XI. THE SIEGE OF BOONESBOROUGH 146 XII. SOLDIER AND STATESMAN 169 XIII. KENTUCKY'S PATH OF THORNS 192 XIV. IN THE KANAWHA VALLEY 211 XV. A SERENE OLD AGE 223 INDEX 243 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE Portrait of Daniel Boone _Frontispiece_ Boone's powder-horn and bake-kettle 30 A Boone tree, 1760 56 A survey note by Boone 120 Fort Boonesborough 136 Climax of the treaty 162 Site of Boonesborough to-day 174 Boone's cabin in St. Charles County, Missouri 224 Nathan Boone's house in St. Charles County, Missouri 230 Boone's religious views (two pages) 234 Boone's monument at Frankfort, Ky. 240 DANIEL BOONE CHAPTER I ANCESTRY AND TRAINING The grandfather of Daniel Boone--George by name--was born in 1666 at the peaceful little hamlet of Stoak, near the city of Exeter, in Devonshire, England. His father had been a blacksmith; but he himself acquired the weaver's art. In due time George married Mary Maugridge, a young woman three years his junior, and native of the neighboring village of Bradninch, whither he had gone to follow his trade. This worthy couple, professed Quakers, became the parents of nine children, all born in Bradninch--George, Sarah, Squire,[1] Mary, John, Joseph, Benjamin, James, and Samuel. All of these, except John, married, and left numerous descendants in America. The elder Boones were ambitious for the welfare of their large family. They were also fretful under the bitter intolerance encountered by Quakers in those unrestful times. As the children grew to maturity, the enterprising weaver sought information regarding the colony which his coreligionist William Penn had, some thirty years previous, established in America, where were promised cheap lands, religious freedom, political equality, and exact justice to all men. There were then no immigration bureaus to encourage and instruct those who proposed settling in America; no news-letters from traveling correspondents, to tell the people at home about the Western world; or books or pamphlets illustrating the country. The only method which occurred to George Boone, of Bradninch, by which he could satisfy himself regarding the possibilities of Pennsylvania as a future home for his household, was to send out some of his older children as prospectors.