My Father, Daniel Boone

One of the most famous figures of the American frontier, Daniel Boone clashed with the Shawnee and sought to exploit the riches of a newly settled region. The Boone legend, which began with the publication of John Filson's The Adventures of Col. Daniel Boone and continued with the 1960s Daniel Boone television series and other popular retellings, has become a hopeless mix of fact and fiction. In 1851 archivist Lyman Draper, known for his interest in frontier history and for collecting and preserving thousands of manuscripts, conducted an interview with Boone's youngest son, Nathan, and Nathan's wife, Olive. During the visit Draper recorded more than three hundred pages of notes that became the most important source of information about Daniel Boone.

Neal O. Hammon is an architect and amateur historian. He is coauthor of Virginia's Western War: 1775-1786 and numerous articles on Kentucky history.