son from the field, Israel dying as they cross the river. After the Revolution, Boone continues at the front of the westward advance for the rest of his long life, finally settling beyond the Mississippi, remembered as an inspiration to frontiersmen and pioneers.
By Roger Pocock · First published 1908 · Genre: Historical Fiction, Biography, Adventure · 2,230 words
First lines
A. D. 1776
As a matter of unnatural history the British lion is really and truly a lioness with a large and respectable family. When only a cub she sharpened her teeth on Spain, in her youth crushed Holland, and in her prime fought France, wresting from each in turn the command of the sea.
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Genres
- Historical Fiction — The narrative presents a fictionalized account of Daniel Boone's life set against the backdrop of actual historical events, including the American Revolutionary War and westward expansion, blending documented history with dramatic storytelling.
- Biography — The work chronicles the life and exploits of Daniel Boone from his early adventures in Kentucky through his role in frontier settlement and conflict, presenting key biographical milestones and character development.
- Adventure — The text is filled with thrilling episodes including captures, escapes, hunts, sieges, and battles, emphasizing action, danger, and daring exploits across the American frontier.
- Frontier Fiction — The narrative focuses extensively on frontier life, wilderness survival, pioneer settlement, and the encounter between settlers and Native Americans in the context of expanding westward.
Tags
frontier · American history · biography · pioneer · wilderness · adventure · Kentucky · exploration · settler · colonial America · Native Americans · survival
What this Textopian page supports
Daniel Boone is listed on Textopian as a historical account by Roger Pocock, dated 1908 CE.
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- Work type: Historical account
- Author: Roger Pocock
- Date: 1908 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Biography, Adventure, Frontier Fiction, War Literature
- Length: 2,230 words
- Structure: 1 section, 25 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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