Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1889-01-02
B0oAE's LAST YEARS.
How the Famous Pioneer Was
Tortured by the Indians.
An Erroneous Opinion, Once Very General,
Corrected by the Son of an Old
Friend of the Enterprising Pio-
neer-A Tale of Adventure.

4hhuCHCCu ny the representations or Dan
lei Boone, company of emigrants was speed.
lily formed. including Boone's family. Il
was tins company that founded the first set
tlement In Southern Kentucky, at the place
since known as Boonsborough, the name de-
irving from Captain Daniel Boone. Tins
orlef but authentic sketch of the adventures
Oh Daniel Boone, written for the Detroit
Free Press, Will correct the erroneous COM
mon opinion, once very general, that he
spent large portion of his life as a hermit
In the caves of Kentucky The writer's IA
ther was an old friend of the adventurous
settler.
Boone was subsequently taken prisoner
by the Indians, while with others he was
engaged In making salt at the Blue Licks.
about one hundred miles north of Fort
Boone. as the place Of the settlement was
then called, and was, with ten others, car
RED north to Detroit The others were
shortly ransomed by British officers and
sent home, but large sums were refused for
Boone, on account of his great strength and
bravery. From Detroit he was brought
oack to an Indian town on the Little Miami.
where he was adopted into an Indian fam
lily as a chief. The process was begun bv
plucklng every hair from his head, except q
turf on the summit, which was to be allowed
70 grow to great length, and to Be orna-
mented by braiding it in with trinkets
rms he was told was mark of distinction
ana honor, as well as also to enable his enc
mics, should he fall in battle to seize him
and with greater celebrity remove his scalp
with the knife, besides showing that he was
chief who had fallen
During all this strange proceeding
Boone affected to acquiesee cheerfully. and
even to be pleased, while at the same time
ne was thinking of his wife and children he
mao lett at Fort Boone, and imagining DOS
slole methods of escape and of once more
getting back to them. His success with the
rifle surpassed the best marksmen among
them (the Indians now had fire-arms), and
the confidence of his captors had become
sucn that he was trusted to go alone on the
hunt; but powder and balls were issued to
MN oy day allowances. But he was more
than a match for the shrewdest Indian in
strategy, and had succeeded, by cutting
MS outlets In two and using half charges of
powder, in securing a considerable maca.
zine, which he stored in hollow tree. to bo
USED IN his flight, should he be so fortunate
as to get away
On pleasant June morning he was to 90
out hunting alone, and as he had hitherto
proved entirely faithful, little watch over
his movements was kept. He knew that
ms return to the village would not be ex-
pected before evening, and, proceeding at
once 10 his magazine he possessed
hlmsen of his reserve, and then set
OH with his utmost speed in the di-
recuon OF the Ohio river. His skill
as woodsman enabled him to keep a bee
me IN any direction he chose to go. He
dared not kindle a fire or shoot off his gun
for fear of betraying his whereabouts.
and, besides, there was not a moment of
tune to be lost, for should his flight bv
any accident be discovered, he knew Int
TOO well that he would be pursued with the
neetness almost of the deer But, should
MS hight not be discovered that dav. then
ne had day and a night at his command
before the trail could be taken. And TINS
he sped on his course through the trackless
forest, without food, other than the small
allowance of dried meat given him for his
days rations and with not one moment of
rest by day or by night until he was sure of
beng beyond possible danger of being
overtaken.
He at length arrived safely on the bank
OF the Ohio river, it is believed near where
Ripley now is. He must cross over. for tn
remain on the north side he knew full well
would be to be recaptured, sooner or later.
only to have the tomahawk buried in his
brains, or possibly to suffer the fearful or
deal OF being burned at the stake:
and he knew that many hours
could not elapse before his pur-
suers would be upon him. But how to
cross the half mile of surging water did not
appear to his mind. He was an Indifferent
swimmer, and the river was bank full, and
carrying driftwood on its surface. Unde-
clded, and in extreme trepidatlcn, he was
clamberlng along the thicket-covered mar
gin, when suddenly he came across a canoe
that had drifted under the bushes. His
heart bounded with joy; but he soon dis
covered that there was dangerous hole in
the bow below the water, and that the craft
was partially filed with mud and water.
He: however, succeeded in bailing it and so
far stopping the breach as to make it float.
and taking his seat in it. with his trusty
rife, he pushed out into the dangerous flood
aud succeeded in padding himself across to
the Kentucky shore, where he could breathe
more freely than he had done during the
six months of his captivity. At the close of
the fifth day after leaving the Indian town
on the Miami he arrived at Fort Boone, only
to learn that his wife, despairing of ever
seeing him again, had taken her children
and returned to North Carolina. Boone
died at very advanced age in Missouri and
was finally inferred in Kentucky. His
reputation was that of a kind-hearted and
benevolent man.