​Born in the Pennsylvania colony to a Quaker household, Daniel Boone and his family were thrust into wilderness during a developmental period of his life. A young Daniel Boone spent much of his time learning skills in hunting, traversing the demanding landscape, and communicating with Indian tribes. At the age of fifteen, the Boone Family soon moved just east of the lower Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina due to issues relating with a disapproved marriage and the unconditional love for one’s family. Boone, beginning his adult life, exchanged the agrarian lifestyle popular in the region for the venture of hunting and trapping to sustain his family. His hunting expeditions would call Boone far from home for months at a time.

​Likely owing to his expeditions, Boone joined Maj. Gen. Edward Braddock’s march on French Fort Duquesne as a teamster. Boone was present for the French ambush of Gen. Braddock and George Washington’s heroic rally to save the troops and retreat with the mortally wounded general. During his service, Boone met the trader, John Findley, who first detailed a land of abundant large game and untouched land for hunting and speculation. Only after a fourteen-year period of hunting throughout the Carolinas would Boone and Findley organize a hunting party into this lively wilderness. On June 7, 1769, Boone’s party climbed Pilot Knob and looked out across the Bluegrass region for the first time.

​The discoveries made on that initial expedition inspired a return for permanent settlement in later years. After a failed attempt to settle Kentucky that resulted in the death of his oldest son, and successful diplomacy with the Cherokee tribe, the Boone party began cutting the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap. Boone’s trace led to the settlement of Boonesborugh along the Kentucky River in the heart of the Bluegrass. From this fortification, Boone faced Indian raiding parties, the kidnaping of his daughter, and himself being shot during a raid. Legend claims another frontiersman, Simon Kenton, rescued Daniel Boone from the battlefield that day.Boone himself was also captured by Shawnee and taken north as an adopted son of Chief Black Fish, to which he miraculously escaped and returned to Boonesborough months later.

​Daniel Boone’s successful settlement and defense from British and Indian war bands gave way to a life of service in the Virginia Legislature (Kentucky did not achieve statehood from Virginia until 1792) and leadership in the earliest formations of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Inadequate business decisions regarding land speculation eventually forced Boone to leave Kentucky for the Missouri frontier, where he died in 1820 completely aware of the mark he had made on history and the United States. Despite being forced to leave Kentucky, Boone spent his last years in a new wilderness, hunting and welcoming travelers who came to witness the legendary figure.

​I grew up within a 30-minute drive to Pilot Knob, Boonesborough, and most of Boone’s Trace. The farm I was raised on shared a property line with the Daniel Boone National Forest, which allowed me to obtain a childhood full of memories wearing a coon-skin cap, climbing rocks and trees, and recreating the explorations of my state’s hero. My first-grade field trip was to Boonesborough, and almost all my favorite memories and hardest lessons were learned along the Boone’s Trace. Daniel Boone forged the state I love, and by result forged the man I am today over 250 years later.

​Recognizing the achievements of great men, like Daniel Boone, should lead to the realization that we would not be who we are without them. Without the trailblazers, there would be no trail. In this case, Daniel Boone’s blazing through the wilderness directly contributed to not only the establishment of Kentucky, but to the addition of the states west of the Appalachian Mountains. Daniel Boone hunted in several of the Southern states and provided pretext for the westward expansion of heritage Americans into the region. Without it, we would have a much different land and culture that likely would not provide the benefits, growth, and freedoms we enjoy because of those great men.

​Recognition of the sacrifices made by these heroes should then lead to thankfulness, and further, love for the history that has made us the people we are today. Unworthy persons and unsubstantiated ideologies have initiated attack on our foundational history by attempting to steal credit for the achievements they did not earn. To mount a successful defense, we must know who we are, know why we are who we are, and love who we are. We do this by learning the stories of our nation’s trailblazers and shielding the evidence of their presence from attempted destruction so that generations into the future may continue to learn and love. Second, we too must cut our path through the wilderness as Boone did. It is dangerous to trek through the gauntlet of modern discourse, but a path must be made to the future of abundance and peace. We will achieve this through years of sacrifice and pain, but by divine providence, it will be done.

​Thus, Daniel Boone’s story serves as great evidence for the unity of a people sharing the impact of his contributions to our land. Not all can say they are who they are because of Daniel Boone and the many other historical heroes that directly developed the American South. Only some can say (honestly) that they understand the impact of historical figures on the land in which they walk and on the culture in which they live. These are the same folk who carry the responsibility of protecting those legacies. Just as Daniel Boone courageously took on the wilderness and won it for the future of his people, we must have the courage to love who we are and the history that made us so