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Daniel Boone Facts & Worksheets

Daniel Boone was an American frontiersman and explorer who led an exploration towards the west of the Appalachian Mountains and settlement of Kentucky. Many depicted him as a folk hero mixing Boone’s real life and legendary adventures.

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Early American pioneer Daniel Boone became famous for his hunting and exploration journeys via the Cumberland Gap, a natural passageway between the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. During his lifetime, Boone attained the reputation of a folk hero, but most of the mythology surrounding him is made up of a combination of lies, exaggerations, and blatant fabrications.

See the fact file below for more information about Daniel Boone, or download the comprehensive worksheet pack, which contains over 11 worksheets and can be used in the classroom or homeschooling environment.

Key Facts & Information

Early Life

  • Daniel Boone was born on November 2, 1734, to a Quaker family. He was the sixth of Sarah and Squire Boone’s eleven children. Squire, his father, had traveled from England to Pennsylvania and joined William Penn’s dissenting colony. Squire was a weaver as well as a blacksmith.
  • Daniel was tasked with bringing the family’s livestock into the woods each day to graze. Daniel liked taking the cows for walks in the woods. Daniel pleaded for a gun and became a master marksman. He spent his days studying tiny birds and wildlife, which he shot with a makeshift “herdsman’s club.” He started supplying the family with fresh game when he was thirteen.
  • Boone had little formal education. While his father taught him how to survive in the bush, his mother taught him how to read and write. Boone rapidly established himself as a skilled woodsman and hunter, killing his first bear while other youngsters his age were too afraid.
  • The Boone family arrived in North Carolina around 1750 and made their home in the Yadkin River region. The local Native Americans who hunted and lived there did not enjoy the newcomers using their territory. Boone enlisted in the county militia to help protect the settlements after regular fights broke out between the two groups.
  • Daniel Boone enlisted in the French and Indian War in 1755. France and Britain started competing over territories in North America in 1754, which led to the start of the conflict. The fact that the Native Americans fought mostly alongside the French gave the conflict its name, the French and Indigenous Peoples War. 
  • Daniel Boone joined the North Carolina military when the French and Indian War began in 1754. He served as a wagoner and narrowly avoided being slain by Native Americans during the Battle of Monongahela, one of several American and Indigenous People conflicts.
  • Rebecca Bryan and Daniel Boone married on August 14, 1756. They have ten children together, six sons and four daughters. For several years, he subsisted on hunting and trapping.

Daniel Boone’s Expedition

  • Eventually, John, a fellow teamster, found Boone and persuaded him to travel with him to Kentucky. They started off in 1769 and traveled over the Appalachians via the Cumberland Gap after being joined by four other individuals. They established a base camp close to Irvine, Kentucky, where they spent months hunting and exploring the vast woods.
  • Boone’s hunting group was taken prisoner by the Shawnee many months into the journey. They declared it to be their hunting territory and claimed ownership of any animals they captured there. The Shawnee took the men’s provisions and deerskins. Boone eventually made his way home in March 1771, empty-handed and without money.
  • On property acquired from the Cherokee in 1775, a friend recruited Boone to clear a route into Kentucky for a new colony. Boone led about thirty axmen into the forest to cut a trail that later became the Wilderness Road, a route to the new frontier. The company established a fort and christened it Boonesborough when they arrived on the Kentucky River.
  • Boonesborough was repeatedly assaulted by Native Americans who wanted to force the settlers back east. A small band of Shawnee and Cherokee men abducted Boone’s daughter Jemima in 1776 when they were paddling down the river. Two days later, Boone organized a rescue team to bring Jemima and her companions back.
  • The Shawnee seized Boone in 1778. As a result of the Shawnee chief’s admiration for Boone’s hunting and reconnaissance abilities, Boone was accepted into his tribe. Before fleeing and returning to Boonesborough, Boone spent four months living among the Shawnee. Due to title issues and bankruptcy by 1798, Boone had lost all of his holdings in Kentucky.

Later Life, Death, and Legacy

  • Boone decided to go further west, into what is now Missouri but was then known as Upper Louisiana, in 1799. In order to transport some household belongings by the river, he constructed a canoe out of a six-foot poplar tree. Along with his wife, two of his daughters and their husbands, and his son Daniel Morgan Boone, Boone traveled. Son Nathan Boone soon followed, along with a few other Kentucky families.
  • Boone received 850 acres in the Femme Osage District, which is today a part of St. Charles County, from Spanish officials who were eager to see inhabitants in the region. He was appointed the Femme Osage District’s commander, or syndic. Boone arbitrated quarrels that erupted among the local inhabitants in his capacity as syndic. He rose to fame by holding court beneath a big tree on his son Nathan’s property. The “Judgment Tree” was the name given to this tree.
  • After Spain had given the region to France, who then sold it to the United States, Boone lost his land claims in 1804. Boone stayed put, residing on property that his kin had acquired. After Rebecca Boone passed away in 1813, Boone lived with his kids for the rest of his life. Chester Harding, a painter, paid a visit to Boone in 1820 and created the sole known portrait of him during his lifetime.
  • At the age of 85, Boone passed away naturally on September 22, 1820. His bones were transferred to Frankfort, Kentucky, in 1845, and a monument was built there in his honor. Boone was a good person. He was a humble, well-educated, and amicable man who rarely lost his anger and made an effort to stay out of arguments.
  • The Missouri legislature named Boone County in honor of Daniel Boone shortly after his passing. The legacy of Daniel Boone has also been celebrated in many other states. Despite the fact that Daniel Boone passed away more than 180 years ago, tales of his exploits are still popular. People today still relate to his restless, roving spirit, which drove him to test the limits of existence, generations later.
  • Boone’s life has inspired several books, films, and television programs, notably Daniel Boone (1964–1970), which featured Fess Parker, who also played Davy Crockett in the Disney miniseries. Despite the fantastical character of these tales, Americans and Europeans alike loved romantic tales by Filson and other authors about Boone navigating perilous wilderness and avoiding attacks from savages and wild animals while pressing forward to uncharted territory.
  • Boone was frequently linked to Davy Crockett, a congressman, politician, and frontiersman who lived during the War of 1812 and the years preceding the Revolutionary War, despite having never met. They both lived in rural areas of Kentucky and Tennessee.
  • Daniel Boone is known for saying things like, “Fear is the spice that makes things fresh. I’ve never been lost, but I have gotten twisted about for three days once,” and “I wouldn’t give a tinker’s damn for a man who isn’t sometimes afraid.”

Daniel Boone Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about explorer Daniel Boone across 22 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Daniel Boone worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Daniel Boone, who was an American frontiersman and explorer who led an exploration towards the west of the Appalachian Mountains and settlement of Kentucky.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Daniel Boone Facts
  • The Great Pathfinder
  • Busting the Myths
  • Mapping Boone
  • Aside from Boone and KFC
  • Original Settlers
  • Adventures of Boone
  • Hunting with Daniel Boone
  • Building Legacy
  • Famous American Explorers
  • Folk Hero?

Frequently Asked Questions

Was Daniel Boone a good person?

Boone was a good person. He was a humble, well-educated, and amicable man who rarely lost his anger and made an effort to stay out of arguments.

Did Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett ever meet?

Boone was frequently linked to Davy Crockett, a congressman, politician, and frontiersman who lived during the War of 1812 and the years preceding the Revolutionary War, despite having never met. They both lived in rural areas of Kentucky and Tennessee.

What happened to Daniel Boone?

At the age of 85, Boone passed away naturally on September 22, 1820. His bones were transferred to Frankfort, Kentucky, in 1845, and a monument was built there in his honor.

What were Daniel Boone’s accomplishments?

On property acquired from the Cherokee in 1775, a friend recruited Boone to clear a route into Kentucky for a new colony. Boone led about thirty axmen into the forest to cut a trail that later became the Wilderness Road, a route to the new frontier.

What is Daniel Boone’s famous quote?

Daniel Boone is known for saying things like, “Fear is the spice that makes things fresh. I’ve never been lost, but I have gotten twisted about for three days once,” and “I wouldn’t give a tinker’s damn for a man who isn’t sometimes afraid.”

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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