Simon Kenton: His Life and Period, 1755-1836 (The First American Frontier)

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Adventures of the Kentucky Pioneer "D. Boon".......2003-06-24

This book is a nice sketch of the life of Daniel Boone, first published by the University Press of Kentucky in 1978. While it does not compare with the larger and more valuable biographies of Draper, and Bakeless, and lacks the primary value of Boone's own account of himself in Filson's "Kentucke" (1784), it is a nice survey, and may be more appreciated by younger readers, or by those new to the subject, than the larger volumes.

Daniel Boone: Young Hunter and Tracker (Childhood of Famous Americans)

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Good Story

Daniel Boone: Young Hunter and Tracker (Childhood of Famous Americans)
Augusta Stevenson
Manufacturer: Aladdin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0020418302

Customer Reviews:

Good Story.......2005-08-28

I learned a lot about indians and life in early america. I liked learing the facts and what really happened. It was really exciting. I think 8 and up should read this book. (...).

Daniel Boone: The Life and Legend of an American Pioneer (An Owl Book)

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A true woodsman
Well Detailed Book on the Great Backwoodsman
Very informative and enjoyable
Who was Daniel Boone?
One of the Great Biographies of Boone the Kentuckian

Daniel Boone: The Life and Legend of an American Pioneer (An Owl Book)
John Mack Faragher
Manufacturer: Owl Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0805030077

Amazon.com

The legend of the American frontier is largely the legend of a single individual, Daniel Boone, who looms over our folklore like a giant. Boone figures in other traditions as well: Goethe held him up as the model of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's "natural man," and Lord Byron devoted several stanzas of his epic poem Don Juan to the frontiersman, calling Boone "happiest of mortals any where." But folklore is not history, and we are fortunate to have a reliable and factual life of Boone through the considerable efforts of John Mack Faragher. The contradictory admirer of Indians who participated in their destruction, the slaveholder who cherished liberty, the devoted family man who prized solitude and would disappear into the woods for years at a time--the real Boone is far more interesting than the mythical image, and in this book we finally catch sight of him.

Book Description

Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for History for 1993In the first and most reliable biography of Daniel Boone in more than fifty years, award-winning historian Faragher brilliantly portrays America's famous frontier hero. Drawing from popular narrative, the public record, scraps of documentation from Boone's own hand, and a treasure of reminiscence gathered by nineteenth-century antiquarians, Faragher uses the methods of new social history to create a portrait of the man and the times he helped shape. Blending themes from a much vitalized Western and frontier history with the words and ideas of ordinary people, Faragher has produced a book that will stand as the definitive life of Daniel Boone for decades to come, and one that illuminates the frontier world of Boone like no other.

Customer Reviews:

A true woodsman.......2007-08-13

This book provided very detailed information regarding Daniel Boone and his relatives. He's a legend worth learning about. You'll be able to separate the myths about him from the truth, according to the best available data.
Be ready for a long read.

Well Detailed Book on the Great Backwoodsman.......2006-10-11

Well written and detailed book on America's back woodsman who seemed a precursor to the Mountain Man. Hailing from Pennsylvania, the author tracks Boone's introduction and love of hunting from his early years through his family's move to North carolina to Kentucky finishing his mature years in Missouri due to his constant thirst for better hunting and less people. Fascinating account of Boone's unique relationship with the Indians and cool head. His ability to sustain himself like a native and stay in the wilds alone or with small bands. The author not only does well detailing how Boone led parties into Kentucky and creating settlements but also verifies several exploits such as his saving the lives of his daughter and her friend who were kidnapped by Indians by using his knowledge of the geography of the land and the trails that the Indians used.

The author also details well Boone's controversial surrendering of his men to the Indians in exchange for sparing families at Boonesboro that is still somewhat puzzling as many thought him a traitor. Also a bit of a paradox is Boone's love of the hunt, staying away from home sometimes for a year or more while fathering 8 to 10 kids with Rebecca. Also interesting is his relationship with Rebecca who endured his long hunts and disappearances and may have had a child not Boone's that he accepted as the the consequences of his absence. Well worth reading, even covers Boone's warts particularly as a land surveyor, that obviously was not his skill. And unlike Fess Parker and the legend, he never wore a cookskin cap. But the author makes the facts as fascinating as the legend as Boone was in fact a fearless and independent man of the wilderness.

Very informative and enjoyable.......2006-02-22

This is a terrific book on Boone, someone who was almost more of a legend and a myth to me than a real man. This book gives an absorbing and detailed account of his life. I didn't even know so much was actually known about Boone, but Boone was a man of great personal character and courage whose exploits were documented in many letters about him and in his diary. Also, the women get detailed treatment too, so you learn about their contributions on the frontier, too.

The American Revolution to the east mostly passed Boone by, but he was fighting another revolution and battle on the frontiers against the Indians. Some of the tribes I hadn't even heard of, such as the Westo, and I've read at least a little of Amerindian ethnology and history so I know the basics. Many of the battles and fights against the Indians are discussed in detail, which makes for fascinating reading as you see how tough and tactically sophisticated the Indians were in forest fighting engagements, which the settlers realized they had to adopt too or be wiped out.

Oddly enough, Boone was not always lionized as a frontier hero, there are cartoons of him lampooning his sometimes reclusive, loner ways, and his insatiable need for "elbow room," for which he sometimes left his family for weeks on end to go on long hunts and to explore the vast interior frontier. Sometimes the book goes fast, sometimes a little slow, as a read, but overall a very interesting book on this early American great and his adventures and trials and tribulations.

Who was Daniel Boone? .......2006-01-16

John Mack Faragher believes that he was an American so steeped in legend and myth that while his name is known to all he is completely misunderstood. Faragher seeks to draw a portrait of Boone the man, minus the legend and myth, and his work is a wonderful reassessment of this iconic American hero. What we learn is that Boone was fine frontiersman who enjoyed the forests and the natural environment of Kentucky. He had a genuine affinity with the Shawnee Indians, with whom he had much in common but fought repeatedly and eventually helped to vanquish from the region. Boone was at his best when he was able to demonstrate a natural courage in the face of adversity, whether it be in fighting the Shawnee or in confronting other enemies. He had ambitions as a land speculator and entrepreneur but never made it work. He made and lost several fortunes in his lifetime.

The Daniel Boone of this biography is neither the intrepid loner of legend nor the larger than life frontiersman. He was essentially a family man who tried to ensure his place in the economy of Revolutionary America, going to the frontier to do so, and securing an inheritance for his children. Even-tempered and intelligent, if not well-educated, Boone was a man out for the "main chance." In dangerous times he rose to the occasion, as in the siege of Boonesborough in 1778, his captivity by the Shawnee for several months, and the rescue of his daughter Jemima and Betsy and Fanny Calloway from Indians when they were abducted.

Faragher does a fine job in separating the fact from the fiction of Boone's life, and this is an elegant and entertaining as well as illuminating book. If you have any interest whatsoever in the life of Daniel Boone this is the book to start with in learning about his remarkable life on the American frontier.

One of the Great Biographies of Boone the Kentuckian.......2005-08-16

This is an excellent book in many ways. I would recommend it as a companion to the works of Draper, Bakeless, and of course his own "autobiographical" article in Filson, and the interviews with his son by Draper ("My Father, Daniel Boone: The Draper Interviews With Nathan Boone").

My particular interest in Daniel Boone is his association with Big Bone Lick, and his early visits there and I have written on this subject. Anyone seriously interested in early Kentucky history should read this book.

My Father, Daniel Boone: The Draper Interviews With Nathan Boone

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Nathan and Olive Discuss Father Daniel Boone
Boone, From Myth to Reality

My Father, Daniel Boone: The Draper Interviews With Nathan Boone
Nathan Boone , Olive Van Bibber Boone , and Lyman Copeland Draper
Manufacturer: University Press of Kentucky
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0813121035

Customer Reviews:

Nathan and Olive Discuss Father Daniel Boone.......2003-06-24

Nathan Boone and his wife, Olive van Bibber Boone, had the kind of memories most people wish for. They remembered virtually all of the early history of Commonwealth of Kentucky. When Lyman Draper came to visit them for two months in 1851 he found them full of the most interesting and detailed memories of Daniel Boone. Not only had the elder Boone lived with them and shared his own memories, they had also lived through many of the incidents themselves, and knew many of the old pioneers -- old van Bibber was one of the earliest settlers in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Enjoyable, highly readable. I highly recommend this book.

Boone, From Myth to Reality.......2000-09-06

The Draper Interviews provide insight into the life of Boone, free of the myth and larger than life stereotype that has always surrounded this remarkable frontiersman. Nathan Boone's recollections of his father also gives us a glimpse of how Daniel himself viewed the world in which he lived and allows us to more clearly understand the man from which the legend sprung. Though many books written from similiar interviews are dull and rather boring, the Draper Interviews are arranged so that they make for rather stimulating reading and keep the reader eagerly in longing for the next chapter. Truly a "must read" for anyone interested in Daniel Boone or early Kentucky history.

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Who Was Daniel Boone? (Who Was...?)
Sydelle Kramer
Manufacturer: Grosset & Dunlap
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0448439026

Book Description

Called the "Great Pathfinder," Daniel Boone is most famous for opening up the West to settlers through Kentucky. A symbol of America's pioneering spirit, Boone was a skilled outdoorsman and an avid reader, although he never attended school. Sydelle Kramer skillfully recounts Boone's many adventures, such as the day he rescued his own daughter from kidnappers.

Kentucky Frontiersmen: The Adventures of Henry Ware, Hunter and Border Fighter

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Altsheler: Great American Author

Kentucky Frontiersmen: The Adventures of Henry Ware, Hunter and Border Fighter
Joseph A. Altsheler , and Nathaniel Kenton
Manufacturer: Voyageur Publishing Company (TN)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0929146018

Book Description

This thrilling adventure novel captures the excitement and challenge faced by the brave men and women who crossed the mountains to carve a new life out of the dense frontier wilderness. Kentucky Frontiersmen is the story of young Henry Ware, whose family settles in Kain-tuck-ee, heart of the Shawnee and Wyandot hunting grounds. Born to the outdoors, Henry masters the forest skills and cunning of the Indians, and leads the battle to save the new pioneer settlement.

Customer Reviews:

Altsheler: Great American Author.......2001-02-19

Altsheler can paint a picture with words like no other author can. He is so descriptive with his words that you feel that you are right there in the midst of the story with the same feelings and senses as the protagonist, Henry Ware.

The Kentucky Frontiersmen is a newer version of the same book as the "The Young Trailers" that Altsheler wrote in the late 1800"s except a more modern version. The difference being that a lot of the slang is taken out and replaced with more modern words, there are illustrations and I believe that the print is larger.

I first read books from the "Young Trailer Series" back in the 50's when I was in grade school and they had a great influence on my life. I recently ordered some of the books from the Altsheler series from Amazon.com and enjoyed them again immensely. The theme represented throughout the series was the constant struggle to be the best and to be ready and prepared to prove it at anytime or it could cost an early Kentucky settler his life was a lesson that I took with me into competitive situations like sports, academics and the business world.

The "Kentucky Frontiersmen" teaches values that are so important especially to growing children that deal with responsibility, hard work, integrity, intelligence and the special type of people that built this country.

Every resident of Kentucky should read these books because historically they give an accurate view of what Kentucky was like back in the early days of settlement. What a special place Kentucky must have been and I'm sure, still is.

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Simon Kenton : Kentucky Scout

History for younger audiences

Simon Kenton: Kentucky Scout
Thomas D. Clark
Manufacturer: Jesse Stuart Foundation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Frontiersmen: A Narrative

Raoul Wallenberg: The Man Who Stopped Death

The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion

The Ugly American

The American Vision, Student Edition

ASIN: 0945084390

Book Description

Adventure story, biography, western history -- Simon Kenton, Kentucky Scout fits all these descriptions. While still in his teens, Kenton explored Kentucky and became an expert woodsman. His daring rescue of Daniel Boone during an Indian attack on Boonsborough and his assistance to George Rogers Clark are prime examples of his skill and heroism.

No frontiersman showed more bravery than Kenton. When he was captured following a raid on the Indians' horses at Chillicothe, he exhibited almost superhuman endurance as he ran the dreaded gauntlet, and withstood numerous other tortures. He eventually escaped and returned to Kentucky.

In the mid-1780's, Kenton brought his family from Virginia and settled them in present day Mason County. By then, the primary Indian threat was over. However Kenton's role as Indian scout during the previous decade had been so important that his memory remains forever a part of Kentucky's history. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews:

Simon Kenton : Kentucky Scout.......2005-07-28

Being an avid Simon Kenton fan, I was really looking forward to this book but found it quite boring. I suppose after reading Allan Eckert's "Frontiersman", any accounting of the life of Simon Kenton pales in comparison.

History for younger audiences.......2000-03-10

Among historians in Kentucky the name Thomas D. Clark is almost as important as Simon Kenton. Clark has had a remarkably long and fruitful career as a historian in Kentucky. Too many historians after a long career of teaching and writing history will retire into anonymity, but not Thomas Clark. Many years after the age when most people retire, Clark wrote a book about a frontiersman who first came into Kentucky when it was known as the Hostile West. This story of Kenton will not only come alive for adults, but could also be enjoyed by younger readers due to the audience that Clark had in mind when putting this history together. When first learning about the history of our nation, Kentucky students learn about the great military leaders of Virginia, and the men of the North East who dared to dream of being great political leaders, etc; It is hard to find a book that a young reader can sit down with and read about a person who will forever be known as a great Kentuckian. The life of Simon Kenton was not polished up by Clark and made into a politically correct story that will fit perfectly into our historical revisionistic modern textbooks. Clark doesn't cover up the fact that Kenton killed Indians, stole horses and guns, and took land away from people who certainly had rights to this beautiful hunting ground; this is REAL history, and it is written for an audience that may not otherwise hear this story. All young people, not only those who live in Kentucky, should learn about the life of Simon Kenton. Like Simon Kenton, Thomas D. Clark will forever be known as a great Kentuckian.

Daniel Boone and the Exploration of the Frontier (Explorers of the New World)

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Daniel Boone
Watch out for errors!
Watch out for errors!

Daniel Boone and the Exploration of the Frontier (Explorers of the New World)
Richard Kozar
Manufacturer: Chelsea House Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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ASIN: 0791055108

Customer Reviews:

Daniel Boone.......2003-06-24

One of many books about Boone. This one lacks the substance of many others. The best is that by Lyman Draper. Second is that by Nathan Boone. The book by John Bakeless is a very good earlier study, and covers all the ground well. I suggest this book for younger people, but scholars will want to look elsewhere.

Watch out for errors!.......2002-04-11

My initial perusal of this book picked up the following rather blatant mistakes:
Back Cover: "Wearing a cap made from raccoon skin . . ." (In real life, Daniel Boone never wore a coonskin cap.)
Page 13: The homestead is comprised of 250 acres, not 25.
Page 17: Fort Necessity is NOT located "at the site where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers merge to form the Ohio." That's where Fort Duquesne, later Fort Pitt, stood. Fort Necessity is 50 miles to the southeast.
Page 19: The caption identifies Boone's rifle as "Lick-Ticker." Try "Tick Licker."
Page 47: Two, not three, of Boone's children were killed.

Watch out for errors!.......2002-04-11

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From Smoke & Fire News: A Unique Volume on Daniel Boone
Most Excellent! "The Life of Daniel Boone"
Simply put, one of the best!
To In depth for the most part
Draper MS best source of Boone's Life

The Life of Daniel Boone
Lyman Copeland Draper
Manufacturer: Stackpole Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0811709795

Customer Reviews:

From Smoke & Fire News: A Unique Volume on Daniel Boone.......2004-12-16

Occasionally a book that has been available for a while deserves another look just because of its intrinsic value. In 1998 a book was published that combined the names of two legendary individuals who will be associated forever with the history of the American backwoods-Daniel Boone, the famous adventurer, and Lyman C. Draper, the renowned nineteenth-century interviewer and collector. It was only through the painstaking efforts of editor Ted Franklin Belue that Draper's highly significant tome on Boone finally came into being a century and a half after it was started. Before the ink was dry on the printed page, this book had become a backcountry classic. It instantly went to the front rank of Boone biographies. For the previous hundred years few but the serious historian had been drawing from Draper's handwritten manuscript on Boone; now even the casual reader would have the material readily available in print. Despite the fact that Draper never finished writing the biography and didn't take Boone's exploits beyond 1778, The Life of Daniel Boone (596 pages hardcover, $39.95, Stackpole Books) has proven to be well worth the long wait.
The book is a treasure trove of information about Boone, including such highlights as: his early years in Pennsylvania and North Carolina; activities during the French and Indian War; hunting in the Appalachian region; long hunting in Kentucky; adventures in Dunmore's War; the establishment of Boonesborough; and the first half of the Revolutionary War in Kentucky. While perusing these pages, the reader will be reminded constantly of Draper's monumental research that involved extensive travel to obtain interviews with people who had known Boone personally or with relatives and friends of such individuals. He also endeavored to collect important documents before they disappeared. His efforts were literally a race against time. Belue sets a standard for excellence with his very interesting preface as well as his editor's note (following the preface) that explains how the book finally came into being. The outstanding notes at the end of each chapter by both Draper and Belue are a further wealth of information. Draper's 44-page appendix provides a Boone genealogy and biographical sketches of many other frontier figures.
From Smoke & Fire News, November 2004, by Bob Holden

Most Excellent! "The Life of Daniel Boone".......2004-04-24

I have to say this book is just wonderful! It is great as a casual read as well as excellent for the researcher and/or family historian! It helped me to fill some gaps in my families history (Daniel's sister, Sarah Boone) and gave other avenues in which to reasearch.

Simply put, one of the best!.......2003-12-24

This is the one to get. This one, and John Mack Faragher's BOONE biography (Henry Holt, 1992). Anything by Belue is worth getting; he is precise to the point of obsession, and his works--four thus far--will stand the test of time.

To In depth for the most part.......2003-06-27

Wanted to read this book as a celebration of Daniels life Yet I found it to be long statements made directly following his death It is told that none ventured into writing of this man during his life I guess that makes it appealing The man had big family and was known to beat the Indians at there own gam that I found Admirable the book on a whole was simply a bore due to the accounts of how Boone tryed to purchase this or that But to those who want to build homesteads in the 1800s It will be to your liking

Draper MS best source of Boone's Life.......2003-06-24

Lyman Draper wrote the single best account of the life of Daniel Boone. This source, while not well known, has been mined by virtually every biographer of Boone since 1850. This book and the biography of John Bakeless are the best two volumes ever to appear about the life of Daniel Boone. Also the Memoirs of Nathan Boone and his wife are of extreme value. These books provide the basis for the study of early Kentucky history.

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