The Coolidge examiner., 1934-10-19

'and Tennessee. where his youth vas spent and
where be started upon his career as a hunter
AMI fronlersman West Virginia tthen part
~ the old uomiulonl where he made his home
after the loss o; his lands in Kentucky. Ohio.
where be had some of his most thrilling adren-
tures: and Missouri where he spent his declIn-
lng years and where be was buried when death
claimed him IN $50 Even Kansas Nebraska,
North aud south Dakota. Wyoming and Mon
taua have more than casual Interest 10 him.
For Ia hts old age. siin the keen hunter and
uapper. DE made long trips into the western
wilderness and Il Is possible that he trod the
spil % al those states
but In a larger sense Daniel Boone belongs 10
the whole nation. Symbolleal OF that fact was
the authorization by the last congress of spe-
ciaI half-dollar FOR the Boone blceniennIal this
year Designed By one OF Americas most dis
tlagulshed sculptors. Augustus Lukeman. the
coin bears on the diverse side Boone's likeness
and on the reverse the ngures Of frontiersman
and an Indian and the designation OF 1884 as
Pioneer Year These coins viii be sold at
premium and the proceeds viii 20 10 the Boone
bieentennlal commission OF Kentucky TO be used
In acquiring the sites OF three pioneer forts
Fort Boonesborough. Boone's station and Bry-
ans Station These three together with the site
OF the Battle OF Blue Iicks. will comprise the
Pioneer national monument with a memorial
Highway connecting the four shrines.
Even without these material reminders OF the
fame of Danl Boone his Is a deathless name In
the American consciousness. lie Is the eternal
symbol OF the pioneer. ot a land where there
we're frontiers 10 be pushed westward and
a wilderness 20 Re won. In the America OF today
there are no more frontiers where venturesome
souls may escape the humdrum OF everyday ar
fairs. there r. no wilderness TO be conquered :
and pioneer lIfe exists only IN the fading memo
ries Of few aging men and women facing the
sunset OF their days.
So this nation stn youthful but realizing how
quickly Il spent It's youthful heritage OF high
adventure and brave enterprise. looks back
somewhat longingly To those glamorous days and
seeks some figure In which is embodied the spirit
% Is usty youth. In Daniel Boone II finds such
figure Americans OF today. reading OF him
and assoclatlng themselves in their minds with
him. can experience vicariously the adventures
which befen him In real life.
such is the magic OF the name OF Daniel
Boone and TO 90 out OF hundred Americans
he is the pioneer par excellence His apotheosls
began long ago. for jast George Washington
had bis ParsOn weeus TO make him more Of
myth than man. so did Daniel Boone have his
John Filson 10 make him a frontier demigod
The result has been many a mIsconceptlon about
Roone's part In the settlement OF Kentucky
and many n popular belief" about his impor-
lance as a frontier leader which are partially, II
not entirely. erroneous.
Modern historical scholarship paints a some
what different picture Of him from the one which
our schoolbook histories have presented Scien-
tifc historians devoted TO seeking the truth and
making the truth known. have gone back TO the
source material and out OF their findings has