Image above: Drawing of Fort Boonesborough, 19th century, unknown author. Courtesy Wikipedia Commons.
Spotlight on Lesser Known History
Fort Boonesborough, Kentucky
America's Best History Spotlight
On this page we're going to Spotlight the lesser known historic sites and attractions that dot the history landscape across the USA and are worth a visit if you're in their area. And while they may be lesser known, some are very unique, and will be that rare find. You'll be, at times, on the ground floor, or maybe even know something others don't. It'll be fun. Visit them.
Fort Boonesborough, Kentucky
Daniel Boone had grown up a hardscrabble woodsman in the hills of Pennsylvania, and had gained a reputation as a hunter and explorer by the time he ventured west through the Cumberland Gap toward the land of today's Kentucky. His family were Quakers, but kicked from the church after their first daughter married while pregnant to someone outside their faith and eldest son, Israel, married outside the faith as well. In 1750, they moved from Pennsylvania to North Carolina. He joined the North Carolina militia during the French and Indian War, then fought against the Cherokee in the Cherokee uprising. By this time, he had married; he and wife Rebecca had ten children of their own.
His life was as hardscrabble as an adult as it was as a child. He hunted, trapped, but was constantly in debt. After selling their home to settle his debts, Boone spent several years in the Kentucky hills and lands to hunt and trap there, although the Shawnee, who had not, like other tribes, agreed in the Treaty of Fort Stanwix to cede the hunting ground in Kentucky to the British. Undeterred, Boone took his family and fifty others through the Cumberland Gap in 1773, only to be savagely attacked, losing his son James, and forced to return east. It was the start of Dunmore's War, which lasted several years.
Boone was hired in 1775 by William Henderson to take a group of thirty-one axemen to cut through the Cumberland Gap and make a Wilderness Trail to Otter Creek along the Kentucky River. This second time, the goal was to create a colony. Boone and Henderson negotiated with the Cherokee and bought their claim to Kentucky after their arrival on April 1 while they started to construct the fort. However, that did not stop the bloodshed. By the time, September 8, 1775, that Boone and his family reached the site of Fort Boonesborough along the Kentucky River, an owner and his slave in the group had been killed by warriors. Throughout this year, the first shots of the American Revolution were also fired at Lexington and Concord.
Photo above: Interior of rebuilt Fort Boonesborough, 2017, Judson McCranie. Courtesy Wikipedia C.C. 3.0.
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Info, What's There Now, History Nearby
Fort Boonesborough, Kentucky
The settlement would be called Fort Boonesborough, the second in the state, and today a reconstruction of the fort can be visited as part of Fort Boonesborough State Park. There are cabins, blockhouses, plus a new addition, the Kentucky River Museum. Living history days are replete with costumed interpretors. Beyond the history, there are hiking trails, campgrounds primitive or full hookup, and swimming pools. Yes, it has a sand beach and water slide. So for those who aren't fort compliant, there's a lot more to do at the State Park to keep them busy while you history hunt.
Image above: Illustration of Siege of Boonesborough, 1919, Edwin L. Sabin. Courtesy Boys Book Of Frontier Fighters via Wikipedia Commons. Below: Only portrait ever done of Daniel Boone, 1820, Chester Harding. Courtesy National Portrait Gallery via Wikipedia Commons.
Where Is It
Fort Boonesborough State Park is located at 4375 Boonesborough Road, Richmond, Kentucky 40475-9316. It is near Lexington and east of Louisville.
What is There Now
Fort Boonesborough, Kentucky
Fort Boonesborough, the reconstruction, with many buildings that attempt to recreate the 1775 experience of Daniel Boone, his family, and the other settlers. Of course, there's also a gift shop. The Kentucky River Museum is also now onsite with two restored lockhouses and other buildings to visit.
The swimming pool area includes am activities building that holds one hundred and fifty people, plus a central building with showers and laundry. At the entrance, there is a small grocery store. The campsite has one hundred and sixty-seven hookup, primitive, and tent sites along the Kentucky River. There are no advance reservations.
When Open and How Much
Fort Boonesborough State Park is open year round, but only on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays after October 31 until the next season starts on April 1. The Kentucky River Museum is only open from April 1 to October 31 each season. Price, which includes both, is $6 for adults, $3 for children 6-12. Under 6 free.
Fees and hours are subject to change.
Websites
Fort Boonesborough State Park
History Nearby
Although Daniel Boone made this first two attempts at settlement at Kentucky and thus alot of first, the European history of the state is replete with historic sites of all kinds, natural, colonial, and Civil War.
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Cumberland Gap
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Mammoth Cave
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Big South Fork
National River -
Battle of Perryville
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Mill Springs Battlefield
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Camp Nelson NM
Photos, History, and More Spotlights
Siege of Boonesborough
Through the early years at the fort, attacks were plenty, but small. On May 23, 1776, an attack. On July 14, Shawnee Indians capture Boone's daughter Jemima and two friends; two days later Boone and other settlers rescue the girls. April 1777, an attack. February 9, 1778, Boone and some of his men captured by Shawnee; they escape in June after Boone was reportedly adopted by Blackfish.
However, the largest attack would occur next, the Siege of Fort Boonesborough. Between September 7 to 18, Shawnee Chief Blackfish, who was an ally of the British, sieged and attacked the fort with four-hundred and forty-four warriors and twelve militia. For eleven days, they attempted to break through, but Daniel Boone, leading his slim group of 40 men, held them off. Only two Fort Boonesborough men were killed and four wounded. Thirty-seven Shawnee were killed. Considered part of the American Revolution, there were officers who thought that Boone was sympathetic to the Loyalists. He was court-marshaled, but acquitted.
Photo above: Illustration of men and women defending the settlement at Siege of Fort Boonesborough. 1887, Howard Pyle, Harper's Weekly. Courtesy Wikipedia Commons.
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History of Daniel Boone After Siege During Revolution
Boone left the fort after the court-marshal proceedings and returned to North Carolina to be with his wife and children who had already left. But Boone still had a wandering and fighting spirit. He would lead a group of settlers to Kentucky again in 1779, founding Boone's Station. The next year, he took part in attacking the Shawnee again in Ohio, a fight in which his brother was killed.
In 1780, Daniel Boone's life took an additional turn. He was elected to the Virginia Assembly in April. June saw his capture, and quick release, by invading British forces. In 1782, he was a commanding officer during the defeat to the Indians at Blue Licks. When the American Revolution was finally over, Daniel Boone moved his family to Limestone, Ohio. Now on the Ohio River, Boone became involved in land speculation, surveying, and ran a tavern.
Image above: Boone protecting his family, 1874, Henry Shile. Courtesy Library of Congress. Below: Boone and friends rescuing his daughter Jemima, 1851, Nagel and Weingartner. Courtesy Library of Congress.
Other Daniel Boone Historic Sites
Cumberland Gap National Park - Cumberland National Park is located in both Tennessee and Kentucky and includes exhibits on Daniel Boone's first crossing the gap in the Appalachian Mountains to find a way into the west. Boone would encounter terrible tragedies once through the gap on his first trip. His second trip would lead to the establishment of Fort Boonesborough. Later history of the Cumberland Gap includes Civil War battles in 1862, and today includes a magnificent Visitor Center, the Hensley Homestead, Gap Cave, and campsites.
Daniel Boone Homestead - The homestead is where Daniel Boone was born and lived his young life. Inside a small cabin, of which the home below sits atop, Boone would traverse the Pennsylvania hills and learn the skills of a woodsman and frontier explorer. There is a Visitor Center, the homestead, and other period buildings. It is now a Pennsylvania State Park.
Photo above: View of fall colors at Cumberland Gap National Park. Photos courtesy National Park Service. Below: Daniel Boone Homestead during Charter Day, 2020. Courtesy America's Best History.
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America's Best History where we take a look at the timeline of American History and the historic sites and national parks that hold that history within their lands.
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