1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:07,880 Speaker 1: M so as a storyteller, as a marketer, as a brander. 2 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:11,080 Speaker 1: I like to say, they're kind of, you know, twelve 3 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:15,200 Speaker 1: ish characters, and there are a handful, maybe nine types 4 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:19,560 Speaker 1: of stories, and the best stories combine like these universal 5 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:24,040 Speaker 1: storylines with these universal character types. When I was a 6 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:27,920 Speaker 1: little kid, people would say of people that like to 7 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 1: hunt and fish run around the woods, people would say, 8 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:34,720 Speaker 1: he's a modern day Daniel Boom. He wants to be 9 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:39,280 Speaker 1: just like Daniel Boom. On this episode of the Bargarase podcast, 10 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:43,239 Speaker 1: will be exploring a story as American as cornbread and 11 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:47,600 Speaker 1: black eyed Peas. We're talking about one of America's first heroes, 12 00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 1: Daniel Boone. Will sift through the myth and truth and 13 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 1: discuss why the heck we're still talking about him two 14 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 1: hundred years after his death. We'll learn about the mechanism 15 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:03,800 Speaker 1: of archetypes, and I'll interview two New York Times bestselling authors, 16 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: Stephen Ranella and Robert Morgan about their fascination with Boone. 17 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:13,279 Speaker 1: The truth is wilder than the myth. This is part 18 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:17,679 Speaker 1: one of our series on Old Daniel Boone, and in 19 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:20,760 Speaker 1: it will walk through the first thirty five years of 20 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:25,480 Speaker 1: his life. You're not gonna wanna miss this one, but 21 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 1: first let me request of you two things. This series 22 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:33,920 Speaker 1: is different than previous Burgers podcasts. It's a big bike 23 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:37,280 Speaker 1: to tell the life story of someone like Boone and 24 00:01:37,319 --> 00:01:40,760 Speaker 1: try to understand their impact on American culture. And honestly, 25 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:43,200 Speaker 1: it was more challenging than I thought it would be. 26 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 1: But if you'll stick around with me through this, you'll 27 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 1: be glad you did. Lastly, take a quick inventory of 28 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:55,600 Speaker 1: everything you know about Daniel Boone to give you a 29 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:59,360 Speaker 1: jump start. I'll help you fit Dan into a timeline. 30 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: He would was born in seventeen thirty four and died 31 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:07,760 Speaker 1: in eighteen twenty, But what did he do in between? 32 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: My name is Clay Nukelem and this is the Bear 33 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:25,720 Speaker 1: Grease Podcast, where we'll explore things forgotten but relevant, search 34 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:29,360 Speaker 1: for insight and unlikely places, and where we'll tell the 35 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: story of Americans who lived their lives close to the land. 36 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: Presented by f HF Gear, American made purpose built hunting 37 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:43,440 Speaker 1: and fishing gear as designed to be as rugged as 38 00:02:43,440 --> 00:03:07,840 Speaker 1: the places we explore. That Okay, this is Josh Lambridge Spillmaker. 39 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:10,960 Speaker 1: Tell me everything you know about Daniel. I know he 40 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:13,200 Speaker 1: was a big man, I know he fought for America 41 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:15,839 Speaker 1: to keep all Americans free. That's what I know. You're 42 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 1: watching the old Disney Daniel Boone was a man. It's 43 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:24,240 Speaker 1: a big man because he fought for America to capel American. 44 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 1: I'm shocked. You know that song. Okay, a couple of things. 45 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:36,040 Speaker 1: Daniel Boone was five ft eight and way a hundred 46 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:40,400 Speaker 1: and seventy five pounds. That literally just destroyed my my. 47 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:43,920 Speaker 1: I thought Daniel Boon was like Paul Bunyon. Okay, and 48 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:45,840 Speaker 1: the other thing in the song, it talks about him 49 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:49,520 Speaker 1: wearing a coonskin cap, which he didn't he did. I 50 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: don't know where you're getting their information, but I've seen 51 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 1: the movies. He wore a coonskin cap. This is my 52 00:03:56,320 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 1: other buddy, Jonathan, tell me, uh, every thing you know 53 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 1: about Daniel Boone. How much time do you got tell 54 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:08,240 Speaker 1: me everything. I literally don't know much other than his 55 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 1: name and that he was an American, that he was 56 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: a pioneer. He worked with the He worked with the 57 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:19,400 Speaker 1: Native Americans to discover things and discover the woods. He 58 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:23,239 Speaker 1: was an outdoorsman. Discover the woods, discover the woods, discover 59 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:26,960 Speaker 1: things inside of the woods. I feel like I want 60 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:30,800 Speaker 1: to say he was at the Alamo. I really, like 61 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:33,480 Speaker 1: naturally want to say he was a part of the Alamo. 62 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:36,720 Speaker 1: But then I feel like it was a guy the 63 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:39,000 Speaker 1: the Jim Booe was that, that's the Jim Boos at 64 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: the Alamo. Like then I kept saying, and then I 65 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 1: kept saying David Bowie. I kept getting Daniel Boone and 66 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:48,800 Speaker 1: David Bowie mixed up in my head. That's really all 67 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:57,800 Speaker 1: I know about Daniel Boone. The action adventure series Daniel 68 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:01,240 Speaker 1: Boone ran on television from nineteens sixty four to nineteen 69 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:04,720 Speaker 1: seventy on NBC. But that wasn't the beginning of our 70 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 1: interest with Boone. America in the world has been fascinated 71 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:15,200 Speaker 1: with him since seventy four, when a former school teacher 72 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:19,920 Speaker 1: named John Philson published a single chapter in his book 73 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:22,920 Speaker 1: which the book was about the American Frontier in Kentucky, 74 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:27,520 Speaker 1: and the chapter was called the Adventures of Colonel Daniel Boone. 75 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:31,839 Speaker 1: Boone was fifty years old at the time, and this 76 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 1: catalyzed his fame not just in America but in Europe. 77 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:41,159 Speaker 1: Not long after Boone's death in eighteen twenty, his first 78 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:45,600 Speaker 1: biography was written, and authors have feverishly written about him 79 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:48,880 Speaker 1: for the last two hundred years. Just in one a 80 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:52,919 Speaker 1: new Boone biography came out. What did this man do? 81 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:56,240 Speaker 1: And why are we infatuated with the life of this 82 00:05:56,440 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 1: back woodsman? This is Steve and Ella. I think the 83 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: people know that he was a woodsman and they know 84 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:07,520 Speaker 1: he was a frontiersman. The reason I know that is 85 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:09,800 Speaker 1: the guy became famous. He became famous in his own life. 86 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 1: He was you know, he could almost argue he's one 87 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:15,560 Speaker 1: of those first He was one of those people that 88 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:18,560 Speaker 1: kind of became famous for being famous. Like the fame 89 00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:24,480 Speaker 1: self perpetu The fame was self perpetuating because there were 90 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:27,320 Speaker 1: a lot of people, A lot of people were engaged 91 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:29,599 Speaker 1: in the things that Boone was engaged here. So you 92 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:31,720 Speaker 1: have this guy, like why do we know so much 93 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 1: about him? But there were other long hunters. They can't 94 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:36,960 Speaker 1: figure out what their names were. Do you really expect 95 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:40,320 Speaker 1: me to run Mr Boone the way I see it running, 96 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:49,520 Speaker 1: Beach Dyan. The myth and lore around Boone is thick, 97 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:52,480 Speaker 1: and I'd like to whittle this down to the truth. 98 00:06:53,400 --> 00:07:02,719 Speaker 1: But is that even possible. Time is like a carousel ride. 99 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:05,200 Speaker 1: There's a point when you get on and another. When 100 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 1: you get off, you don't get to choose who you 101 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 1: ride with. History allows us to look back at people 102 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 1: who got off the ride before us, but it often 103 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:23,320 Speaker 1: leaves me feeling cheated. There's something intimate about an in 104 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:28,320 Speaker 1: person conversation, eye contact, human voice to human ear, and 105 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 1: physical proximity. One man who I would have ridden a 106 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:35,200 Speaker 1: mule across the country to meet, just to look in 107 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:39,400 Speaker 1: his eyes, to see his hands, and to exchange a 108 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:44,520 Speaker 1: few words with would have been Daniel Boone. Carousel has 109 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:48,200 Speaker 1: cheated me out of getting a firsthand sense of who 110 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:52,880 Speaker 1: he was. Boone is shrouded in deep mystery. He's an 111 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:57,240 Speaker 1: American legend icon and archetype. To sum up Boone's life, 112 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:01,160 Speaker 1: he was a backwoodsman that taught us to chair fish, solitude, 113 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:04,160 Speaker 1: and wilderness, which was a foreign concept to the world. 114 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:08,240 Speaker 1: Raised the Quaker, he was influenced heavily by Native Americans 115 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:11,920 Speaker 1: and was even adopted as a Shawnee. He was a frontiersman, 116 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:15,000 Speaker 1: known for making the Cumberland Gap famous and settling the 117 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 1: Kentucky Frontier. He embodied the westward expansion of America, which 118 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:24,200 Speaker 1: led this country to what it is today. He was uneducated, 119 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:28,840 Speaker 1: but influenced America's literary giants. He fought in the Revolutionary 120 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:32,720 Speaker 1: War for America, but was tried for treason by the Americans. 121 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:37,040 Speaker 1: He attained global fame in his lifetime, owned over thirty 122 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 1: thousand acres in Kentucky, but he died a common and 123 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:46,000 Speaker 1: poor man. He was a contemporary of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, 124 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:50,400 Speaker 1: and Benjamin Franklin, and only their stories have been told 125 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:59,240 Speaker 1: more in American history than Daniel Boone. It's common for 126 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:02,560 Speaker 1: people to say that Boone is an American archetype. I 127 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 1: want to get a better understanding of what that means 128 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:09,080 Speaker 1: and how they work. Seth Haines is a published author 129 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:12,840 Speaker 1: and the founder of through Line Strategy and brand. A 130 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:15,360 Speaker 1: couple of years ago, he introduced me to the idea 131 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:20,000 Speaker 1: of archetypes as they're used in modern branding. Meet my 132 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:25,040 Speaker 1: buddy Seth Paynes. So, in my work as a writer 133 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:28,760 Speaker 1: and in my work doing branding and marketing, we use 134 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:32,920 Speaker 1: archetypes a lot as sort of shortcuts for characters. And 135 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:36,120 Speaker 1: there's you know, some some old work that's been done 136 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:40,360 Speaker 1: on this by Carl Eung. There's about twelvish archetypes twelvish 137 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:43,200 Speaker 1: universal characters. So as the storyteller, as a marketer, as 138 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:46,200 Speaker 1: a brander, I like to say, they're kind of, you know, 139 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:50,559 Speaker 1: twelve ish characters. And there are a handful, maybe nine 140 00:09:50,679 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 1: types of stories, and the best stories combine like these 141 00:09:54,760 --> 00:10:00,040 Speaker 1: universal storylines with these universal character types. Um so and 142 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:01,920 Speaker 1: so this is almost like something that's going on in 143 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:04,800 Speaker 1: the background that we don't even realize, but we'll totally 144 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:07,720 Speaker 1: identify with yeah, and and everyone in the world. I mean, 145 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:09,640 Speaker 1: I think if you were to break down your life 146 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:11,360 Speaker 1: and say, here are the people in my life, you 147 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:14,160 Speaker 1: could almost break them down to oh, yeah, this guy 148 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:17,559 Speaker 1: represents the character of an outlaw. You know, he's always 149 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:20,000 Speaker 1: a rebel, he's always on the run, he's always something. 150 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:24,839 Speaker 1: This person represents the character of an explorer, someone who's 151 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:27,120 Speaker 1: always out in the wilderness looking for something to get into, 152 00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:30,520 Speaker 1: some expression of freedom. And these character types, or what 153 00:10:30,559 --> 00:10:34,520 Speaker 1: we call archetypes. So an archetypal expression is just simply like, 154 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:38,640 Speaker 1: this is the character that I play in the universal 155 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 1: story of life. Can you give me an example of 156 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:46,559 Speaker 1: a national American figure that we've used as an archetype, 157 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:51,880 Speaker 1: like like Johnny Cash. It's like an outlaw archetype. Yeah, 158 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:55,320 Speaker 1: I love Johnny Cash as an archetype because I actually 159 00:10:55,320 --> 00:10:59,280 Speaker 1: think he's terribly complex. The Man in Black is I 160 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:02,120 Speaker 1: mean a thousand present the rebel right. I mean, if 161 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 1: you picture Johnny Cash day, you'd see him, you know, 162 00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:07,760 Speaker 1: on a Harley with his guitar slung over his shoulder 163 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:11,120 Speaker 1: or something, and always pushing the boundaries, always pushing it 164 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:14,680 Speaker 1: back against societal norms and so and he's always trying 165 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:17,480 Speaker 1: to to bring even in his music, you know, Wood 166 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:19,720 Speaker 1: he Got Through is another example of this, always trying 167 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:23,240 Speaker 1: to push against the norms of society to find what's 168 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:26,360 Speaker 1: true and what's real. Johnny Cash, though, I love because 169 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:28,400 Speaker 1: when you really look at his life, like he was 170 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:31,040 Speaker 1: also extremely generous. I mean the stories I've heard about 171 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:35,480 Speaker 1: Johnny Cash's generosity for everything from kids, to sick people 172 00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:38,840 Speaker 1: to the elderly. Um, he truly cared for his community 173 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:41,319 Speaker 1: of people. So he had this public persona that was 174 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:44,559 Speaker 1: very much rebel, but he also had this private life 175 00:11:44,559 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 1: that was very much caregiver. And so sometimes I think 176 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:51,600 Speaker 1: we even find that we embody different archetypes depending on 177 00:11:51,679 --> 00:11:54,360 Speaker 1: where we are. That's a good that's a good example 178 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:57,679 Speaker 1: because what I see inside these archetypes and even inside 179 00:11:57,679 --> 00:12:00,960 Speaker 1: of Boon is that they repres sent to people that 180 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:05,559 Speaker 1: really don't know them. This one dominant feature. Like Johnny 181 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:09,080 Speaker 1: Cash is an outlaw, outlaw music outlaw. He's complex, you 182 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:11,199 Speaker 1: realize he's a human and he has this bigger space. 183 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:17,960 Speaker 1: Like Boone is this courageous explorer, you know, frontiersman, conquering wilderness. 184 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:20,760 Speaker 1: That's something that we like. But that was actually a 185 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:23,160 Speaker 1: pretty not I'm not gonna say a small part, but 186 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:26,120 Speaker 1: there was much more to Boone's life than that. But 187 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:30,199 Speaker 1: the point being, we we are embracing something. It's kind 188 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:34,840 Speaker 1: of like a shroud of marketing around a person. It's branding. Yeah, 189 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:37,640 Speaker 1: it's a hun and so you know, one of the 190 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:39,280 Speaker 1: things that we like to say when we talk about 191 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:42,600 Speaker 1: branding is that branding is biological. And so what we 192 00:12:42,679 --> 00:12:45,959 Speaker 1: do is humans, is we take a character or take 193 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:49,640 Speaker 1: a person, and we impute to them or give to them. 194 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:53,200 Speaker 1: Like the character type of the story that that you 195 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:56,400 Speaker 1: know best sort of resonates with us internally. And I'll 196 00:12:56,400 --> 00:13:00,920 Speaker 1: tell you, man, the biggest characters in American history understand that, 197 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:04,240 Speaker 1: know that and embrace it, and it becomes part of 198 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:06,120 Speaker 1: their mystique and part of their branding, and that's what 199 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:09,120 Speaker 1: gives them lasting influence. And that's what's wild about Boon 200 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:13,360 Speaker 1: is it was clear that he, even even in the 201 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:16,760 Speaker 1: seventeen hundreds, when there was not social media, I mean 202 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:20,240 Speaker 1: like high level technology, was someone writing with a quill 203 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:24,079 Speaker 1: and ink you know, it's your story. He played the 204 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:27,640 Speaker 1: part and it wasn't inauthentic. It wasn't it was It 205 00:13:27,679 --> 00:13:31,240 Speaker 1: wasn't like he was trying to drum up publicity around 206 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:33,360 Speaker 1: his life. He was who he was. But at the 207 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:38,720 Speaker 1: same time he was pretty masterful at doing things, saying things, 208 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:42,160 Speaker 1: and being things at the right time for people to 209 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:47,800 Speaker 1: remember him. These archetypes basically are our human shortcuts to 210 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:55,760 Speaker 1: understand the world around us. Understanding the mechanisms of culture 211 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:59,640 Speaker 1: building is important. I also think it's interesting that most 212 00:13:59,679 --> 00:14:03,360 Speaker 1: of what we know about Boone didn't come directly from him, 213 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:08,520 Speaker 1: and there in Liza's mystery, wildly two different drafts of 214 00:14:08,679 --> 00:14:14,040 Speaker 1: firsthand interviews with him were defunct. One manuscript was completed 215 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:18,559 Speaker 1: but lost. The other manuscript was incomplete but lost to 216 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:24,680 Speaker 1: what the heck? Who's in charge here? However, in eighteen 217 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:29,120 Speaker 1: fifty one, thirty one years after Boone's death, a young 218 00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:34,080 Speaker 1: nerdy librarian and historian from New York named Lyman Draper 219 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:40,320 Speaker 1: traveled to Missouri to interview Daniel's youngest and only living son, 220 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:44,320 Speaker 1: Nathan Boone, who at the time was seventy years old. 221 00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 1: It was said that Draper was quote nearly obsessed by 222 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:53,040 Speaker 1: the passing of the old frontiersman, and he determined to 223 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:58,560 Speaker 1: collect as much material and interview as many survivors as possible. 224 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:03,400 Speaker 1: Draper and Nathan give us the most intimate and accurate 225 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:07,640 Speaker 1: look into Boone's life. You can actually buy them compiled 226 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:12,800 Speaker 1: as a book titled My Father Daniel Boone. Here's an 227 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:20,320 Speaker 1: excerpt from the manuscripts. My grandfather's squire Boone was a 228 00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:24,040 Speaker 1: weaver and a farmer. His residence was probably an only 229 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:26,840 Speaker 1: He kept at least five or six looms going at 230 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:29,640 Speaker 1: one time. He had his homestead and in the grass 231 00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:33,400 Speaker 1: season moved his stock back several miles distance to a 232 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:37,080 Speaker 1: fine range where cow pens were made for hurting cattle 233 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:40,200 Speaker 1: at nights, and a cabin was built in which Miss 234 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:43,720 Speaker 1: Boone spent the dairy season in attending to her milk. 235 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:47,280 Speaker 1: During the mild weather, Her son Daniel went with her 236 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:49,760 Speaker 1: to act as a herdsman. He went with the cattle 237 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:52,280 Speaker 1: during the daily roaming through the woods and brought them 238 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:55,640 Speaker 1: back each evening. This was his chief occupation from the 239 00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:59,920 Speaker 1: age of ten to seventeen. This move was an annual affair, 240 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,600 Speaker 1: and Ms Boone always went personally to attend the dairy, 241 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:07,120 Speaker 1: and her son Daniel was always attendant to watch her 242 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:10,440 Speaker 1: and take care of the cattle. My father soon became 243 00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:13,160 Speaker 1: fond of the woods, even at the age of ten. 244 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:16,360 Speaker 1: He would carry a club a grub dug up by 245 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:20,200 Speaker 1: the roots, nicely shaven down, leaving a rudy knob at 246 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:23,640 Speaker 1: the end, which he called his herdsman's club. He became 247 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:26,760 Speaker 1: an expert in using it to kill birds in small game. 248 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:30,960 Speaker 1: This life enabled him to study their habits. When he 249 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:33,280 Speaker 1: was twelve or thirteen, his father bought him a gun 250 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:36,600 Speaker 1: and he became a good marksman. The only problem was 251 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:39,720 Speaker 1: that he often neglected his hurting duties to hunt, but 252 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:43,480 Speaker 1: this experience gave him his love of woods and hunting. 253 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:47,520 Speaker 1: Daniel's brother, Samuel, was born in seventeen twenty eight. According 254 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:50,640 Speaker 1: to the records of Squire Boone Jr. Samuel had a 255 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:54,200 Speaker 1: very intelligent wife who taught my father to read, spell 256 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:57,600 Speaker 1: and write a little. This was all the education Daniel 257 00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:01,160 Speaker 1: ever had, as he never attended school, but he acquired 258 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:05,560 Speaker 1: more education by his own efforts, particularly in writing, as 259 00:17:05,600 --> 00:17:09,600 Speaker 1: he could do little more than rudely write his own name. 260 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:19,840 Speaker 1: In all my research on Boone, I was moved by 261 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:23,600 Speaker 1: Nathan's account of his father. I envisioned me talking about 262 00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:27,200 Speaker 1: my own father or my son, recounting my life long 263 00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:31,520 Speaker 1: after my passing. We're gonna camp around Boone for a 264 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:36,040 Speaker 1: few episodes. He influenced the American Hedgemont the way that 265 00:17:36,119 --> 00:17:39,400 Speaker 1: we think and to understand who we are. I think 266 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:42,880 Speaker 1: we need to acknowledge and be aware of the boon influence. 267 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:48,280 Speaker 1: I'm interested in how Boone has influenced my life unknowingly. 268 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:54,840 Speaker 1: Stephen Runnella is the founder of a company called meat Eater, 269 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:58,560 Speaker 1: the company that this Here Bear Grease podcast is produced by. 270 00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:02,600 Speaker 1: He's in New York's best selling author, an American Hunter, 271 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:07,040 Speaker 1: but he's also known as a national Boone expert. Runella 272 00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:09,439 Speaker 1: began his young life in the outdoors with dreams of 273 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:13,000 Speaker 1: being a full time trapper like Boone was during periods 274 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:15,800 Speaker 1: of his life. It was a real treat to get 275 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:21,240 Speaker 1: to sit with Steve and talk Boone. There's been like 276 00:18:22,359 --> 00:18:25,840 Speaker 1: countless boon biography has written since the time of just 277 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:35,240 Speaker 1: after he died. Has recently sent me up still So okay, 278 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:39,800 Speaker 1: so people have this I can, and that is exactly 279 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:42,640 Speaker 1: what I want to talk to you about. Why are 280 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:44,560 Speaker 1: we so well? I want to I want to dive 281 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:48,439 Speaker 1: into your personal interest in Boone? Why were you so 282 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:51,119 Speaker 1: interested in boon Man when I was When I was 283 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:54,840 Speaker 1: just a little kid, people would say, of people that 284 00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:58,040 Speaker 1: like to hunt and fish, okay, run around the woods. 285 00:18:58,359 --> 00:19:02,919 Speaker 1: People would say, he's a modern day Daniel Boone. He 286 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:06,160 Speaker 1: wants to be just like Daniel Boone. He's a real 287 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:11,440 Speaker 1: Daniel Boone. It means like the consummate woodsman, right, It's 288 00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:15,760 Speaker 1: like the dedicated woodsman. I didn't realize when I first 289 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:18,879 Speaker 1: started to hear that term, you know, growing up with it, 290 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:21,919 Speaker 1: I didn't realize like how correct it was. I think 291 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:25,320 Speaker 1: the people know that he was a woodsman, and they 292 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:27,879 Speaker 1: know he was a frontiersman. The reason I know that 293 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:29,760 Speaker 1: as the guy became famous, he became famous in his 294 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:35,080 Speaker 1: own life. He was you know, he could almost argue 295 00:19:35,119 --> 00:19:37,120 Speaker 1: he's one of those first he was one of those 296 00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:39,359 Speaker 1: people that kind of became famous for being famous, Like 297 00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:49,480 Speaker 1: the fame self perpetu. The fame was self perpetuating because Um, 298 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:52,760 Speaker 1: there were a lot of people, a lot of people 299 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:56,639 Speaker 1: were engaged and the things that Boone was engaged in. 300 00:19:57,520 --> 00:19:59,439 Speaker 1: There were a lot of market hunters, there were a 301 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:01,000 Speaker 1: lot of long hunters. There were a lot of people 302 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:03,080 Speaker 1: who got tangled up in the American Revolution, in the 303 00:20:03,119 --> 00:20:06,600 Speaker 1: western front of the American Revolution. There were a lot 304 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:10,320 Speaker 1: of people who one and lost a ton of money 305 00:20:10,359 --> 00:20:14,159 Speaker 1: speculating in land. There were a lot of people that 306 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:17,760 Speaker 1: started frontier settlements or stations out on the frontier. Tons 307 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:20,800 Speaker 1: of people did this stuff. Boone wasn't the first one 308 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:23,080 Speaker 1: to go through the Cumberland Gap, and of course he 309 00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:25,440 Speaker 1: wasn't the first one. Boone wasn't the first year American 310 00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:28,719 Speaker 1: to go through the Cumberland Gap. But he owns that 311 00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:34,720 Speaker 1: event because like he got he got a notoriety and 312 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:38,480 Speaker 1: I'm not I'm glad it happened. And people started to 313 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:40,639 Speaker 1: ask questions. They talked to his relatives, they talked to 314 00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:43,720 Speaker 1: the children of his children, and and his body like 315 00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:45,679 Speaker 1: built up. So you have this guy, like why do 316 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:49,439 Speaker 1: we know um so much? About him. But there were 317 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:51,560 Speaker 1: all their long hunters. They came figure out what their 318 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:55,240 Speaker 1: names were. Yeah, who were his contemporaries? Because I know 319 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:59,600 Speaker 1: because it never like the seed never got started, the 320 00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:03,040 Speaker 1: idea that like to to to investigate an individual, that 321 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:05,600 Speaker 1: happened with Boone, And the investigation continued and continue to 322 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:08,240 Speaker 1: continue to the point where we put together for like 323 00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:14,760 Speaker 1: really remarkable. Um, it's really remarkable biography of dates and 324 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:17,040 Speaker 1: where he went, what he did, what his feelings about 325 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:20,680 Speaker 1: things were. Um. And then people tracked down the people 326 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:23,520 Speaker 1: he hung out with, they tracked down his relatives. There's 327 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:28,560 Speaker 1: a later on a researcher like a historian his time 328 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:33,679 Speaker 1: whever he went to talk to Boone's kid. Yeah, relates 329 00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:37,560 Speaker 1: the story where you have insight into Um. The story 330 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell you is an example of like how 331 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:44,159 Speaker 1: thorough the investigation of Boone was. Right, Boone became a 332 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:46,160 Speaker 1: little bit famous and was well known. I mean, he 333 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:49,280 Speaker 1: wasn't like everybody else he was. He was exemplary. People 334 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:53,640 Speaker 1: recognized in his own time that he was an outstanding woodsman. 335 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:57,720 Speaker 1: But as he became famous, it prompted more and more 336 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:01,640 Speaker 1: people to go and interview him, and the people around him. 337 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:05,160 Speaker 1: So that little bit, like imagine a snowball rolling down 338 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:07,960 Speaker 1: a hill and went snow right. He had a little 339 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:09,720 Speaker 1: bit of fame, which is the initial bit of the 340 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:14,080 Speaker 1: thing going. But it led to investigation, which led to investigation, 341 00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:17,000 Speaker 1: which led to an investigation. Were eventually you know, you 342 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:20,119 Speaker 1: have this like this one individual of of dozens of 343 00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:23,000 Speaker 1: long hunters, of his contemporaries, this one individual who we 344 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:25,440 Speaker 1: put together a ton of information about, and there's a 345 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:27,360 Speaker 1: there's an interesting thing that comes from like very late 346 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:30,320 Speaker 1: in his life. Someone was interviewing one of his children 347 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:33,760 Speaker 1: one time, and the kids describing this is that this 348 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:36,440 Speaker 1: is after the after the bulk of the Indian Wars 349 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:39,600 Speaker 1: are over, this is after the American Revolution. His kids 350 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:44,960 Speaker 1: describing being out hunting with his father. I think maybe 351 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:47,040 Speaker 1: it would be best if we hear it in the 352 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:53,919 Speaker 1: words of Nathan Boone himself. In the fall of father 353 00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:56,680 Speaker 1: and I were out hunting. We camped on the northern 354 00:22:56,720 --> 00:22:59,080 Speaker 1: bank of the Ohio River, some two or three miles 355 00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:02,080 Speaker 1: above the mouth of Campaign Creek, which was ten or 356 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:05,639 Speaker 1: twelve miles above Point Pleasant. It was frosty weather and 357 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:09,639 Speaker 1: the leaves were falling. About the second morning, a foggy morning. 358 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:13,159 Speaker 1: My father went off, leaving me alone at the camp. 359 00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:17,480 Speaker 1: A large fine buck came within twenty or twenty five 360 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:21,359 Speaker 1: steps of camp. I seized my small rifle. This was 361 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:24,240 Speaker 1: not my little bird rifle, which used the ball about 362 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:26,240 Speaker 1: the size of a buckshot, that one I used to 363 00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:29,960 Speaker 1: kill birds and squirrels near Crooked Creek back of Point Pleasant. 364 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:34,159 Speaker 1: This larger rifle was made by my father and William R. Buckle, 365 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:36,960 Speaker 1: a gunsmith. I rested his gun against one of the 366 00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:40,560 Speaker 1: camp posts and fired, but the deer ran off. Father 367 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:42,960 Speaker 1: heard the shot and returned to camp. He asked me 368 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:45,600 Speaker 1: to point out where the deer stood. There he found 369 00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:49,119 Speaker 1: hair which the ball had cut off. Then he followed 370 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:52,359 Speaker 1: the trail found blood. Sixty year eighty yards further he 371 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:55,320 Speaker 1: found the dead deer. This was the first deer I 372 00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:59,240 Speaker 1: ever killed. But my father didn't leave me at camp anymore. 373 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:01,800 Speaker 1: He took me with him two or three times and 374 00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:04,480 Speaker 1: pointed out deer, then showed me how to manage to 375 00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:07,440 Speaker 1: get off shots. I was not to move or attempt 376 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:09,480 Speaker 1: to steal up on the deer when his head was 377 00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:11,879 Speaker 1: up and chewing, and when he was looking around, but 378 00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:14,439 Speaker 1: to do so when his head was down feeding and 379 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:17,520 Speaker 1: could not so well see me. Following this advice, I 380 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:20,280 Speaker 1: killed one or two other deer during this hunt. While 381 00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:23,200 Speaker 1: we were together. My father shot a bear and one 382 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:26,120 Speaker 1: or two others when he was alone the first day. 383 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:28,880 Speaker 1: From these two or three bear we saved all the meat, 384 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:31,480 Speaker 1: and of the ten or fifteen deer, we saved the 385 00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:35,199 Speaker 1: best hind quarters. On the fifth night, about midnight, I 386 00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:38,520 Speaker 1: had been asleep for some time, but my father, Daniel Boone, 387 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:42,120 Speaker 1: heard of chopping or hacking some distance above and across 388 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:44,560 Speaker 1: the river. He awakened me, and he told me he 389 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:47,840 Speaker 1: thought the noise was made by Indians, as he thought 390 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:51,080 Speaker 1: it was made by their hatchet. He concluded that Indians 391 00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:53,680 Speaker 1: had probably seen the fire at our camp, and we're 392 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:57,640 Speaker 1: making a raft to cross. We carried meat and skins 393 00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:00,880 Speaker 1: to our canoe, which was twenty five yards camp, and 394 00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:04,120 Speaker 1: returned to our fire again. The night was clear and 395 00:25:04,119 --> 00:25:07,560 Speaker 1: frosty and a little foggy, so we remained at our 396 00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:11,240 Speaker 1: fire with our blankets for some time. After the chopping ceased. 397 00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:14,359 Speaker 1: We then went to our canoe. There we stayed some 398 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:18,080 Speaker 1: ten minutes until we heard the Indians paddling in the water. 399 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:21,199 Speaker 1: At that time, We pushed off, and father ordered me 400 00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:24,439 Speaker 1: to roll his blanket around myself and lie down in 401 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:27,200 Speaker 1: the canoe. He said, in the stern put the paddle 402 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:30,199 Speaker 1: carefully in the water, and then gave a push. We 403 00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:33,879 Speaker 1: went forward noiselessly and were soon in the main current, 404 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:36,639 Speaker 1: which washed us down the river. On the way, Father 405 00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:38,760 Speaker 1: put his head over the canoe, close to the water, 406 00:25:39,119 --> 00:25:41,720 Speaker 1: and he said he thought he could catch a glimpse 407 00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:44,439 Speaker 1: of the Indians. He had looked between the surface of 408 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:47,440 Speaker 1: the water and the fog which did not quite reach 409 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:51,439 Speaker 1: the water, And soon we were beyond harm stream and 410 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:57,280 Speaker 1: escapes and the kids says. His kid says, in that moment, 411 00:25:57,320 --> 00:26:02,400 Speaker 1: I kind of understood the year that that man lived 412 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:04,920 Speaker 1: with his whole life. So here you have like interviews 413 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:08,639 Speaker 1: with his kids talking about his like analyzing the guy's 414 00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:12,200 Speaker 1: emotional state. We don't have that one of Boone's hunting partners. 415 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:14,960 Speaker 1: All we know is like basically he got killed one 416 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:17,840 Speaker 1: of dying in a hollow tree and the story mm hmm. 417 00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:21,480 Speaker 1: But with him, man, we got all the goods. Yeah, 418 00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:23,760 Speaker 1: almost too many goods, because there's a lot as you know, 419 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:25,879 Speaker 1: there's people that are always bringing an artifact. Oh this 420 00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:28,120 Speaker 1: is Boone's gone. This is Boone's hatchet. You know, it's 421 00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:33,560 Speaker 1: all hardwash. When Boone was in his mid fifties, this 422 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:35,879 Speaker 1: is this is what I've calculated. When Boone was in 423 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:40,640 Speaker 1: his mid fifties was when the first biography that includes well, 424 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:42,920 Speaker 1: it wasn't a full biography, but a guy came down 425 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:47,760 Speaker 1: and interviewed him and included him in this book that 426 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:50,679 Speaker 1: went global and it was about the American frontier. So 427 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:54,359 Speaker 1: was it a combination that the war the eyes of 428 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:59,920 Speaker 1: the world. We're on this boundary between the American colony 429 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:04,520 Speaker 1: and this vast frontier that we knew nothing about. I mean, 430 00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:07,240 Speaker 1: this was like the spot in the world that people 431 00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:11,359 Speaker 1: were interested in. And then this guy wrote and it 432 00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:14,960 Speaker 1: was included in part of this book. Sky wrote, this 433 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:18,240 Speaker 1: included Boone, and then all of a sudden, everybody's eyes 434 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:22,199 Speaker 1: were on Boone and he was mythologized first. It's kind 435 00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:26,280 Speaker 1: of funny because like the first treatments of him were 436 00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:31,680 Speaker 1: overblown mythologizing. You know, um, guys like him and Davy 437 00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:33,480 Speaker 1: Crockett had the same thing, like very people like like 438 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:36,320 Speaker 1: the lump these guys together with very different people born 439 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:41,560 Speaker 1: far apart um, you know, just very different. But they're 440 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:44,800 Speaker 1: both hunters, and they're both frontiersmen to some extent, but 441 00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:47,719 Speaker 1: they both had this thing where they were living with 442 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:51,080 Speaker 1: people telling crazy stories about them that weren't even true. 443 00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:55,600 Speaker 1: And it became later historians based on this infatuation with 444 00:27:55,640 --> 00:28:01,080 Speaker 1: these guys, these like superhuman individuals, you know, uh, based 445 00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:05,399 Speaker 1: on the historians later kind of like a type of 446 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:08,000 Speaker 1: book that would later be written about Boone was sorting 447 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:11,240 Speaker 1: out fact from fiction fiction the man from the legend, 448 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:14,159 Speaker 1: and that became a whole you know, sub genre of 449 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:17,960 Speaker 1: Boone literature is when people stopped and been like, Okay, 450 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:21,119 Speaker 1: obviously that's all both, but what was this guy like? Like? 451 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:23,439 Speaker 1: What really was he like? And then when you look 452 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:26,040 Speaker 1: at what he really was like, it's more interesting than 453 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:33,679 Speaker 1: the mythologized version. There have been around ten legitimate Boone 454 00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:36,680 Speaker 1: biographies written over the last two hundred years, and they're 455 00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:41,080 Speaker 1: still being written today. However, one stands out to many, 456 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:46,440 Speaker 1: including Steve Ronnella, as the Bible of Boon biographies, and 457 00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:51,720 Speaker 1: it's simply titled Boone. It's written by Cornell University professor 458 00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:56,080 Speaker 1: Robert Morgan. I was unsure if Mr Morgan was still 459 00:28:56,240 --> 00:28:58,760 Speaker 1: professionally active. But I reached out to him and was 460 00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:01,959 Speaker 1: delighted when he was handed back within a few hours, 461 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:05,920 Speaker 1: inviting me to his home in New York. Mr Morgan 462 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:09,120 Speaker 1: is in his mid seventies and has dedicated his life 463 00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:12,600 Speaker 1: to writing on the Appalachian region in which he grew up. 464 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:16,960 Speaker 1: He's a New York Times bestselling author who calls himself 465 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:23,800 Speaker 1: a poet that writes some fiction. Poets are a unique lot. 466 00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:29,640 Speaker 1: They're often introspective and unusually contemplated. Sometimes you meet someone 467 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:32,440 Speaker 1: with a spirit about them that seems to pervade the 468 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:36,320 Speaker 1: space they fell. Mr Morgan is such a man. They 469 00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:41,480 Speaker 1: were applaid shirt and suspenders. His accomplished professional career hasn't 470 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:45,400 Speaker 1: overshadowed as rural roots. I was struck by his stoic 471 00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:50,240 Speaker 1: yet joyful demeanor, his humility and confidence, and his exhaustive 472 00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:55,240 Speaker 1: familiarity with Boone. It's an honor to introduce you to 473 00:29:55,400 --> 00:30:02,960 Speaker 1: Mr Robert Morgan. I I've been fascinated with Boone really 474 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:06,600 Speaker 1: since I read your book, probably ten years ago. And 475 00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:10,560 Speaker 1: I would have known Boon just from the typical way 476 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:14,080 Speaker 1: an American kid would have known Boone, you know, just 477 00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:18,719 Speaker 1: from from the Disney movies, kind of odd places sometimes 478 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:22,640 Speaker 1: that his his name would come up, but really knew 479 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:25,520 Speaker 1: nothing about him. And then when I read your book, 480 00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:31,600 Speaker 1: I was enthralled with who this guy really was. What 481 00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:35,360 Speaker 1: was your interest in Boone originally? Well, when I was 482 00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:38,880 Speaker 1: growing up, my dad would talk about him. He he 483 00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:41,960 Speaker 1: just loved to talk about Daniel Boone and the Frontier 484 00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:46,440 Speaker 1: and he said we were related to Boone through the Morgans. 485 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:50,160 Speaker 1: Boone's mother was a Morgan, and this turns out to 486 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:54,239 Speaker 1: be true, is a very distant relation. Boone and I 487 00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:58,200 Speaker 1: have a common ancestor in Wales and North Wales. But 488 00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:01,160 Speaker 1: I think the first thing to know about the Boon 489 00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:05,240 Speaker 1: families is they were Quakers, and the Boone family in 490 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:10,880 Speaker 1: way down in in the southwestern England around Exeter, they 491 00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:14,400 Speaker 1: were weavers and blacksmiths. So this had a lot of 492 00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:17,360 Speaker 1: influence on Boone's character all the way through his life. 493 00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:22,320 Speaker 1: And of course they talked pacifism, quietness. The mother from 494 00:31:22,360 --> 00:31:26,720 Speaker 1: Wales was a musical person. It's love to sing, and 495 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:31,640 Speaker 1: this also was an influence. So this family taught him 496 00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:36,400 Speaker 1: this very pacifistic way of life. And it's odd because 497 00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:40,480 Speaker 1: he's associated with Indian fighting and hunting, and of course 498 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:42,960 Speaker 1: that's part of the myth that he killed lots of Indians. 499 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:46,240 Speaker 1: He may have killed only one in his life. The 500 00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:50,400 Speaker 1: real Boon is somewhat different from the legend, and that 501 00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:53,200 Speaker 1: was part of the fun of researching and writing the 502 00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:59,400 Speaker 1: book to separate these two. The actual character Daniel Boone 503 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:02,600 Speaker 1: and all these things in the movies and the legends, 504 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:06,000 Speaker 1: they do overlap some. I think the legend is has 505 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:10,320 Speaker 1: its roots and Boon, but he's actually a very different person. Uh. 506 00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:16,760 Speaker 1: The monument in in Frankfort, Kentucky has him killing panthers 507 00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:19,040 Speaker 1: and fighting with the Indians and that sort of thing. 508 00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:22,080 Speaker 1: And and but that's not the real Moon. He was 509 00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:27,440 Speaker 1: very pacifistic, very calm person, spoke calmly in a very 510 00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:32,680 Speaker 1: low voice, and the evidence suggests. And one other thing 511 00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:36,360 Speaker 1: it's important to remember is that his father was kicked 512 00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:40,400 Speaker 1: out of the Quakers and became a Freemason. So this 513 00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:44,920 Speaker 1: new very important organization in the eighteenth century that taught 514 00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:49,240 Speaker 1: the brotherhood of all men, of all people. I think 515 00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:51,520 Speaker 1: he was influenced by that, and he later became a 516 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:57,040 Speaker 1: Mason himself. Very early. He loved the forest. The family 517 00:32:57,080 --> 00:33:01,000 Speaker 1: recognized that that he he could hunt, he could fine animals, 518 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:03,680 Speaker 1: he could trap. He lived out in the woods with 519 00:33:03,760 --> 00:33:06,680 Speaker 1: his mother in the summertime. She took care of the cows, 520 00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:10,680 Speaker 1: and he wanted it already to live like an Indian 521 00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:13,920 Speaker 1: then to spend time in the forest, and there were 522 00:33:13,960 --> 00:33:17,120 Speaker 1: Indians around. It's clear that he had a lot of 523 00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:21,280 Speaker 1: Native American influence even from an early age. That overlap 524 00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:25,520 Speaker 1: of society in the Pennsylvania area. That would have been 525 00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:28,040 Speaker 1: pretty common, Like he would have just been out wandering 526 00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:31,960 Speaker 1: around and run into Native Americans that he could have befriended. 527 00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:35,760 Speaker 1: That would not have been hostile, right his His parents 528 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:40,440 Speaker 1: hosted Indians. Indians become and stay there in their house 529 00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:44,240 Speaker 1: from time to time. Pennsylvania and especially that area had 530 00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:48,920 Speaker 1: a much better relationship with with indigenous people than most 531 00:33:48,920 --> 00:33:52,360 Speaker 1: of the other states. The land was bought from them 532 00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:55,120 Speaker 1: for one thing, and I think there's only one battle 533 00:33:55,160 --> 00:33:59,160 Speaker 1: with Indians and all the history of that part of Pennsylvania. 534 00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:04,520 Speaker 1: Soon got to know them, he imitated them. He loved 535 00:34:04,920 --> 00:34:07,480 Speaker 1: to be in the forest, and I say in my 536 00:34:07,640 --> 00:34:12,680 Speaker 1: biography that he was sort of divided between the mother 537 00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:16,040 Speaker 1: world of the forest where he went with his mother 538 00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:22,160 Speaker 1: and the father world of town and professions and blacksmithing 539 00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:26,080 Speaker 1: and business money, that sort of thing. But there's no 540 00:34:26,160 --> 00:34:29,040 Speaker 1: doubt he was more drawn to the mother world of 541 00:34:29,120 --> 00:34:32,360 Speaker 1: the forest all of his life. At the very beginning, 542 00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:35,520 Speaker 1: he was drawn to live like an Indian. Then like 543 00:34:35,640 --> 00:34:38,840 Speaker 1: an Indian. It was always there from the very beginning. 544 00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:46,120 Speaker 1: This is Stephen Ronella. He became those this guy like 545 00:34:46,160 --> 00:34:47,960 Speaker 1: brought home a lot of game and also people that 546 00:34:47,960 --> 00:34:51,800 Speaker 1: would begin relationships with Indians that lived in his area. 547 00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:54,200 Speaker 1: But when he lived there, as he became older and 548 00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:56,279 Speaker 1: became being a man, he became and this is kind 549 00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:58,160 Speaker 1: of like where his real fame started to be a 550 00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:03,160 Speaker 1: boon became a long hunter. He had always hunted for 551 00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:06,799 Speaker 1: the family, okay, meaning he would hunt bears, he would 552 00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:09,759 Speaker 1: hunt deer. They like to eat bear meat, they like 553 00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:11,799 Speaker 1: to use dear meat, they ate it, but mainly was 554 00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:14,560 Speaker 1: like the primary asset. The primary good you got from 555 00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:17,799 Speaker 1: deer was leather, and people on the frontier preferred bear 556 00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:20,280 Speaker 1: meat over dear meat. I'm sure he had probably always 557 00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:23,759 Speaker 1: been involved in some like commercial activities, but as he 558 00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:28,600 Speaker 1: became a young man in North Carolina, he became a 559 00:35:28,640 --> 00:35:32,080 Speaker 1: commercial hunter, not just hunting for the pot right, not 560 00:35:32,160 --> 00:35:37,360 Speaker 1: hunting for the family, but he would go out hunt deer, hunt, bear, trap, beaver, trap, 561 00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:40,319 Speaker 1: otter in order to sell goods. And that's really the 562 00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:44,920 Speaker 1: occupation that's like the livelihood that kind of boons. Most 563 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:47,440 Speaker 1: of his life was really centered around and a lot 564 00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:50,680 Speaker 1: of his movements as he moved ever westward. His big 565 00:35:50,760 --> 00:35:53,480 Speaker 1: famous move was when he moved into the Kentucky territory, 566 00:35:54,000 --> 00:36:02,520 Speaker 1: was hunting out looking for good hunting ground. It's important 567 00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:05,520 Speaker 1: to remember that these English commoners didn't know how to 568 00:36:05,600 --> 00:36:08,280 Speaker 1: hunt when they arrived in the New World and europe 569 00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:11,840 Speaker 1: hunting was reserved for the nobility, so they relied heavily 570 00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:15,719 Speaker 1: on Native American methods of hunting and cooking game. Once, 571 00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:18,400 Speaker 1: when Daniel was young, he cooked a turkey over an 572 00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:21,680 Speaker 1: open fire and used a curved piece of bark to 573 00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:25,760 Speaker 1: capture the drippings to base the turkey. His mother asked 574 00:36:25,840 --> 00:36:30,000 Speaker 1: him where he learned this, and he said, quote the Indians. 575 00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:34,160 Speaker 1: In seventeen thirty six, a band of twenty five Delaware 576 00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:38,160 Speaker 1: Indians stayed at the Boon Homestead. Daniel would have just 577 00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:40,920 Speaker 1: been a toddler at the time, but the point is 578 00:36:41,239 --> 00:36:46,160 Speaker 1: that their lives overlapped with Indians since he was a child. However, 579 00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:49,440 Speaker 1: it wouldn't just be hunting that he learned from them. 580 00:36:49,480 --> 00:36:52,880 Speaker 1: He adopted select parts of their worldview that he saw 581 00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:57,319 Speaker 1: as superior to the European worldview. I want to read 582 00:36:57,360 --> 00:37:00,759 Speaker 1: an excerpt for Mr Morgan's book on your European and 583 00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:08,840 Speaker 1: Native American world views. Colonists were surprised that Indians showed 584 00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:12,920 Speaker 1: so little interest in accumulating wealth. The two cultures generally 585 00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:16,920 Speaker 1: misunderstood each other. Europeans often assumed that Indians had no 586 00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:21,280 Speaker 1: religion because they saw no recognizable ritual or symbols of worship. 587 00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:25,200 Speaker 1: The Indians had no word for animal or beast as 588 00:37:25,280 --> 00:37:29,440 Speaker 1: distinct from human. To them, all living things had spirits 589 00:37:29,560 --> 00:37:32,880 Speaker 1: or souls. Not only did the animals have spirits, but 590 00:37:32,960 --> 00:37:37,800 Speaker 1: the guardian spirits of people usually appeared as animals. Owning 591 00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:41,040 Speaker 1: land in the White Way made no more sense than 592 00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:45,080 Speaker 1: owning a tract of air or sunlight. Indians were rich 593 00:37:45,360 --> 00:37:50,719 Speaker 1: by desiring Little William Cronin rights. The English passion for 594 00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:54,799 Speaker 1: accumulating wealth struck the Indians as insanity. For this and 595 00:37:54,840 --> 00:37:58,200 Speaker 1: other reasons, Indian holy men often began to describe whites 596 00:37:58,239 --> 00:38:01,960 Speaker 1: as created for a different purpose. Both Indians and Whites 597 00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:06,000 Speaker 1: suspected each other of witchcraft. Indians were thought to worship 598 00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:09,240 Speaker 1: the devil, and Indians, in turn, were convinced the English 599 00:38:09,239 --> 00:38:12,600 Speaker 1: were in league with evil spirits. All too soon, the 600 00:38:12,600 --> 00:38:17,319 Speaker 1: Indians concluded the invaders were stupid and laughed. But the 601 00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:20,280 Speaker 1: whites who got to know Indians found them more honest 602 00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:22,920 Speaker 1: and tolerant than most of their own race. It was 603 00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:26,759 Speaker 1: said by some that Indians were more quote Christian than 604 00:38:26,800 --> 00:38:31,960 Speaker 1: the English, showing greater charity towards the land and its inhabitants. 605 00:38:35,800 --> 00:38:38,960 Speaker 1: Later in Boone's life, we'd see that he never values 606 00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:42,440 Speaker 1: accumulation of wealth, and frankly wasn't very good at it. 607 00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:46,680 Speaker 1: Back to Mr Morgan describing Boone as a young man, 608 00:38:47,960 --> 00:38:51,960 Speaker 1: but this famous quote from the father who was told 609 00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:56,000 Speaker 1: by a relative that Daniel Leely wasn't going to school. 610 00:38:56,040 --> 00:38:58,640 Speaker 1: He was skipping school, and he hadn't learned to spell. 611 00:38:59,239 --> 00:39:01,840 Speaker 1: And the father say, let the others learn to spell. 612 00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:05,080 Speaker 1: Daniel is the hunter. He was a will bring us 613 00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:08,400 Speaker 1: the meat. So while he was growing up there he 614 00:39:08,400 --> 00:39:12,360 Speaker 1: he was a prankster. Also, he was always playing tricks 615 00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:14,880 Speaker 1: on people. He was a fun person. That's why he 616 00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:18,200 Speaker 1: was so popular. He had lots of jokes, he could 617 00:39:18,239 --> 00:39:22,520 Speaker 1: keep people laughing. He had a dynamic person charismatic personality. 618 00:39:22,840 --> 00:39:25,239 Speaker 1: He was a leader from the very beginning. He was 619 00:39:25,280 --> 00:39:28,040 Speaker 1: the kind of person who was a magnet. If he 620 00:39:28,160 --> 00:39:31,279 Speaker 1: was in the room, everybody would be drawn to him. 621 00:39:31,520 --> 00:39:34,840 Speaker 1: He had that leadership ability. So from the very beginning 622 00:39:34,840 --> 00:39:37,960 Speaker 1: he was divided between that kind of leadership and the 623 00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:43,000 Speaker 1: white world and this solitary world of the forest, and 624 00:39:43,080 --> 00:39:46,320 Speaker 1: that also was with him from the very beginning to 625 00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:50,640 Speaker 1: the end of his life. This really begin to show 626 00:39:50,719 --> 00:39:55,480 Speaker 1: when they moved to North Carolina to the Adkin Valley 627 00:39:56,160 --> 00:40:01,360 Speaker 1: about seventeen fifty or fifty one, because that was even wilder, 628 00:40:02,239 --> 00:40:06,319 Speaker 1: and he began to live in the forest, go for 629 00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:11,440 Speaker 1: longer hunts, go out trapping, and he became known. And 630 00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:14,120 Speaker 1: he would have been a teenager at that time when 631 00:40:14,160 --> 00:40:16,520 Speaker 1: he moved to the Yadkin in North Carolina, he would 632 00:40:16,560 --> 00:40:21,280 Speaker 1: have been sixteen or seventeen, so just the prime budding 633 00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:25,800 Speaker 1: age for a young man and outdoorsman to really start 634 00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:30,359 Speaker 1: to so was Oates. He soon became well known as 635 00:40:30,400 --> 00:40:34,200 Speaker 1: a marksman and a hunter and the people. Some people 636 00:40:34,239 --> 00:40:38,799 Speaker 1: were jealous of him, but he was so skillful as 637 00:40:38,800 --> 00:40:42,040 Speaker 1: a tracker, as a hunter even then, even even at 638 00:40:42,040 --> 00:40:46,240 Speaker 1: the age of seventeen or eighteen, that his legend began 639 00:40:46,360 --> 00:40:59,040 Speaker 1: to grow. This is a good place to give a 640 00:40:59,120 --> 00:41:03,320 Speaker 1: high level review of Boone's early life. He was born 641 00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:08,880 Speaker 1: on October sevent thirty four, near Reading, Pennsylvania. He was 642 00:41:08,920 --> 00:41:12,040 Speaker 1: the first generation American. His parents had come over from 643 00:41:12,080 --> 00:41:15,440 Speaker 1: England a few years prior. We've got to remember this 644 00:41:15,560 --> 00:41:19,520 Speaker 1: was before the Revolutionary War, so they weren't really Americans yet. 645 00:41:20,200 --> 00:41:23,360 Speaker 1: His dad's squire got in squabbles with the Quaker Church 646 00:41:23,520 --> 00:41:26,840 Speaker 1: and they left Pennsylvania and moved into the wild country 647 00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:29,680 Speaker 1: of the Yadkin Valley in North Carolina, which at the 648 00:41:29,760 --> 00:41:33,440 Speaker 1: time would have been the boundaries of European settlement in 649 00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:37,160 Speaker 1: the colonies. It was here that Daniel started to make 650 00:41:37,200 --> 00:41:40,759 Speaker 1: a name for himself as a hunter and explorer. I 651 00:41:40,880 --> 00:41:44,560 Speaker 1: want to read another short excerpt from Mr Morgan's book. 652 00:41:49,239 --> 00:41:51,440 Speaker 1: From the time he was a boy, Boone had a 653 00:41:51,480 --> 00:41:54,719 Speaker 1: flair for the dramatic. He seemed to know instinctively how 654 00:41:54,719 --> 00:41:58,319 Speaker 1: to make himself noticed remembered. As a young man, he 655 00:41:58,360 --> 00:42:01,560 Speaker 1: began to create for himself the role of Daniel Boone 656 00:42:01,719 --> 00:42:04,319 Speaker 1: and he spent much of his life perfecting that role. 657 00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:08,680 Speaker 1: Despite his later protestation that he was quote but a 658 00:42:08,680 --> 00:42:12,120 Speaker 1: common man, he seemed to wear from his early youth 659 00:42:12,200 --> 00:42:14,920 Speaker 1: that he was not just playing himself, but a type 660 00:42:15,520 --> 00:42:20,439 Speaker 1: what Emerson would later call a representative man. Boone would 661 00:42:20,480 --> 00:42:24,320 Speaker 1: embody in his actions and attitude the aspirations and character 662 00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:27,759 Speaker 1: of the whole era. At least once, Daniel became so 663 00:42:27,880 --> 00:42:31,000 Speaker 1: distracted by his own explorations that he forgot the hours 664 00:42:31,040 --> 00:42:33,600 Speaker 1: of the day, his home, the fact that he was 665 00:42:33,640 --> 00:42:36,600 Speaker 1: supposed to help his mother before it got dark. Sarah 666 00:42:36,600 --> 00:42:39,120 Speaker 1: had to round up the kettle herself and do the milking, 667 00:42:39,560 --> 00:42:42,040 Speaker 1: strain the milk and put it in the springhouse. To 668 00:42:42,080 --> 00:42:46,200 Speaker 1: stay cool, calm and prayerful, she worked at churning butter 669 00:42:46,280 --> 00:42:49,040 Speaker 1: from the clavered milk. But when Daniel did not come 670 00:42:49,040 --> 00:42:51,800 Speaker 1: home by the next morning and still had not returned 671 00:42:51,840 --> 00:42:54,320 Speaker 1: by noon, she had no choice but to walk five 672 00:42:54,400 --> 00:42:57,760 Speaker 1: miles back to town to get help. A search party 673 00:42:57,840 --> 00:43:01,759 Speaker 1: was formed and they combed over the Olie Hills all 674 00:43:01,800 --> 00:43:04,640 Speaker 1: the way to the never Seek Mountain range west of 675 00:43:04,680 --> 00:43:08,920 Speaker 1: the Monocacy Valley. They found no sign of Daniel that afternoon, 676 00:43:09,360 --> 00:43:12,360 Speaker 1: but starting out. Early the next morning, they traveled further 677 00:43:12,600 --> 00:43:15,880 Speaker 1: in spotted a column of smoke. Later in the afternoon, 678 00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:19,040 Speaker 1: they reached the source of the smoke and found Daniel 679 00:43:19,480 --> 00:43:23,120 Speaker 1: sitting on a bear skin and roasting fresh bear meat 680 00:43:23,239 --> 00:43:26,279 Speaker 1: over the fire. When asked if he was lost, he 681 00:43:26,360 --> 00:43:29,560 Speaker 1: said no, he had known where he was all along 682 00:43:29,960 --> 00:43:33,239 Speaker 1: on the south shoulder of the hill, nine miles from 683 00:43:33,239 --> 00:43:36,279 Speaker 1: the pasture. The search party accused him of scaring his 684 00:43:36,400 --> 00:43:39,960 Speaker 1: mother and forcing them all to waste time looking for him, 685 00:43:40,000 --> 00:43:43,400 Speaker 1: but he calmly answered he had started tracking the bear 686 00:43:43,680 --> 00:43:47,000 Speaker 1: and didn't want to lose it, and besides, here was 687 00:43:47,080 --> 00:43:51,319 Speaker 1: fresh meat for everybody. Whether the story is true or 688 00:43:51,360 --> 00:43:53,600 Speaker 1: just one of the legends that grew around Boon later 689 00:43:53,640 --> 00:43:56,279 Speaker 1: in life, it reveals as much about the way he 690 00:43:56,360 --> 00:43:59,560 Speaker 1: was perceived and remembered as it does about his character. 691 00:44:00,160 --> 00:44:03,319 Speaker 1: People later recalled that even from his boyhood, there was 692 00:44:03,360 --> 00:44:06,840 Speaker 1: a sense that Daniel had been singled out. The story 693 00:44:06,840 --> 00:44:09,680 Speaker 1: of the search party echoes the story in Luke two 694 00:44:09,800 --> 00:44:13,000 Speaker 1: forty nine of the twelve year old Jesus lost from 695 00:44:13,000 --> 00:44:17,440 Speaker 1: Marion Joseph. The boys finally found in the temple conversing 696 00:44:17,520 --> 00:44:20,640 Speaker 1: with the elders. When he is questioned and scolded, he 697 00:44:20,719 --> 00:44:24,760 Speaker 1: explains that he had quote been about his father's business. 698 00:44:25,400 --> 00:44:28,000 Speaker 1: The sense of the story is that Boone had already 699 00:44:28,040 --> 00:44:31,959 Speaker 1: found his calling and destiny. It is clear he also 700 00:44:32,120 --> 00:44:35,759 Speaker 1: knew how to make a memorable impression. For Boone, there 701 00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:40,120 Speaker 1: was something erotic about the woods, a playground, a place 702 00:44:40,280 --> 00:44:44,440 Speaker 1: of sometimes dangerous pleasure, and some would later suggest that 703 00:44:44,480 --> 00:44:47,439 Speaker 1: with his lifelong passion for hunting, there was a part 704 00:44:47,480 --> 00:44:54,960 Speaker 1: of Boon that never quite grew up. Back to Mr Morgan, 705 00:44:55,120 --> 00:44:58,919 Speaker 1: as he describes a big event in young Daniel's life, 706 00:45:00,280 --> 00:45:03,719 Speaker 1: then this big event in his life when he was 707 00:45:03,800 --> 00:45:07,439 Speaker 1: about twenty one. He was born in seventeen thirty four 708 00:45:07,760 --> 00:45:10,640 Speaker 1: and the French and Indian War started. So it's seventeen 709 00:45:10,680 --> 00:45:14,000 Speaker 1: fifty five and he goes with the militia up into 710 00:45:14,120 --> 00:45:18,880 Speaker 1: Virginia and John's George Washington's forces that are going to 711 00:45:19,280 --> 00:45:24,759 Speaker 1: join the British led by General Braddock, and everybody knows 712 00:45:24,800 --> 00:45:28,800 Speaker 1: the story of Braddock's defeat. They moved towards the Fort 713 00:45:28,880 --> 00:45:33,600 Speaker 1: Duquesne and uh they were ambushed by the French and 714 00:45:33,680 --> 00:45:36,360 Speaker 1: the Indians, and a lot were killed. And Boone was 715 00:45:36,400 --> 00:45:40,240 Speaker 1: not a soldier. He was a teamster, and blacksmith teamster, 716 00:45:40,400 --> 00:45:45,560 Speaker 1: meaning he he drove wagons, drove wagons, but around the campfires. 717 00:45:45,880 --> 00:45:49,680 Speaker 1: He had met a man called Finlay, and Finlay had 718 00:45:49,719 --> 00:45:53,359 Speaker 1: told him about his trip into Kentucky. He had going 719 00:45:53,440 --> 00:45:56,239 Speaker 1: down the Ohio River as a peddler, he was a businessman, 720 00:45:56,920 --> 00:45:59,800 Speaker 1: going all the way to the falls where was now Louisville. 721 00:46:00,040 --> 00:46:03,160 Speaker 1: That he had traded with the Shawnees at the village 722 00:46:03,200 --> 00:46:08,120 Speaker 1: of Eski Parka Thiki, which is where Winchester, Kentucky is now, 723 00:46:09,120 --> 00:46:12,279 Speaker 1: and he had seen the bluegrass. So he told these 724 00:46:12,320 --> 00:46:19,400 Speaker 1: stories of this amazing place, so beautiful, buffalo elk, dear beavers, 725 00:46:20,040 --> 00:46:23,040 Speaker 1: and it didn't seem to be inhabited by Indians. There 726 00:46:23,120 --> 00:46:26,880 Speaker 1: was at one village of escu Parka Thiki, and Boon 727 00:46:27,120 --> 00:46:31,600 Speaker 1: determined them that someday he was going to the Bluegrass. 728 00:46:31,680 --> 00:46:34,239 Speaker 1: So this is when he was in his early twenties, 729 00:46:34,320 --> 00:46:37,560 Speaker 1: is when he met Finley right who told him about this. 730 00:46:37,840 --> 00:46:40,359 Speaker 1: And this would have been so this would have been 731 00:46:40,440 --> 00:46:44,520 Speaker 1: over the Appalachian Range, which at the time was this 732 00:46:45,080 --> 00:46:48,680 Speaker 1: impenetrable barrier. It's it's really bizarre to think about it 733 00:46:48,719 --> 00:46:52,279 Speaker 1: now because we have highway systems and do we have 734 00:46:52,400 --> 00:46:55,760 Speaker 1: this modern transportation. It's almost like you have to reel 735 00:46:55,880 --> 00:47:00,120 Speaker 1: yourself deeply back into history and a race. How you 736 00:47:00,560 --> 00:47:02,919 Speaker 1: con driving a car, get an airplane. I mean, these 737 00:47:02,920 --> 00:47:07,239 Speaker 1: people were confined massively by transportation, so Kentucky would have 738 00:47:07,239 --> 00:47:11,880 Speaker 1: been like another planet. It was considered unreasonable for several reasons. 739 00:47:12,239 --> 00:47:15,160 Speaker 1: The Indians it's dangerous to go there, had to climb 740 00:47:15,200 --> 00:47:18,520 Speaker 1: over the mountains Blue Ridge, the Alleghanies to get there, 741 00:47:19,080 --> 00:47:21,719 Speaker 1: and the Cumberlands. But they were also forbidden to go 742 00:47:21,800 --> 00:47:24,880 Speaker 1: there after the French and Indian War, that that was 743 00:47:25,239 --> 00:47:28,800 Speaker 1: to be divided up for the officers and ordinary people 744 00:47:28,840 --> 00:47:33,200 Speaker 1: weren't supposed to go. Now, some white explorers had gone there, 745 00:47:33,480 --> 00:47:38,160 Speaker 1: and uh Dr Thomas Walker I believe had actually found 746 00:47:38,400 --> 00:47:40,759 Speaker 1: what we call Cumberland Gap, and he's the one who 747 00:47:40,840 --> 00:47:47,320 Speaker 1: named it. We think John Finley was twenty years older 748 00:47:47,320 --> 00:47:50,399 Speaker 1: than Boone and told Dan some marvelous tales of going 749 00:47:50,440 --> 00:47:54,000 Speaker 1: into Kentucky. Findley would have been the man in Boone's 750 00:47:54,000 --> 00:47:57,880 Speaker 1: life who inadvertently steered him into what many would say 751 00:47:58,360 --> 00:48:02,120 Speaker 1: was his calling death Deny. He must have noted that 752 00:48:02,239 --> 00:48:05,800 Speaker 1: young Daniel was highly interested in his stories of Kentucky, 753 00:48:06,000 --> 00:48:09,200 Speaker 1: because ten years later he'd go visit Boon at his 754 00:48:09,360 --> 00:48:17,359 Speaker 1: house and proposed a wild plan, but Finlay showed up 755 00:48:17,760 --> 00:48:20,120 Speaker 1: as a traitor and he had a little money. They 756 00:48:20,280 --> 00:48:24,040 Speaker 1: planned this trip. They got together with several people in 757 00:48:24,160 --> 00:48:29,080 Speaker 1: the spring of seventeen sixty nine and left on first 758 00:48:29,080 --> 00:48:31,960 Speaker 1: of May. Now let's see, now Daniel would have been 759 00:48:31,960 --> 00:48:34,399 Speaker 1: by this time in his thirties. He would have been 760 00:48:34,440 --> 00:48:37,000 Speaker 1: so this would have been ten years after he originally 761 00:48:37,040 --> 00:48:40,120 Speaker 1: heard about it from Finlay. He wasn't able to to 762 00:48:40,239 --> 00:48:43,440 Speaker 1: outfit a group to go, and he had other things 763 00:48:43,440 --> 00:48:46,960 Speaker 1: on his mind. When he got back from Braddock's defeat 764 00:48:47,000 --> 00:48:49,880 Speaker 1: that trip, he was in love with this beautiful girl, 765 00:48:50,120 --> 00:48:55,320 Speaker 1: Rebecca Brian and they were married, uh not too long after. 766 00:48:55,719 --> 00:48:59,560 Speaker 1: And Boon had a family soon and you know how 767 00:48:59,640 --> 00:49:02,320 Speaker 1: to find arm and he had to support them by 768 00:49:02,320 --> 00:49:06,120 Speaker 1: by working as a teamster. And and U primarily as 769 00:49:06,120 --> 00:49:10,640 Speaker 1: a trapper, hunting deer. In the summertime that he hunted 770 00:49:10,719 --> 00:49:14,000 Speaker 1: deer for the hides because the hide was in its 771 00:49:14,040 --> 00:49:17,920 Speaker 1: best condition and a hide was worth a Spanish dollar, 772 00:49:18,719 --> 00:49:23,520 Speaker 1: so a hide became a buck. Right in wintertime, he 773 00:49:23,640 --> 00:49:26,600 Speaker 1: primarily trapped for fur because that's when it was in 774 00:49:26,640 --> 00:49:29,840 Speaker 1: its prime, so That's what he was doing most of 775 00:49:29,880 --> 00:49:33,000 Speaker 1: the time, right. He also went off on a trip 776 00:49:33,040 --> 00:49:36,759 Speaker 1: to Florida, of all things, Yeah, and actually bought him 777 00:49:36,800 --> 00:49:40,080 Speaker 1: a bit of of land down there, but Rebecca refused 778 00:49:40,120 --> 00:49:42,920 Speaker 1: to go. And so that was in seventeen sixty five 779 00:49:43,000 --> 00:49:45,920 Speaker 1: that he went to Florida. He didn't he owned land 780 00:49:46,000 --> 00:49:49,720 Speaker 1: near Pensacola. He did. He bought some land and came back, 781 00:49:50,560 --> 00:49:54,280 Speaker 1: arrived on Christmas to take his family there, and Rebecca 782 00:49:54,400 --> 00:49:57,200 Speaker 1: just put her foot down she would not go. I 783 00:49:57,239 --> 00:49:59,920 Speaker 1: have in my notes here Boon was like a typical 784 00:50:00,280 --> 00:50:04,080 Speaker 1: timeshare Florida owner who bought his land and never went back. 785 00:50:06,160 --> 00:50:08,640 Speaker 1: And during during this time, like when you try to 786 00:50:08,960 --> 00:50:13,360 Speaker 1: understand the motivations for people to do these kind of things, 787 00:50:13,719 --> 00:50:18,279 Speaker 1: this was a time of exploration of geographic exploration in 788 00:50:18,320 --> 00:50:21,120 Speaker 1: North America. I mean it was like, I don't want 789 00:50:21,120 --> 00:50:23,799 Speaker 1: to say trendy, but it was I guess in a 790 00:50:23,880 --> 00:50:28,120 Speaker 1: sense explorers. There was a lot of financial gain to 791 00:50:28,160 --> 00:50:31,360 Speaker 1: be made from well from long hunters who could go 792 00:50:31,440 --> 00:50:34,760 Speaker 1: and make a good living long hunting into new territory. 793 00:50:34,840 --> 00:50:38,399 Speaker 1: But it was just a different time, in a different mentality. 794 00:50:38,600 --> 00:50:41,719 Speaker 1: Who was said that Boone was fiddle footed that he 795 00:50:41,840 --> 00:50:44,960 Speaker 1: just couldn't stay still. But to think of it, I mean, 796 00:50:45,000 --> 00:50:48,279 Speaker 1: here was this continent and that much of it had 797 00:50:48,320 --> 00:50:52,440 Speaker 1: not been explored. Jefferson was very interested in exploring it, 798 00:50:52,719 --> 00:50:56,480 Speaker 1: for instance, But I think of people coming from Europe, 799 00:50:56,480 --> 00:51:01,320 Speaker 1: mostly poor people who never had to hunt it. Hunting 800 00:51:01,440 --> 00:51:05,600 Speaker 1: was for the upper classes, even firearms or for the 801 00:51:05,680 --> 00:51:09,680 Speaker 1: upper classes. And they arrived in North America and it's 802 00:51:09,760 --> 00:51:15,640 Speaker 1: this vast wilderness, animals to hunt to trap, and you 803 00:51:15,800 --> 00:51:17,760 Speaker 1: get a gun and you could go anywhere you wanted. 804 00:51:17,840 --> 00:51:21,440 Speaker 1: You could, you could explore that. And for the Scotch 805 00:51:21,480 --> 00:51:24,480 Speaker 1: Irish it really was like a miracle that they had 806 00:51:24,560 --> 00:51:27,479 Speaker 1: been moved from Scotland to Ireland and then the land 807 00:51:27,520 --> 00:51:30,000 Speaker 1: had been taken away from them in Ireland. So you 808 00:51:30,120 --> 00:51:33,160 Speaker 1: arrive here and basically all you have to do is 809 00:51:33,280 --> 00:51:37,000 Speaker 1: find a patch somewhere and and make sure the Indians 810 00:51:37,000 --> 00:51:40,720 Speaker 1: are cleared out, and you could grow things, you could hunt, 811 00:51:41,640 --> 00:51:44,840 Speaker 1: claim a new life. So it was a very exciting 812 00:51:44,880 --> 00:51:48,359 Speaker 1: time and exploring was one of the main things they did. 813 00:51:48,800 --> 00:51:53,120 Speaker 1: But particularly Boon's time over the mountains. I say in 814 00:51:53,200 --> 00:51:57,160 Speaker 1: the biography that Kentucky was the key because once you 815 00:51:57,200 --> 00:52:00,960 Speaker 1: could get to Kentucky, that, and you could go further 816 00:52:01,080 --> 00:52:05,759 Speaker 1: down the Ohio over into Ohio over into what became Indiana, Illinois, 817 00:52:05,880 --> 00:52:09,480 Speaker 1: and beyond that the Mississippi Valley, and beyond that the 818 00:52:09,480 --> 00:52:12,879 Speaker 1: Missouri Valley and these mountains. You heard of the snow 819 00:52:12,920 --> 00:52:18,000 Speaker 1: Cap and uh, that was really thrilling. People were and 820 00:52:18,040 --> 00:52:20,360 Speaker 1: the women, not just the men, the women wanted to 821 00:52:20,400 --> 00:52:23,719 Speaker 1: go there too. It was it was a very exciting time. 822 00:52:26,840 --> 00:52:30,319 Speaker 1: So we've covered about thirty years of Daniel's life. He 823 00:52:30,440 --> 00:52:35,080 Speaker 1: was a backwoods kid, influenced by Quaker and Native American ideology. 824 00:52:35,320 --> 00:52:37,120 Speaker 1: By the time he was in his teens, he was 825 00:52:37,160 --> 00:52:40,000 Speaker 1: an accomplished hunter. When he was twenty one, he served 826 00:52:40,080 --> 00:52:43,920 Speaker 1: under the George Washington, like the father of our country, 827 00:52:43,920 --> 00:52:47,400 Speaker 1: George Washington, in the French and Indian War. In seventeen 828 00:52:47,440 --> 00:52:50,360 Speaker 1: fifty six, he married the beautiful, black haired and black 829 00:52:50,400 --> 00:52:54,080 Speaker 1: eyed Rebecca Brian and they started on their way towards 830 00:52:54,120 --> 00:52:57,960 Speaker 1: having ten children. And if we're telling our story chronologically, 831 00:52:58,200 --> 00:53:02,200 Speaker 1: Dan is now thirty three years old. He's a common backwoodsman, 832 00:53:02,440 --> 00:53:07,399 Speaker 1: and it's now seventeen sixty seven. Now Mr Morgan will 833 00:53:07,440 --> 00:53:12,040 Speaker 1: get back to Daniel and John Finlay's first trip into Kentucky. 834 00:53:12,200 --> 00:53:15,399 Speaker 1: And it's worth noting for the boon Nerds out there 835 00:53:15,680 --> 00:53:18,800 Speaker 1: that Dan actually had been into Kentucky for a short 836 00:53:18,880 --> 00:53:21,920 Speaker 1: time on another trip, but thought he was in Virginia. 837 00:53:22,520 --> 00:53:25,239 Speaker 1: He later would realize he had dipped into Kentucky and 838 00:53:25,360 --> 00:53:32,960 Speaker 1: was unimpressed with what he'd seen. Okay, they they got together. 839 00:53:33,280 --> 00:53:36,960 Speaker 1: There's a lot of disagreement about this, but somebody funded 840 00:53:37,040 --> 00:53:40,319 Speaker 1: this finlay may have have contributed to it. But the 841 00:53:40,400 --> 00:53:42,400 Speaker 1: job was how do you get there? You could get 842 00:53:42,400 --> 00:53:44,480 Speaker 1: there by going down the Ohio, but how did you 843 00:53:44,600 --> 00:53:48,360 Speaker 1: get to Kentucky as they called it. Well, they figured 844 00:53:48,400 --> 00:53:51,719 Speaker 1: out that the Indians for thousands of years have been 845 00:53:51,719 --> 00:53:56,839 Speaker 1: going there on the warriors Path, and if they could 846 00:53:56,840 --> 00:53:59,880 Speaker 1: find the warriors Path, they could follow it out of it, 847 00:54:00,080 --> 00:54:03,239 Speaker 1: take them through the gap into Kentucky. And this is 848 00:54:03,600 --> 00:54:06,480 Speaker 1: this is something they would have just heard through interactions 849 00:54:06,480 --> 00:54:09,480 Speaker 1: with Native Americans. They would they would have heard them 850 00:54:09,600 --> 00:54:13,440 Speaker 1: say there's this, there's a gap in the mountains. They would. 851 00:54:13,520 --> 00:54:16,839 Speaker 1: I mean there was enough contact, particularly Boone. I mean 852 00:54:16,880 --> 00:54:19,279 Speaker 1: he'd gotten to know a lot of Cherokees, he had 853 00:54:19,320 --> 00:54:23,360 Speaker 1: been cheated by them. He possibly had a Cherokee wife. 854 00:54:24,000 --> 00:54:26,439 Speaker 1: We don't know that but some people said he did. 855 00:54:26,880 --> 00:54:29,840 Speaker 1: And by the way, they also say that that Cherokee 856 00:54:29,880 --> 00:54:32,920 Speaker 1: wife was African American an escaped slave, because I have 857 00:54:33,000 --> 00:54:37,360 Speaker 1: actually met African Americans who claimed to be descended from Daniel. Really, 858 00:54:37,440 --> 00:54:41,400 Speaker 1: I have what what is your what is your personal feeling? 859 00:54:41,440 --> 00:54:44,880 Speaker 1: Do you think that's true? I think it's quite possible. Really, 860 00:54:45,000 --> 00:54:48,120 Speaker 1: what about his Quaker upbringing and being like devoted to 861 00:54:48,600 --> 00:54:52,120 Speaker 1: his wife? Like, how in contrasting that with character we 862 00:54:52,200 --> 00:54:54,239 Speaker 1: see in other parts of his life, would that just 863 00:54:54,320 --> 00:54:56,480 Speaker 1: have been I don't know, how would you explain? I 864 00:54:56,480 --> 00:55:02,560 Speaker 1: think there are many facets character and many compartments in 865 00:55:02,719 --> 00:55:07,239 Speaker 1: his mind. He had this amazing ability to blend in 866 00:55:08,200 --> 00:55:13,560 Speaker 1: with people and groups ever he was, and this saved 867 00:55:13,640 --> 00:55:17,440 Speaker 1: him many times. That he he understood other people. He 868 00:55:17,520 --> 00:55:20,120 Speaker 1: had a mind like Shakespeare. I mean, who could get 869 00:55:20,160 --> 00:55:23,680 Speaker 1: into the mind very different people and to be sympathetic 870 00:55:23,719 --> 00:55:26,120 Speaker 1: with them. I don't know that he had a Cherokee wife, 871 00:55:26,560 --> 00:55:29,839 Speaker 1: but I think it's possible. And uh, you know, if 872 00:55:29,880 --> 00:55:32,520 Speaker 1: you were with an Indian group, you had to be 873 00:55:32,600 --> 00:55:35,680 Speaker 1: sleeping with one woman or they would think you were 874 00:55:35,719 --> 00:55:40,080 Speaker 1: a very bad it was I read it was inhospitable 875 00:55:40,120 --> 00:55:42,240 Speaker 1: if you were a guest in some of these tribes. 876 00:55:42,280 --> 00:55:44,719 Speaker 1: They would if you would not do that, it would 877 00:55:44,760 --> 00:55:48,239 Speaker 1: be you you thought you were better, or you know, 878 00:55:48,440 --> 00:55:51,359 Speaker 1: you were not one of them. So I just say 879 00:55:51,440 --> 00:55:54,120 Speaker 1: it's possible. Well, I guess the way he fit in 880 00:55:54,200 --> 00:55:57,879 Speaker 1: so well with the Native Americans, and we'll talk more 881 00:55:57,880 --> 00:56:00,480 Speaker 1: about him being kidnapped by the shine and that, but 882 00:56:00,760 --> 00:56:02,920 Speaker 1: the fact that he was able to blend in so well, 883 00:56:03,239 --> 00:56:05,319 Speaker 1: I can see how that would make sense. That he 884 00:56:05,719 --> 00:56:08,040 Speaker 1: might have just because to be able to fit in 885 00:56:08,080 --> 00:56:10,920 Speaker 1: so well, it may have been a necessity, so he 886 00:56:10,960 --> 00:56:14,359 Speaker 1: would have known about this gap. They went north from 887 00:56:14,360 --> 00:56:18,440 Speaker 1: the Atkin to what was called Wolf Hills, which we 888 00:56:18,520 --> 00:56:21,920 Speaker 1: call Abingdon, Virginia, and there they found the trail that 889 00:56:22,040 --> 00:56:25,280 Speaker 1: Boone was good enough to read the sign the tracks, 890 00:56:25,880 --> 00:56:30,080 Speaker 1: so they followed it to the southwest over Powell's River 891 00:56:30,200 --> 00:56:33,440 Speaker 1: and Powell's Mountain, and they came to the Cumberland Mountains. 892 00:56:33,719 --> 00:56:36,880 Speaker 1: And this is a really dramatic place. You can go 893 00:56:36,960 --> 00:56:40,759 Speaker 1: there and these mountains have cliffs on them, and there's 894 00:56:40,800 --> 00:56:44,320 Speaker 1: the most forbidding things. It really is. It's like it's threatening, 895 00:56:45,400 --> 00:56:49,440 Speaker 1: these high cliffs, just mile after mile after mile and 896 00:56:49,760 --> 00:56:54,000 Speaker 1: keep going and then suddenly you see this gap between them, 897 00:56:54,160 --> 00:56:57,600 Speaker 1: like a gun side, and there it is. They found 898 00:56:57,640 --> 00:57:02,000 Speaker 1: it what Dr. Thomas Walker called Cumberland Gap. And you 899 00:57:02,120 --> 00:57:06,520 Speaker 1: cross that and there's a river. You got to cross 900 00:57:06,600 --> 00:57:10,560 Speaker 1: the Cumberland River. You go through another gap and then 901 00:57:11,080 --> 00:57:15,480 Speaker 1: you reached the Knob Country. And the famous paintings are 902 00:57:15,520 --> 00:57:20,280 Speaker 1: a boon on top of the hill seeing into the 903 00:57:20,320 --> 00:57:25,480 Speaker 1: blue grass Kentucky, and this is called the Pizga Vision. 904 00:57:26,160 --> 00:57:29,120 Speaker 1: Moses on Pizga he could look into the Promised Land. 905 00:57:29,400 --> 00:57:32,280 Speaker 1: But Boone could go into the promised land. Moses couldn't 906 00:57:32,280 --> 00:57:36,760 Speaker 1: go right right. So you have this amazing idol of 907 00:57:36,840 --> 00:57:40,760 Speaker 1: the boon in his group here for the deer, buffalo 908 00:57:41,240 --> 00:57:49,560 Speaker 1: and elk beaver. Boone is now into Kentucky and what 909 00:57:49,720 --> 00:57:52,480 Speaker 1: happened there will shape the rest of his life and 910 00:57:52,840 --> 00:57:56,840 Speaker 1: America's what's interesting is that it's in the next ten 911 00:57:56,960 --> 00:57:59,920 Speaker 1: years that most of what he's famous for, the things 912 00:58:00,080 --> 00:58:04,600 Speaker 1: that defined his life, will happen. Mr Morgan had something 913 00:58:04,640 --> 00:58:08,440 Speaker 1: to say about this to this day. We put this 914 00:58:08,560 --> 00:58:11,840 Speaker 1: quote in in a frame in our house, and we 915 00:58:11,880 --> 00:58:14,800 Speaker 1: did it when we were about thirty years old, so 916 00:58:14,880 --> 00:58:17,480 Speaker 1: this would have been about ten years ago. But you said, 917 00:58:17,800 --> 00:58:20,880 Speaker 1: in his mid thirties. A man either reaches out towards 918 00:58:21,000 --> 00:58:24,160 Speaker 1: risk and glory or stays within the routines of the 919 00:58:24,240 --> 00:58:27,520 Speaker 1: expected and ordinary. It is the age when men leave 920 00:58:27,640 --> 00:58:31,680 Speaker 1: safe homes and jobs and go on voyages and odyssees 921 00:58:31,760 --> 00:58:35,680 Speaker 1: and perform transforming sacrifices. It's the age when Walt Whitman 922 00:58:35,760 --> 00:58:39,360 Speaker 1: wrote Leaves of Grass and Columbus started planning his voyage 923 00:58:39,640 --> 00:58:44,000 Speaker 1: to the Indies. It's an age at which visionaries become profits, 924 00:58:44,080 --> 00:58:48,840 Speaker 1: or explorers or inventors, or make fools of themselves trying. 925 00:58:49,560 --> 00:58:51,720 Speaker 1: So I would have read this book when I was 926 00:58:51,800 --> 00:58:55,880 Speaker 1: about thirty years old, and it just feels so true. 927 00:58:56,840 --> 00:59:01,320 Speaker 1: This this window of time in life is so important. 928 00:59:01,320 --> 00:59:04,200 Speaker 1: And you went on to give these examples of work 929 00:59:04,360 --> 00:59:07,960 Speaker 1: that these artists and poets and explorers did when they 930 00:59:07,960 --> 00:59:10,240 Speaker 1: were in their thirties, and you made the point that 931 00:59:10,440 --> 00:59:13,600 Speaker 1: much of Boone's life was defined by this ten year 932 00:59:13,720 --> 00:59:19,640 Speaker 1: period basically from seventeen seventy to about seventeen eighty. The 933 00:59:19,680 --> 00:59:23,440 Speaker 1: Cumberland Gap in Kentucky and all these things things he's 934 00:59:23,480 --> 00:59:27,120 Speaker 1: famous for. Yeah, we've done in that time. Yeah, Well 935 00:59:27,160 --> 00:59:29,760 Speaker 1: it's uh. I got the idea from the study of 936 00:59:29,800 --> 00:59:33,920 Speaker 1: the Romantic poets words Worth in Coleridge lived much longer, 937 00:59:33,960 --> 00:59:37,760 Speaker 1: but almost everything that we associate with them has done 938 00:59:37,760 --> 00:59:40,280 Speaker 1: in that in the ten years and more. Equipment is 939 00:59:40,320 --> 00:59:43,920 Speaker 1: the perfect example that Whitman wrote all of these great poems, 940 00:59:43,960 --> 00:59:46,400 Speaker 1: it's about in that period, it's a little bit more 941 00:59:46,440 --> 00:59:48,840 Speaker 1: about eleven years, and devoted the rest of his life 942 00:59:48,840 --> 00:59:53,120 Speaker 1: to writing prose. Basically write some poems. Uh, but I 943 00:59:53,160 --> 00:59:57,000 Speaker 1: was also thinking of physicists and mathematicians, and yeah that 944 00:59:57,120 --> 01:00:00,840 Speaker 1: they do their great work relatively early. Mathematics actions even earlier, 945 01:00:00,880 --> 01:00:06,720 Speaker 1: but physicist and other scientists use it a little bit later. Novelist. Also, 946 01:00:06,920 --> 01:00:09,560 Speaker 1: novelists usually get going about the age of thirty and 947 01:00:10,240 --> 01:00:13,160 Speaker 1: at the age of forty early forties, like none most 948 01:00:13,160 --> 01:00:21,720 Speaker 1: of the great work a few exceptions, but on this 949 01:00:21,800 --> 01:00:25,440 Speaker 1: first episode we've basically covered the first thirty five years 950 01:00:25,440 --> 01:00:29,240 Speaker 1: of Daniel's life up to him traversing the Cumberland Gap 951 01:00:29,280 --> 01:00:32,440 Speaker 1: and going into Kentucky. This is just the beginning of 952 01:00:32,480 --> 01:00:35,840 Speaker 1: the famed part of his life. And remember at this 953 01:00:35,880 --> 01:00:40,440 Speaker 1: point no one knew his name. Daniel would live to 954 01:00:40,480 --> 01:00:44,160 Speaker 1: be eighties six years old. In the remaining fifty one 955 01:00:44,280 --> 01:00:48,080 Speaker 1: years of his life are more wild than the first. 956 01:00:48,840 --> 01:00:51,480 Speaker 1: The man had a drive and a deep love of 957 01:00:51,600 --> 01:00:55,480 Speaker 1: life that kept him moving. But I'm still trying to 958 01:00:55,600 --> 01:01:01,840 Speaker 1: understand why this story matters. Understanding national archetypes helps us 959 01:01:01,920 --> 01:01:05,520 Speaker 1: see the framework of our thinking, what we value and 960 01:01:05,600 --> 01:01:09,160 Speaker 1: the things that seek to define us. A deeper look 961 01:01:09,160 --> 01:01:12,760 Speaker 1: into national identity, and an awareness of this gives us 962 01:01:12,760 --> 01:01:16,400 Speaker 1: the right to evaluate the good and the not so good. 963 01:01:17,000 --> 01:01:20,560 Speaker 1: In the coming episodes will explore the rest of Boone's life, 964 01:01:20,720 --> 01:01:24,920 Speaker 1: including the heroic rescue of his daughter from Indians and 965 01:01:25,000 --> 01:01:28,680 Speaker 1: the lore of an illegitimate daughter, the death of his son, 966 01:01:29,000 --> 01:01:33,440 Speaker 1: and fortunes won and lost. Will also explore the historical 967 01:01:33,560 --> 01:01:38,760 Speaker 1: revision of Boone and the controversy of us celebrating him. 968 01:01:38,800 --> 01:01:41,439 Speaker 1: It's improbable to think that after listening to a few 969 01:01:41,480 --> 01:01:44,440 Speaker 1: podcasts you could understand the fullness of who Boon was, 970 01:01:44,760 --> 01:01:49,080 Speaker 1: and it's my hope that you might explore Boone yourself. Ultimately, 971 01:01:49,360 --> 01:01:53,200 Speaker 1: I hope that his character, both positive and negative, will 972 01:01:53,200 --> 01:01:58,200 Speaker 1: make us more relevant today and continuing to define American 973 01:01:58,400 --> 01:02:04,400 Speaker 1: identity in I Oh My. Our exploration of Boone is 974 01:02:04,440 --> 01:02:08,600 Speaker 1: an appeal to the masses to remember where we came from, 975 01:02:08,640 --> 01:02:12,920 Speaker 1: and it's a cry to not forget the American backwoodsman, 976 01:02:13,320 --> 01:02:18,120 Speaker 1: because we're still here and we deserve a lasting place 977 01:02:18,520 --> 01:02:29,960 Speaker 1: at the American table because it's in our d n A. Folks, 978 01:02:30,320 --> 01:02:34,240 Speaker 1: I cannot thank you enough for listening to the Beargrease podcast. 979 01:02:34,600 --> 01:02:38,160 Speaker 1: We're pouring out everything we've got into these and thank 980 01:02:38,200 --> 01:02:40,960 Speaker 1: you for the iTunes reviews, and I asked those of 981 01:02:41,000 --> 01:02:43,880 Speaker 1: you who haven't to give us a review on iTunes 982 01:02:44,320 --> 01:02:48,680 Speaker 1: and share this podcast with your buddies. Thanks A ton