PART 1-DANIEL BOONE AND THE OPENING OF THE AMERICAN WEST

a dirge for the brave old pioneer old druid of the West his offering was the fleet wild deer his shrine the Maltese crest within his Wildwood temple space and empires towers nod were erst a long of all his brace he knelt in nature's God a dirge for the grave old pioneer Columbus of the land who guided freedoms proud career beyond the conquered strand and gave her pilgrim sons a whole no monarch step profanes free as the chainless winds that roam upon its boundless Plains [Music] hello I'm Kent Masterson Brown welcome to witnessing histories Daniel Boone and the opening of the American West Daniel Boone his name is known throughout the world numerous poems biographies articles movies and even television serials have been produced about him his modern image is of a man who was bigger than life who wore buckskins in a Coonskin hat and who was the first white man to explore and settle Kentucky yet Daniel Boone was anything but what the popular culture portrays he was not the first white man to explore or even settle Kentucky he despised fur hats preferring broad brimmed hats instead he led the effort to clear a path through the wilderness over a part of which no fewer than 300 thousand settlers would follow to the American West indeed to settle what became Kentucky was his dream and he lost two sons and a brother and other family members in the effort on more than one occasion his wife and family had given him up for dead he was court-martialed for treason by his fellow settlers but a jury acquitted him for multiple reasons he sold or otherwise conveyed every piece of property he ever claimed in Kentucky he was a profoundly humble man who had a deep faith in God that sustained him he paved the way for civilization and in the end moved away from that which he helped create join me as we explore the life of one of America's most authentic and remarkable men Daniel Boone Daniel Boone and the opening of the American West is brought to you by the Filson Historical Society in Louisville Kentucky keeping history alive by collecting preserving and sharing the significant stories of Kentucky in the Ohio Valley region visit our website at Filson historical dot org and by the Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau your first contact when visiting Daniel Boone's Lexington and the Bluegrass region of Kentucky visit us at visit lex comm this program is also brought to you by the Kentucky tourism arts and heritage cabinet Dupree financial group Lexington Kentucky Richmond Tourism Richmond Kentucky the Bluegrass region Convention and Visitors Bureau and the McConnell Center at the University of Louisville [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Daniel Boone was born on November 2nd 17:34 in Berks County Pennsylvania Boone referred to his birth date using the old-style calendar October 22nd 17:34 Boone's grandfather George Boone the third and his wife Mary Moggridge Boone had sailed to America in 1717 from their home near Exeter England the Boone's were Quakers dissenters and they sailed for Philadelphia a city in a colony founded by William Penn that was dominated by dissenters pacifists Piatt tests and Quakers the Boone settled near the town of Redding erecting this stone house in 1733 George and Mary Boone's son Squire Boone who had been born in England in 1696 married Sarah Morgan in 1720 in a Quaker ceremony held at the Welsh colony of Gwynedd Meeting in Berks County Squire bought a tract of land near the homestead of his parents ten children were born to the couple the sixth of whom was Daniel Boone the house in which Daniel Boone was born was made of log and stood over a spring this stone dwelling erected in 1779 was built over the foundation of the original log structure where Boone was born Daniel Boone's early life is mostly legend he had virtually no schooling and he lived for the most part in relative isolation he minded the family cattle hogs and sheep help sow and harvest crops and learn to hunt here at Exeter meeting house in 1742 Daniel's sister Sarah according to the Society of Friends was treated with for marrying out she married a non Quaker then in 1747 Daniel's brother Israel was testified against for marrying out each time Squire Boone was called before the Society of Friends meeting here to account for his children's behavior but he with ever increasing intensity defended both of them as a result the Boone's were disowned by the Society of Friends in the spring of 1750 the Boone's left Berks County they followed the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia to Linville Creek in present-day Rockingham County where they may have sojourned with among others their kinsman John Lincoln none other than the great grandfather of the future President Abraham Lincoln members of the Boone family married into both the Linville and Lincoln families from Virginia the Boone's moved on to Western North Carolina building a cabin like this one in 1753 on the banks of the Yadkin River in what is now Davidson County a protracted war between Great Britain and France soon spilled over to the English colonies and backwoods of North America [Music] 21 year-old Daniel Boone it seems volunteered in the spring of 1755 to be a Waggoner in a North Carolina militia unit Boone's command joined the British force commanded by Major General Edward Braddock that embarked upon an expedition to take French fort duquesne that stood on the site of present-day Pittsburg [Music] Braddock's advance force was ambushed by the French and their Native American allies along the banks of the Monongahela River just east of Fort Duquesne on July 9 1755 Braddock was mortally wounded and carried to the rear on a limber his advanced force broke apart the men fleeing for their lives there was another Wagoner on Braddock's expedition named John Finley who only a year or so before had returned from trading with the Shawnee and who had accompanied them on a hunting trip into the interior of present-day Kentucky Boone and Finlay spoke often about what is now Kentucky Boone came to know from Finley that the land beyond the Cumberland Mountains was extraordinary Finlay quickly learned that Boone was an accomplished woodsman who had a keen interest in going to Kentucky but Boone returned to the Yadkin he probably believed he would never lay his eyes on John Finlay again a Welsh Quaker from Pennsylvania Morgan Bryan with a family of seven sons and one daughter all grown had moved from Virginia and settled on the banks of the Yadkin River just before the Boone's one of Morgan Bryan's sons Joseph Bryan had several children one of whom was Rebecca born in 1739 who Daniel had met before he left for the army Rebecca was dark complected with jet black hair and dark eyes she was well-spoken and kind of not uncommon sighs Rebecca attracted Boo's attention in 1756 when Daniel Boone was 22 years old and Rebecca 17 they were married along the forks of the Yadkin River their marriage was duly recorded in the family Bible at the time of his marriage to Rebecca Bryan Daniel Boone was about 5 feet 10 or 11 inches tall and was inclined to be heavy his eyes were blue he had reddish sandy colored hair that was always worn clubbed up in the back Boone had very fair skin with reddish cheeks and somewhat of a Roman nose Daniel Boone was a humble man raised a Quaker he had a simple but strong Christian faith that dictated his conduct and interactions with others he hated killing and never admitted killing even those enemies who tried to kill him he never used tobacco although he imbibed distilled spirits like most frontiersman he was never known to have abused it Boone hated fur hats and never wore one he preferred a broad brimmed hat like most frontiersman boon had been taught to read and write by his sister-in-law Sarah de Boone the wife of his older brother Samuel who also lived along the Yadkin River beyond that Boone's reading and writing skills were self-taught Boone had relatively good handwriting his spelling was mostly phonetic however in all he was probably as good at reading and writing as most of the men on the frontier at the time [Music] Daniel Boone was a hunter he was no farmer he and Rebecca were also trying to exist in perilous times the Cherokee began raiding white settlements in 1759 there were civil upheavals in North Carolina and money was scarce the Boone's probably struggled to Boone getting out of poverty was his overarching goal [Music] fate came riding up the Shenandoah and down the Yadkin River Valley's in early 1769 leading a pack horse it was none other than John Finlay then a backwoods peddler and he was there to find Daniel Boone in front of a roaring fire Finlay and Boone talked about Kentucky Finlay wanted to go back to Kentucky but he knew nothing of the trails beyond the Cumberland Gap he had entered Kentucky before by way of the Ohio River Finlay had actually traversed part of an Aboriginal pathway with an ominous name from the Miami dialect of the Algonquin tongue a--they ami OE the path of the armed ones or the warriors path once he and Boone located that path they could get into the interior of the region the Warriors path remembered Finley ultimately led to Shawnee towns along the Scioto River the path itself he recalled course south through the valleys along the western edge of the Appalachian Plateau to the Kentucky River and then south east to Cumberland Gap unbeknownst to Finley the path led to flat lick near the Cumberland River and the narrows meandering up the valley of what is now called Yellow Creek through Cumberland Gap and into the Cherokee country Daniel Boone and his brother Squire and their brother-in-law John Stewart determined to visit the paradise of which Finley spoke three camp keepers would accompany them it would be a business enterprise the money that could be gained from the skins and pelts Boone could obtain would help pay debts Boone had explored what is now called the Big Sandy River in far eastern Kentucky but nowhere else in the region Daniel Boone would not be the first white man to explore Kentucky or even the land beyond the Cumberland Gap French explorers had viewed some of the interior of Kentucky as early as 1729 but two explorers actually had entered what became Kentucky for purposes of reporting its attributes dr. Thomas Walker had entered the Cumberland Gap in 1750 and Christopher gist had ventured down the Ohio River in 1751 Geist actually reported his findings to among others young George Washington who was keenly interested in investing in what became Kentucky the party started from Daniel Boone's cabin on May 1st 1769 Boone said his farewells to Rebecca and his children they had six children then and another would be born in December it would not be the last time Rebecca and the children would say long goodbyes to Daniel [Music] [Applause] boon and his party followed the Warriors path all the way through the Cumberland Gap past the gap they found where the Warriors path abruptly turned north and flat lick and followed it to a site north of the Kentucky Boone and his companions found themselves near what would become known as the Red River on June 7th 1769 where they climbed an eminence now known as Pilot Knob in present-day Powell County from the top of an eminence I saw with pleasure the beautiful level of Kentucky Daniel Boone the lands he observed later geologist would name the inner bluegrass some 2,400 square miles within fourteen present-day central Kentucky counties its boundaries according to geologists are now determined by the outcrop of middle or division limestone deposited there over 400 million years ago the inner bluegrass is surrounded by the Eden shale belt a region of hills formed of shale beyond that is the outer bluegrass containing a limestone bed much like that in the inner bluegrass although the land is less level the inner bluegrass has over 3,000 sinks and 1600 square miles of sinkhole topography plus an additional 75 square miles of karst topography with caves sinking Springs sinking creeks and subterranean streams all formed due to the soluble nature of the limestone and the vast underground drainage of water the most noted major Fault in the limestone formed the Kentucky River one of the oldest rivers in America 100 million years old and the master stream draining most of the inner bluegrass the largest tributaries of the Kentucky River in central Kentucky are the Dix River and Eagle and Elkhorn creeks along the Kentucky River these gigantic weathered Palisades more than 400 million years old with odd freestanding chimney shaped pedestal rocks interspersed among flat and rounded organ pipe or castle like Palisades appeared to Daniel Boone in 1769 almost exactly as they appear today the northernmost area of the region present-day bourbon in Harrison counties is drained by the Licking River with its North and South fork's the South Fork is formed by the convergence of Hingston and stoner creeks the rivers and their tributaries were populated with Sycamore cedar poplar dogwood white oak and red bud the inner bluegrass was not a forest in 1769 although there were hardwood forests mostly along rivers and creeks much of the wooded area seen in the inner bluegrass then had an open canopy with grass growing among the widely scattered trees forming natural meadows some 20 and even 50 miles in circumference some of the most beautiful Meadows or savannas were populated with fire-resistant burr Oaks which can still be seen today over millions of years forest fires would burn off all vegetation except the burr Oaks blue ash or locust trees leaving Great Meadows or savannas growing in the great meadows and savannas was what observers then called English grass or meadow grass some refer to it even then as bluegrass all around those open meadows were immense canebrakes the cane that grew wild in present-day Kentucky was a reed-like plant that reached heights of fifteen or sixteen feet but more generally 10 to 12 feet cane grew in great breaks some breaks more than eight miles long and four miles wide so thick were the cane breaks that passing through them was extraordinarily difficult one would literally vanish by entering them the inner bluegrass was to Daniel Boone a second paradox populating the region was wildlife beyond a hunter's dream buffalo deer elk rabbits gray squirrel bear raccoon otter beaver along with wild turkey there was a seemingly endless supply of meat to eat and fur and skins to clothe oneself in central Kentucky we found everywhere an abundance of wild beasts of all sorts through this vast forest the Buffalo were more frequent than I had ever seen cattle in sediments they browsed the leaves of the cane of cropping the herbage on those extensive plains fearless because ignorant of the violence of man sometimes we saw hundreds in the truth and the numbers about the salt springs were amazing Daniel Ben Buffalo were attracted to the region by the salt licks which were prevalent along spans of the Kentucky and licking rivers and were created along the fault lines more than 100 million years ago to Boone in the early pioneer the salt licks made the settlement of Kentucky possible the salt was indispensable to the diet and for preserving foods immense herds of Buffalo originating along the little and Great Miami rivers in present-day Ohio would for the Ohio River and follow multiple well-worn paths or traces in Kentucky to feed off the lush vegetation and take the salt at the many salt licks in the region Buffalo Trace is headed south to Big Bone lick and southeast to dren ins lick and then on to a site on the winding Kentucky River just downstream from present-day Frankfort Buffalo would linger in the area or Ford the river pass through the inner bluegrass to stamping ground and to the Royal spring in present-day Scott County some would follow alternate paths through present-day Fayette County and then pass on to the lower blue licks the site of salt licks on the Licking River or follow a parallel path to the South Fork of the Licking River or a path to the upper blue links the herds of Buffalo would journey on from the Licking River to present-day Mays lick some crossing the Ohio River again near present-day Maysville at the mouth of limestone Creek others lingering for months feeding on the rich vegetation over the centuries the Buffalo left immense traces that course their way completely through the interior of central Kentucky the great traces the Buffalo created were given a name by the Shawnee Allen and Awami OE these somewhat parallel traces from Salt Lick to Salt Lick formed a road network that was already in place when Daniel Boone first gazed upon the Bluegrass region of Kentucky in June 1769 Boone's party established a base camp situated according to tradition along a creek in what is now Estill County still named station Camp Creek Boone and his party hunted and trapped bringing in large amounts of furs the hunter is ranged farther and farther from station camp exploring the interior of the inner bluegrass along what is now the Elkhorn Creek although Boone referred to Kentucky as a howling wilderness he fell in love with the region we had passed through a great forest on which stood myriads of trees some gay with blossoms others rich with fruits nature was here a series of wonders and a fund of delight he or she displayed her ingenuity and industry in a variety of flowers and fruits beautifully colored elegantly shaped and charmingly flavored and we were diverted with innumerable animals presenting themselves perpetually to our view Daniel Boone Boone's troubles began in December 1769 when a Shawnee hunting party captured him and his brother-in-law John Stewart near the Kentucky River station camp was pilfered told by the Shawnee not to return to Kentucky for the wasps and Yellowjackets would sting severely Boone relived those words in a dream a few days later while he camped along the banks of a creek now within the boundary of the present-day city of Richmond Kentucky Boone like most people of his age believed in dreams and premonitions and he named the stream dreaming Creek a name it still bears sometime later while hunting near the abandoned Shawnee village of Eska pocket iki in present-day eastern Clark County Boone and his party stopped for the night along a stream Boone loved to read two books the Bible and Gulliver's Travels as the hunting party was listening to Boone read aloud Jonathan Swift's account of the land of the Giants at brob dagnabbit and its capital called warble grudge one of the party returned using his best pronunciation who named the stream low B grid Creek a name that persists to this day like many hunters Boone carved his initials on numerous trees many carvings remained for years afterward by May 1770 all of the hunters except Boone had returned to North Carolina or in the case of Boone's brother-in-law John Stewart had vanished what were believed to be Stewart's remains and his Powderhorn were found in a hollow tree five years later Stewart was a victim of the wilderness mortally wounded by Native American hunters or an attack by some animal we will never know Squire Boone was the last of the party to leave Daniel he returned to the settlements with all the pack horses loaded with pelts promising to come back with more supplies Daniel Boone was alone I confess I never before was under greater necessity of exercising philosophy and fortitude a few days I passed uncomfortably the idea of a beloved wife and family and their anxiety upon the account of my absence and exposed situation made sensible impressions on my heart a thousand dreadful apprehensions presented themselves to my viewer and had undoubtedly disposed me to melancholy if further indulged Daniel Boone Boone reigned far and wide all by himself in reality he loved solitude to keep himself concealed as much as possible from far-ranging Shawnee hunting parties Boone it is said use caves in which to camp he could not have used any one of them more than a day or two at a time he would move from one cave to another and to canebrakes to keep from being spotted one of the caves is perched high above the Kentucky River in Jessamine County just downstream from the mouth of marble Creek another is a cave high above Hickman Creek in Jessamine County near that creeks mouth at the Kentucky River Boone is said to have used yet another cave in present-day Mercer County there he is said to have carved his initials DB 1770 in a nearby tree although perhaps apocryphal Daniel Boone is said to have performed an amazing feat not far from the Mercer County cave while being chased by a band of Shawnee hunters reached the Palisades of the Dix River near its mouth but the Kentucky River gingerly lowering himself to allege near here Daniel Boone jumped into the trees below to the utter astonishment of his pursuers Boone vanished into the woods in another story that has the ring of truth a party of long hunters led by the noted frontiersman Casper mance Kerr heard strange sounds in the distance as they were walking through a forest in central Kentucky they quietly crept forward as the sounds got louder and louder then mance Kerr and his men saw Daniel Boone lying flat on his back singing to himself to the delight of all hoon explored all of central Kentucky he went as far as the Ohio River to the north and west and the mountain foothills beyond the Kentucky River to the south and east I did not confine my lodging to my old camp there reposed and fit canebrakes to avoid the savages who I believe often visited my camp but fortunately for me in my absence in this situation I was constantly exposed to danger in death the prowling wolves diverted my nocturnal hours with perpetual hounds and the various species of animals and the vast forest and the daytime were continually in my view thus I was surrounded with plenty in the midst of want I was happy in the midst of dangers and inconveniences in such a diversity it was impossible I should be disposed to melancholy no populous city with all the varieties of Commerce and stately structures could afford so much pleasure to my mind as the beauties of nature I found here Daniel Boone's Squire Boone returned to find Daniel as he had promised and finally in March 1771 the two brothers returned home Daniel Boone was determined to settle Kentucky in 1773 Daniel Boone agreed with Captain William Russell of Castle wood Russell's settlement along the Clinch River in South West Virginia to establish a settlement in the Kentucky country then part of Virginia at the time there were no white settlements in that country although some Virginians had claimed land there Boone's Caravan started at Castle wood on September 25th 1773 there were more than 50 people they included the Boone and Russell families as well as the family of Squire Boone along with nine other families the families of two of Rebecca's Bryan kinsmen were also in the caravan we had passed over two mountains Powell's and loans and were approaching the Cumberland Mountain these mountains are in the wilderness as we pass from the old settlements in Virginia to Kentucky they are arranged in a southwest and northeast direction are of great length and breadth and not far distant from one another over these nature has formed passes they are less difficult than might be expected from a view of such huge piles of rock the aspect of these cliffs is so wild and horrid that it is impossible to behold them without terror Daniel Boone as Boone's leading party was about 35 miles from Cumberland Gap his oldest son 16 year old James Boone was with a party following the main column with flour and cattle James Boone's party camped the night of October 9 on Wallens Creek near present-day Stickley Ville Virginia about 3 miles behind Daniel Boone's main party as darkness fell the party heard the howls of wolves the most startling sounds in all of nature just before dawn October 10 a party of Shawnee crept up close to James Boone's camp and opened fire James boon and young Henry Russell were shot through the hips and paralyzed most of the others were killed one african-american slave escaped concealing himself near by the Shawnee Braves unsheathed their knives and then set upon torturing the two boys the cries and screams of the boys echoed through the valley beneath Wallens Ridge the leader of the Shawnee band was Big Jim a warrior who had actually visited the Boone cabin in the past in spite of Appeals to be put out of their misery and killed the boys were slashed to ribbons their fingernails and toenails were torn out and their hands cut to pieces as they tried to ward off the knives finally Big Jim killed James Boone and Henry Russell with ferocious blows from his Tamil learning of the tragedy Daniel Boone Road back to the scene he buried his son covering the grave with rocks and ash from a campfire built over the grave to keep the wild animals away Boone had lost his firstborn son trying to settle Kentucky his sorrow was greater than anyone could ever imagine it would not be the last of such sorrows for him [Music] [Music] Daniel Boone and his family remained along the Clinch River in Southwest Virginia until June 1774 when he and Michael stoner under orders of John Murray the Earl of Dunmore and governor of Virginia conducted surveyors back to the settlements from the Falls of the Ohio River present-day Louisville Boone returned after 62 days when governor Dunmore commissioned him a captain and placed him in command of three Garrison's during the campaign of the Virginians against the Shawnee known as Lord Dunmore swore [Music] probably the earliest of all documents prepared by Daniel Boone are these discharges from military service in the Fincastle County militia of a James McChrystal dated November 25th 1774 and William Lodge dated November 27th 1774 signed by Boone as captain with the end of Lord Dunmore's war boons dream was about to be realized Colonel Richard Henderson who had known Boone well and even loaned him money gave up his judicial post in Salisbury North Carolina and formed the Transylvania company with Thomas and Nathaniel heart of North Carolina for the purpose of purchasing from the Cherokees all the lands in present-day Kentucky between the Kentucky River and the Cumberland River in all 20 million acres of land the trouble was the land the North Carolinian Henderson sought to purchase from the Cherokees was claimed by Virginia then still ruled by a royal governor Pennsylvanian James Herod in his company had already established settlements at Harrodsburg and boiling spring in present-day Mercer County inside the region the Transylvania company actually sought to purchase nearby Virginian James McAfee and his brothers had surveyed land near the site of Harrodsburg the year before indeed just behind Boone in the Transylvania company would be another party of Virginians that included Benjamin Logan who would establish a settlement first named st. Asaph's near present-day Stanford Kentucky on what would become a western stem of the wilderness road that extended to Harrodsburg nevertheless Henderson went about planning his own colony in the wilderness of Kentucky large tracts would be set aside for the proprietors and the rest sold to settlers as this rare list of purchases of tracts from Henderson reveals the Cherokee were finally invited by Henderson to treaty negotiations along the Watauga River at Sycamore Shoals near present-day Elizabethton Tennessee in March 1775 among the Cherokees best negotiators at a cola-cola little carpenter and see us in dragging canoe attended as an agreement was reached in principle dragging canoe remarked brother we had given you a fine lame but I believe that you will have much trouble in settling it there was a dark cloud over that country he warned Henderson's men of the native tribes north of the Ohio River the Shawnee and their allies the Cherokee knew the Shawnee well the Shawnee were bad people and when they came for war they would kill white people as well as red dragon canoes never had a Native American spoken more truth than dragon canoe the treaty was actually signed on March 17th 1775 and the Cherokee transferred to the Transylvania company all of the lands south of the Kentucky River for 2,000 pounds worth of food clothing blankets tools whiskey rum and trinkets the Transylvania company employed Daniel Boone to cut a road to a site in the new promised land where a settlement could be started Boone and 30 axman's began their effort to cut what would become known as the Wilderness Road on March 10th 1775 seven days before the treaty was signed following what would become a very familiar and well-worn path to Boone his party crossed the Clinch Mountain using moccasin gaps and Powell's mountain using Kane's gap they crossed Wallens Ridge and stayed briefly at Martin stations Boone and his men entered the Cumberland Gap eight miles distant by way of the Warriors path the Warriors path was cleared and marked for nearly 50 difficult miles at the hazel patch in present-day Laurel County Boone and his Axman turned north west following a hunter's path to what would be named the Rockcastle River they cleared a trail until they reached present-day Madison County on March 24th 1775 Boone and one group of his Axman camped for the night at a site just south of the present-day city of Richmond Kentucky suddenly a band of Shawnee attacked but were beaten back Cassady William Twitty and his slave Sam were morning [Music] others Boone scribbled a letter to Colonel Henderson who is following the Axman but still days behind I have sent a man down to all the lower companies in order to gather them all at the mouth of outer Creek my advice to you sir is to come or send men as soon as possible your company is desire greatly for the people are very uneasy but are willing to stay and venture their lives with you and now is the time to frustrate the Indians and tensions and keep the country whilst we are in it if we give way to them now it will ever be the case Daniel better with only about 15 miles to go Boone and his road builders headed north and followed what is now named Otter Creek to its mouth on the Kentucky River [Music] afterwards we proceeded on to the Kentucky River without opposition and on the first day of April 1775 began to erect the fort of Boonesboro at a Salt Lake about sixty yards from the river on the south side Daniel Boone elements of the road Daniel Boone and his Axman cleared from Cumberland Gap to Boonesboro would forever after be known as the Wilderness Road more than three hundred thousand settlers would follow much of that path to settle lands beyond the Cumberland Mountains the path would be marked by the blood of those who first dared to traverse it in the face of attacks by Native American tribes no single feat contributed more to the settlement of the American West up to that time than the opening of the Wilderness Road and no single person contributed more to the opening of the Wilderness Road than Daniel Boone as Daniel Boone was erecting the fort at Boonesboro earth-shaking events were taking place on April 19th 1775 shots were fired on the village green at Lexington Massachusetts and again at Concord nearby they were the opening shots of a revolt against British Authority that would last for eight years and engulf all of the American colonies and their frontiers of concern to Boone and those settling Kentucky in the war with Great Britain were the Native American tribes particularly the Shawnee and their allies who live north of the Ohio River Colonel Richard Henderson and the proprietors of the Transylvania company believe they had purchased peace with the Cherokee Nation at Sycamore Shoals but the Shawnee presented a very different and more complex set of issues the Shawnee were hardly what one would call native to the region although the tribe claimed areas of present-day Ohio as their home the Shawnee also claimed present-day Kentucky is theirs although they never fully settled there beyond villages on the Ohio River across from the mouth of the Scioto River and at escapar Cathy key Kentucky was their hunting ground as it had been to the Cherokee the Shawnee may have had ancestors who lived in the Ohio River Valley but it is far from certain the known history of the Shawnee confirms that they were uh nomadic peoples although it is difficult to track all of them in part because there were five different divisions of the tribe and algonquian-speaking people the Shawnee likely had their origins in Canada some appear to have been driven from the Ohio country by the Iroquois it seems they migrated to South Carolina and present-day Alabama the historic Shawnee were a Southern people and they're named Shawnee was derived from the Algonquin language meaning southerner in the early 18th century the Shawnee fled from the Carolinas after a disastrous war with the Catawba tribe many had wandered north before then other sets of Shawnee it seems fled from present-day Alabama the Shawnee migrated to Virginia and then to Pennsylvania where they were dominated by the Iroquois between 1730 and the mid 1750s most of the Shawnee had established villages along the Scioto River in present-day Ohio by the mid 17 60s they had established villages known as old Chillicothe on the Little Miami River near present-day Xenia Ohio and Piqua on the Mad River near present-day Springfield Ohio through their historic existence the Shawnee had been what one might call wandering mercenaries they had been used by the white settlers and the Cherokees to fight the West owes and the Catawbas they had been used by the French to fight the Chickasaws and finally the Miami invited the Shawnee to live in Ohio believing they might use them to fight the Iroquois or possibly white animation because the ferocious Wyandots control the region it was that tribe that permitted the miami's in the Shawnee to occupy the lands north of the Ohio the Wyandots had a long history of war with the hated Iroquois the historic Shawnee were a ferocious people who had a history of doing the bidding of others no one understood the usefulness of the Shawnee and their allies more than the British from headquarters at Fort Niagara located in western New York at the mouth of the Niagara River at Lake Ontario General Sir Frederick Haldeman the governor of the province of Quebec which included Ontario solidified the old British alliance with a fierce Iroquois in New York from headquarters in Detroit Henry Hamilton British lieutenant governor and superintendent of Indian Affairs Lord the Shawnee Delaware Chippewa Mingo Miami Ottawa and Wyandotte tribes into alliances with Britain the British would wage war against the settlers on the frontier by using the Native American tribes to do the fighting the operations would be directed by the British out of Niagara and Detroit the British would pay their surrogate warriors handsomely clothing blankets shelter food muskets gunpowder Flint's LED knives hatchets and tomahawks were among the goods given to the tribes by the British and the British would pay for scalps for his role in paying for Scouts governor Henry Hamilton would become known as the hair buyer the British and their Native American allies would fight any attempts to settle Kentucky in the Ohio River Valley they would contest every inch of ground just as Boone had finally been given the opportunity to actually settle Kentucky the region was on the cusp of being engulfed in an extraordinarily vicious and bloody war it would prove to be a perfect storm [Music] you

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Keywords: Daniel Boone, Kentucky history, American Revolution, American history, Documentary, American Civil War, homeschool, pandemic, History, History Lessons, Civil War, Teacher Guides, Lesson Plans

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Length: 57min 14sec (3434 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 20 2018