Daniel Boone

Born in Pennsylvania on November 2, 1734, Daniel Boone became a skilled woodsman, hunter, and surveyor. In 1775, he blazed the 200-mile Wilderness Road through the Appalachian Mountains via the Cumberland Gap, leading settlers to found the settlement of Boonesborough in Kentucky. During the American Revolutionary War, Boone served as an officer in the Virginia militia, surviving captivity among the Shawnee under Chief Blackfish and successfully defending Boonesborough against British-backed forces in the 1778 ten-day siege. Boone spent his later years surveying in Missouri, becoming an immortal American folk hero synonymous with frontier self-reliance and outdoor exploration.