America - Eighteenth Century

America's early growing pains before the formation of a new republic was a time of exploration and movement for those who were anxious to escape the routines of life in cities and towns. Rumors of plenty of land, abundant game, and freedom from taxation and laws made plenty of men (and a few women) determined to live a life where they are in control. The stories from frontiersmen of the almost mythical Cumberland Gap, great rivers, and open lands to the west fascinated many, including one independent man named Daniel Boone.

Daniel was born to Squire and Sarah Boone in the wilds of Pennsylvania, the eldest son, and a wild "child" from birth. When he was supposed to be tending to the family's livestock, he, instead, was exploring the backcountry, studying the flora and fauna. His skill as a hunter soon became legendary as he supplied his family with all forms of wildlife. Daniel was also intrigued by the occasional visits of the local Native Americans, Delaware and Shawnee, who came to their township to trade. He took to copying their dress, and learning their medicinal practices. His independent streak would stay with him all of his life. With their Pennsylvania homeland getting too crowded, Squire Boone moved his family to North Carolina, opening up more land for Daniel to explore.

It was his wanderlust that set Daniel and his family, including his wife Rebecca, to keep moving west as he grew into adulthood. As his own family grew, Daniel had to find ways to support them, so hunting and trapping became his life. But exploring was also high on his list of living life to the fullest. Unfortunately, it also meant leaving his family for months on end, and at one time he was gone for a year. When he returned from that trip, he was mildly stunned to discover that Rebecca, who thought he was dead, had delivered another baby while he was gone, and it certainly wasn't his. But Daniel, being Daniel, was forgiving and accepted the child as his own. The baby was, in fact, Daniel's own brother's!

Times being what they were, the British and the French were at odds even thousands of miles from their own countries. When the French and Indian War began, Daniel joined the North Carolina militia, and was in several battles, including the Battle of Monongahela and the Battle of Fort Duquesne in which he had to fight Indians. It wouldn't be his last encounters with them.

When Daniel kept hearing about a way to get west of the mountains through a pass, known as the Cumberland Gap, he set out with others to find it, with the help of an Irishman who felt that he knew the correct direction. It was obvious to Daniel and his men that the pathway was correct after finding that buffalo, elk, and probably humans traversed it. So, while Boone is the one who is given credit for discovering it, clearly Indians and possibly other white men had been there before.

Boone's legendary life included his involvement with Lord Dunmore's War which was between settlers in Kentucky and Native Americans, and one the settlers won. He was later hired to survey land in Kentucky and he founded the colony of Boonsborough.

While known for being a frontiersman, land surveyor, and fabled hunter, Daniel was lousy as a businessman. His land speculation kept him in perpetual debt. However, his reputation usually was helpful in getting work. When the War for Independence broke out, he served as a militia officer in Kentucky, where much of the fighting was with Indians.

BLOOD AND TREASURE is quite a detailed read. Daniel Boone was a legend, but he was also just a man of his times. He owned slaves, he respected the Native Americans, but in the end, would be no kinder than most white men to them, and he had a terrible head for business, so his family suffered for that over and over again. What I enjoyed, in a sad way, the most about this book was the history of what the white people did to the Native Americans. Yes, the Indians responded by doing gruesome things to those they attacked, but they ultimately paid the bigger price of losing their lands, and their dignity

Brilliantly written and impeccably researched, BLOOD AND TREASURE brings to light the amazing history of not only Daniel Boone, but how our fledgling country began its spread to the west.

This is a thoroughly researched book on the life of Daniel Boone. There is so much about his life as a hunter, frontiersman, and more. Dealing with the indigenous tribes, the British and the upcoming war and the formation of our country. We learn about his life and the deaths of some of his children, the loss of property and the struggles. I was always fascinated by Daniel Boone (visited his gravesite once) and really enjoyed this book of his life. I learned so much.

The middle of the 1700s was full of uncertainty for the thirteen colonies that Great Britain has founded so far. There are so many different battles going on it’s no wonder everyone was a little anxious.

Everyone wants to find a new frontier. And they are all willing to die for it. The Natives, the French, the Spanish, and of course our mother country. The conflicts were gruesome and cruel. Everyone was lying. Someone’s word meant nothing. The Natives were rightly upset and everyone wanted a piece of the country.

And here is where we meet Daniel Boone. Well, actually my husband is a direct descendant of his sister, Elizabeth, so we thought we knew pretty much everything. We did not.

The name Daniel Boone brings me immediately to the song. First off, he wasn’t a big man. He wasn’t at all like the movie and cartoon versions. He was a man with a passion for finding out what lay beyond the Appalachians. He wasn’t a fighting man, but he did his part for the revolution. It’s always dangerous to turn people from the past into larger than life characters and that has been done with Boone.

It was a fast read and based on a lot of research. How did Boone become such a legend? He was seldom home, working as a trapper with a friend or his brother. They would be gone for long periods of time. He saw his fair share of suffering in his own household and they always seemed to be on the edge of financial ruin and yet Daniel did what he had to do to care for his family.

Here you can read his story as told by many different people. The history of America is in this book and I am better for having read it.

NetGalley/ April 20th, 2021 by St. Martin’s Press

A very thorough account of Daniel Boone, his extended family and the push to extend American settlement beyond the East coast and across the Applachians, all while pushing the Natives further West and into near extinction

The book was well researched and developed the bigger picture of what was going on in the early western settlements not focusing just on the central character of Daniel Boone. At times he is almost lost in the story. That made not quite what I was expecting but an enjoyable read nonetheless,