One might call Daniel Boone the poster boy of American frontier mythology. During his lifetime, stories were written about his trailblazing, Indian fighting, backwoods skills, and rugged individualism.

They were all true—but greatly embellished. Well, perhaps mostly true, as the line between fiction and fact grew hazy. Eventually, his myth was reinvented by James Fennimore Cooper as frontiersman Natty Bumppo, the hero of four of his novels: The Pioneers, The Last of the Mohicans, The Deerslayer, and The Pathfinder. 

The Daniel Boone Homestead, about five miles southeast of Reading, is a Pennsylvania Historical Site that offers a glimpse into the life and history of the Boone family on the 250-acre farm where Daniel Boone was born and raised. 

The site contains the house where Squire and Sarah Boone raised Daniel, the sixth of the eleven Boone children. The house was initially a one-room log cabin built above a spring, by Squire Boone in 1730. The full basement was constructed with a stone foundation, a stone well for the spring, and a stone archway that supported the fireplace on the main floor. 

Before leaving Pennsylvania in 1750, the Boone family enlarged the house with an addition constructed of stone. The Maugridge family occupied the property to 1766, retaining the building much as had the Boones. In 1770, it was sold to John DeTurk, who by 1779, took down the original one-story log cabin portion of the house and replaced it with a two-story stone structure. Tours of the site interpret the lives of these three families. 

Daniel Boone was born October 22, 1734 on his parent’s farm in the Oley Valley, “Oley” is a Lenape word meaning “bowl.” Boone’s Oley Valley was 50 miles from Philadelphia and 25 miles from the frontier. Although he is not known to have received a formal education, Daniel Boone was able to read and aware of the Philadelphia culture. But he was more aware of the woods, field and trails. 

Daniel’s parents were Quakers. Because his father had given permission for two of his children to marry to non-Quakers, The Quaker Church expelled Squire Boone. They family moved to the Yadkin Valley of North Carolina. Daniel was 15 years old. 

In 1755, at the age of 21, Daniel Boone became a blacksmith and wagon driver with Braddock’s Army as they marched to take Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh) from the French. The French and their Indian allies ambushed and defeated the British. Boone and a young George Washington were but a small part of the force that escaped. 

In 1759, Cherokee raids forced Boone, now married to Rebecca Bryant, to flee to Virginia. The Boones will eventually have ten children. 

In 1760, Boone begins his long hunts for beaver pelts. Beaver was sent to Europe to make felt hats. Boone wore a beaver felt hat, not a coonskin cap as was later popularized in movies. The hunt led him across the Blue Ridge. He returned two years later and they returned to North Carolina. 

In 1768, a friend from the Braddock Army, John Finley, asked Boone to join with him to explore Kentucky. They formed a party of six men that explored the Appalachian Mountains and discovered the Cumberland Gap. In Sept. 1773, Boone organized five families to cross the Cumberland Gap to settle Kentucky. They sold their land and headed west. 

 An Indian attack killed two boys—one was the Boone’s oldest son, James. They turned back but had no land to return to. 

In 1775, the Transylvania Land Company hired Boone to blaze a trail through the wilderness into Kentucky. There he founded Fort Boonesborough. There were frequent Indian attacks. In 1776, Shawnee kidnapped his daughter Jemima and the Callaway sisters. Boone led a force that rescued the girls. 

For Boone, one adventure followed another. He is wounded in an attack on Boonesborough. He is captured by the Shawnee and escapes. His son, Israel, dies at the Battle of Blue Licks, the last battle of the Revolutionary War. 

Boone gets involved in politics, gains land, and loses land. The Boones move to the Missouri frontier. At the age of 78, Boone volunteered to fight in the War of 1812. He was turned down. In 1817, Boone went on his last long hunt. He died on Sept. 26, 1820. 

The Daniel Boone Homestead is located at 400 Daniel Boone Road,

Birdsboro, PA 19508, 610-582-4900. For hours and events, see their web site: www.danielboonhomestead.org. 

Thanks to Jim Lewars, administrator of the Daniel Boone Homestead - part of the Bureau of Historic Sites and Museums, for providing much of the information.