biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (c.1734–1820)
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| biography:
| Frontiersman, born near Reading, Pennsylvania, USA. His parents were Quakers, and he learned to hunt and trap by the age of 12. He moved with his family to North Carolina (1750–1) and in 1755 took part in General Braddock's diasastrous campaign, where he met John Finley, a hunter who told him stories of the Kentucky wilderness. He explored Kentucky (1767–8, 1769–71), led the first settlers there in 1775, and founded Boonesborough, a fortified settlement. He was captured by Shawnee Indians (1778) but escaped in time to defend the fort against an Indian attack. Later, his claims to large tracts of Kentucky lands were not validated, and he moved to West Virginia (1788) and then to present-day Missouri (1799), where he remained until his death. He has retained his place as the archetypal American frontiersman. |
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