Book Review THE LIFE OF DANIEL BOONE by Lyman C. Draper, edited by Ted Franklin Belue

THE LIFE OF DANIEL BOONE, published by Stackpole Books, 1998, is a unique book about an 18th century explorer, written by a 19th century biographer and edited by a 20th century author. How does it come out? Not bad! In fact, this is probably the most accurate account we’ll ever see of the renowned frontiersman.

I have a special interest in the subject. Daniel Boone is my great-great-great-grandfather. No, I will not bore you with my own genealogy. Suffice it to say that I descended through Jesse Bryan Boone, Daniel’s eighth son, who died the same year as Daniel, 1820.

Including notes and index, THE LIFE OF DANIEL BOONE is a large volume with a total of 596 pages. And those pages are loaded with rather small letters, as well as drawings and maps. But don’t let that discourage you from taking a look at this unique work.

For a brief summary of the book, read the Preface. In eighteen pages, Belue assesses Daniel Boone’s character, what he did and what he thought of his own fame. We found out that Boone was a skilled lumberjack, hunter, trapper, explorer, scout, militia commander, judge, and county representative. And he was a natural leader.

In his introduction, Ted Belue describes him as: “charismatic, quiet, even-tempered, and rarely willing to criticize even those who opposed him. Boone’s gracious ways were the kind that universally attracted and respected.” That, coupled with his lack of cunning and sense of honor, earned Daniel Boone a solid reputation.

But what did he think of himself? Belue quotes Boone’s own words: “Many heroic deeds and chivalrous adventures are connected with me that exist only in the regions of fantasy. With me the world has taken great liberties, and yet I have been an ordinary man. It is true that I have suffered many hardships and miraculously escaped many dangers, but others of my companions have experienced the same.”

Daniel Boone was modest. He comes across as a good man, one we’d like to have on our side in a crisis.

Next we turn to the chronicler for information about Boone and his time. Self-proclaimed biographer Dr. Lyman C. Draper, born September 4, 1815, displayed exceptional insight for his time. Nineteenth-century storytellers had no qualifications to mix fantasy with truth. If he animated the story, he even seemed to prefer a good myth to mundane facts.

Against this mixture of history and legend was Draper with his great vision of saving the facts from oblivion. While the evidence was still available and the people who remembered the events were still alive, he wanted to separate fact from myth, correct misconceptions, and get as close to the truth about the frontier story as possible.

In his youth, Draper selected twenty subjects to save them from mythology. In addition to Daniel Boone, other subjects worthy of Draper’s attention include George Clark, Anthony Wayne, Daniel Morgan, and Dunmore’s War.

From 1843 to 1852, Draper walked the trails that Boone had explored, seeking interviews and collecting facts about the frontiersman. But the project never became a book. He died in 1891 regretting that he had not finished the “Life of Daniel Boone”. From 1854, Draper’s manuscript remained in the archives of the Wisconsin State National Society.

In 1990, historian Ted Franklin Belue decided that Draper’s huge manuscript, rich in detail about Boone and life on the frontier, should be made available to the public. This is how the book began.

Belue presents Draper’s work as the biographer left it nearly a century and a half earlier. Belue’s changes to Draper’s transcript were minor. He eliminated excess commas and made military titles and abbreviations consistent with modern usage.

Belue wrote the introduction and provided us with a series of notes at the end of each chapter following Draper’s original notes. The editor concluded his introduction by reminding us that what we hold in our hands has been hidden since 1854. “Read it. Enjoy it. Take the time to get to know Lyman Draper, his methods, his point of view, the tenor of his time and his man, Daniel Boone”.

Good advice. But to that I might add that there are three men in this book who are best understood in the context of their times: Boone, Draper, and Belue. Of the three, Boone is by far the most direct. Simply put, he was an adventurer who couldn’t rest until he saw what lay beyond the next hill. His life was a constant search for Eden, an untouched paradise for hunters.

In Kentucky he found much of what he was looking for. But the civilization, which he himself helped to introduce, quickly ruined what he considered most attractive. So he went in search of a new spotless wilderness.

The real Daniel Boone was a man of courage, skill, and good fortune who, however, suffered greatly during his 85 years. It wasn’t Fess Parker. He was not a great man. He killed few Indians and despised those who tried to portray him as a fearless Indian killer.

From time to time we are surprised by the singularity of the times. Sentimentality, not “cool”, was the prevailing mood of the 18th century. Here is a good example. When Boone led a group of men from Boonesborough, they managed to rescue his own daughter, Jemima, and two other girls from a combined force of Shawanoes and Cherokees.

How did Boone propose to hold the event? He said: “Thank Almighty Providence, boys, we have the girls safe, let’s all sit down and cry our hearts out.” And they did! That direct quote was somehow never made in the Daniel Boone TV series.

Now let’s consider the information compiler, Dr. Draper. What should I say about this mother lode of facts and opinions, and what should I leave for you to discover for yourself? I will limit myself to three observations.

Draper’s style is sure to catch your eye. Some of Draper’s pages seem quaint and charming. On the other hand, several hundred pages of it are tedious. For modern tastes, it is too much: too verbose, too flowery, and too sentimental. But wasn’t that typical of the times? Yes, I think it was.

Draper reflected his time in other ways as well. The mood of the mid-nineteenth century was positive. They were as sure of themselves, their culture and their values ​​as we are not sure of ours at the beginning of the 21st century.
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Dr. Draper defended Manifest Destiny. The Anglo-Americans were marching west with their civilization in tow. At times, Draper seems to be more of an entertainer than a historian. But, as Belue points out, Draper never had the perspective of a historian. He couldn’t tell the trivial from the significant. So his notes are full of minute details without any particular interest.

For all his faults, Draper preserved much of the historical interest that would be lost without his efforts. That is his real contribution. Unfortunately, he never got to explore Daniel Boone’s later years. This entire volume is devoted to the first half of Boone’s life.

Belue, unlike Draper, is a historian. In general, he displays the objectivity and impartiality that Draper lacked in his manuscript. But it is a great respect Belue reveals that he is also a man of his time.

The term “American Indian” has now been changed to the politically correct term “Native American”. Belue is among those who believe that what the Caucasians did to the Native Americans was morally reprehensible. What Belue advocates is, in effect, a moralistic view of history.

Our question to Mr. Belue is: How did these indigenous tribes get their land? Well, they acquired them by driving out, killing, or assimilating other tribes that held the land before them, as they in turn had done to those before them.

The history of Great Britain was no different. The Picts lost their land to the Celts, who in turn were driven out by the Anglo-Saxons, who in turn were conquered by the Normans. Larger tribes, more aggressive people displaced others and took their territory. What the Anglo-Americans did to the Native Americans is what humanity has been doing to each other throughout recorded history, no more and no less.

Draper’s manuscript details deceptions and atrocities committed by both sides, as well as acts of friendship and goodwill offered by both. Here Draper seems to be objective. Belle agrees.

A couple of centuries after the fact, it’s easy for us to criticize the frontier settlers. After all, they won, right? But, what were those eighteenth-century settlers really like? What were the Indians of the eighteenth century like? This book, the most authoritative document we have for this period, opens our eyes to the seal of the day. Before condemning the settlers, perhaps we should ask ourselves: if you and I were in constant danger, how altruistic would we be?

The LIFE OF DANIEL BOONE is a book worth reading. This volume is our passport back to frontier America in the 18th century. It is a time of great beauty and danger, of incredible opportunities and difficulties, as well as many acts of bravery, savagery and cowardice. It is an exciting period. See for yourself.