Daniel Boone: Frontiersman (Heroes of History) by Janet Benge & Geoff Benge

Author:Janet Benge & Geoff Benge [Benge, Janet]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Kentucky, Frontier life, Pioneers, Biography, Christian biography, Daniel Boone, Discover and exploration
Publisher: Emerald Books
Published: 2011-08-16T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

The Gaunlet

The girls and their rescue party arrived safely in Boonesborough the following day, returning at the same time as the riders who had gone to head off the kidnapping Indians. A joyous welcome awaited everyone. Rebecca ran to Jemima and wrapped her in a huge hug. A great celebration followed during which the story of the kidnapping and the rescue was recounted for all to hear.

Daniel had been right to be concerned, though. Just as he feared, several Indian attacks on Boonesborough had occurred in his absence. No one had been killed, but one of the cabins had been burned to the ground and some of the corn crops scorched. Several families, not able to take the strain of the constant threat of Indian attacks, had hastily left Boonesborough, retreating back through the Cumberland Gap to Virginia.

One good thing did come out of the kidnapping. Now, at last, the remaining twenty-two men of the community became serious about building the walls around their settlement, and they worked day and night until the cabins were secure within them.

In addition to constructing and securing the fort, the men had to harvest the crops, hunt for food, collect water from the nearby spring, and defend the settlement’s twelve women, thirty children, and ten slaves. The work was difficult and tiring, and tempers flared as the settlers spent day after day cooped up inside the fort.

Then, in the middle of August, a messenger arrived with a piece of paper carefully wrapped in deerskin. Daniel was the first to read it. The document began: “When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another…” It was a copy of the Declaration of Independence.

Like the other settlements in the west, Boonesborough was divided on the matter of the colonies fighting for freedom from Great Britain. A few of Rebecca’s relatives were firmly against the split, while Daniel did not have a strong opinion either way. He was preoccupied with keeping the settlers safe from the Indians, a much more pressing situation than anything that might be happening in Philadelphia, New York, or Boston.

Even so, the folks at Boonesborough did celebrate the Declaration of Independence that night. After reading the document aloud publicly, they held a bonfire and dance. One of the slaves, whom everyone called Uncle Monk, provided the music for the dance on his fiddle. During the dance, Daniel couldn’t help but notice that Jemima was spending a lot of time with Flanders Callaway, one of the young men who had rescued her.

For the most part, Boonesborough remained cut off from the colonies and news of the Revolution. Few settlers ventured into Kentucky, and those who did were kept very busy trying to survive. Because at this time Kentucky was part of Virginia, Daniel wrote many letters begging the Virginia government not to forget the Kentucky settlers and in particular to send them gunpowder, as their supplies were running low.

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