Boone: A Biography

You could make a pretty good argument that Daniel Boone is the most noted American historical figure at this time, and probably throughout our history. There have been hundreds upon hundreds of books, articles, poems, songs, movies, plays and stories featuring him as the central subject since even before his death in 1820. It is possible that more people have heard of George Washington, but I doubt it. Few men or women have captured the imagination of an entire people as this one individual. In many ways, he has become, and been used as a symbol of the young American Republic, and indeed rightfully so, both the good, and to a lesser extent the bad. Quite a lot of information that most of know of Boone is pure legend, or at worse, pure myth. With all the material out there, why on earth did Robert Morgan choose to write another biography? The reasons here may be multiple, and actually have little to do with this review, but lets all be grateful that this author did choose this particular man as the subject of his first biography. Boone: A Biography, by Robert Morgan is a well crafted and certainly, as far as I can tell, well researched bit of work. The author has gone to great lengths to clear up and separate myth from reality. This was no easy task. There are great gaps in Boone's life, where so much is actually unknown or has been clouded by well meaning biographers, movie makers and the public in general. Morgan has been very quick to point this out, and when he does delve into the area of speculation, something all or most biographers must do from time to time, he lets us know. What is so absolutely fascinating, for me, is the fact that the truth, in this case, is so very much better than fiction when it comes to Daniel Boone. What the man actually accomplished in his life is so much more impressive than all the "tall tales" we have all heard since childhood. The "real" Boone is much more exciting and much more dynamic than the "fairy tale" Boone. With this book, we not only get the benefit of a well written biography, we also get another chance to savor the prose of the author of Gap Creek and eight other wonderful novels, as well as twelve volumes of poetry. Folks, this man can write! His description of the country which Boone explored is absolutely worth the read alone. Another aspect that separates Morgan's work from many other biographers is his attention to the women of that era, not only Boone's immediate family, but many of those women around him. This is an aspect of frontier life often overlooked. The author has also given quite a bit of attention, and given a good account, of his subject's relationship with the Native Americans, who played a major role in his life. I also appreciated the way the author has included the names of many of the common people he dealt with on a daily bases. He has not only included the famous of the time, but the not so famous. This, to me, is quite refreshing. If I want to rea

When a strong and evocative novelist like Robert Morgan (GAP CREEK) writes about a near-legendary figure from American history like Daniel Boone, the result can only be extraordinary. So it is with this book. Morgan's research is impeccable and his presentation will delight even those of us who have shied away from history and biography because of its traditional aridity and overly "scholarly" (in the absolute most horrific sense of the word) tenor and style. In many ways, the book reads like a novel, but one of the most welcome aspects is the frequent referencing to Boone's earlier biographers. The author pointedly and with spot-on accuracy (not unlike Boone's own marksmanship) portrays his subject as not only the huge figure of American expansionism and frontier heroics, but also as an inspiration, if not the progenitor of romanticism, admired by the likes of Wordsworth, Byron, Bartram, and Whitman. Readers who enjoy the historical work of David McCullough or Steven Ambrose or Nathaniel Philbrick or the fiction of William Martin, Allan Eckert, or James Fenimore Cooper, will find a lot to like here as well. A great reading experience.

Because he lived during the time before and after the American Revolution, the life of Daniel Boone encompasses one of the most important of historical periods. The story of Boone is the story of America, argues Robert Morgan, who is usually a poet and novelist, but has written a stirring biography of the frontiersman, _Boone: A Biography_ (Algonquin Books). There have been plenty of other biographies, starting while Boone was still alive, and all of them have either mythologized the subject or have had to attempt to clear the myths away from fact. The latter is not an easy task; for someone who was enormously famous and influential during his lifetime, there are surprising voids that we can know little about, apart from all the exaggerations and stories that have clung to the pioneer. Morgan has tried to make a chronological story, and it is a good one indeed, but it is not clouded by any undue admiration on the part of the author. Boone was a outdoors hero, but he was distinctly flawed when it came to the responsibilities of business dealings or legal documentation which he could not avoid. In fact, admired as he was during the time, Boone was during his life "accused of treason, fraud, and hypocrisy and was once court-martialed... He was blamed for dishonest and incompetent land surveying, and sued again and again for debt." Morgan shows eventually that Boone was not dishonest or incompetent, but merely careless. He only wanted to get more "elbow room" and get into the woods where he was supremely careful and capable, but one of the great paradoxes of his life was that he was drawn to people and they to him. The demythologizing starts with the very first sentence of the book: "Forget the coonskin cap; he never wore one. Daniel Boone thought coonskin caps uncouth, heavy, and uncomfortable." Boone also would have been dismayed with his reputation as an Indian fighter. He admired the outdoor skills of the Indians, and he frankly sought friendly relationships with the Indians, an astonishing magnanimity since they repeatedly robbed him and killed members of his family. Boone's great problem was that though he loved being one against the wilderness (he often went out on long hunts by himself), he was a social being. Not only did his large family follow him in his westward advance through North Carolina, Kentucky, and Missouri, but so did other settlers, some deliberately following him and some just taking part in the general move west. He had enough of an ecological awareness to realize that the forces that drove the Indians away also drove away the deer, mink, beavers, and otter upon which he made his living as a woodsman, necessitating the next push westward. He also came to be aware at the end of his life that his way of living on the wilderness caused the very destruction of the wilderness he loved. On a more prosaic level, Boone had to take up shopkeeping or trade, and he became a surveyor. He was as good a surveyor as most s

At 538 pages Boone: A Biography is a terrific read. Robert Morgan, better known for his insightful and sensitive novels proves that he can turn his masterful storytelling ability to the nonfiction realm as well. Boone: A Biography isn't easy to put down. If I called Boone a page turner it would be as much a statement about the life of the subject as it would be about Robert Morgans writing ability. Lets face it, Daniel Boone lived a life full of risk taking. He pushed the boundaries of the civilized world back and in doing so lived on the edge. Born with a wondering spirit, Daniel showed his love of the woods around his Pennsylvania home at a very early age. Disappearing for long stretches at a time he explored, observed, and learned the ways of nature. He learned the ways of wild things, a gift that would later save his life many times. One of the things a good biography does is tell the back story....the times the main character lived in. Morgan does a terrific job in letting us see Daniel Boone and the culture he came from. It was a rough time. The people on the frontier were beat up by life in general. Only the strong survived; the weak didn't make it. Cruel yes, but the country was better off for this reality. When James, Boone's son was tortured and killed by Indians, Daniel accepted the loss and then moved on. We of the twentyfirst century have a hard time dealing with that type of stoicism. Wonderfully written, well researched, filled with copius notes, Boone: A Biography should be a sure read on your short list. Robert Morgan also includes wonderful pieces of trivia/folk lore. For example, where the term "buck" for a dollar came from. Peace

"Forget the coonskin cap; he never wore one." So starts this groundbreaking study of the life of one of America's best-known and least-understood heroes, Daniel Boone. Author Robert Morgan, a novelist by trade (Brave Enemies and Gap Creek) spent considerable time researching Boone's life, the result being a detailed biography that is well worth the reader's time. Boone was born in rural Pennsylvania, moved to the Carolinas with his family as a boy, and then explored westwards from there. He wasn't the first person into Kentucky, as the author makes clear, but he wasn't far behind, and he established a good reputation for himself as a man who could find a way through the hills to good land, and would be honest with pioneers who were looking for a place to settle. He spent most of the American Revolution in Kentucky, participated only briefly in the fighting (in Virginia) and mainly was involved in conflicts in Kentucky with Indians, whether they were inspired by the British or were more opportunistic. Morgan emphasizes Boone's naturalist instincts, and contrasts his expressed opinions with his actions--he and his cohorts often "hunted out" a region, then moved elsewhere once the game was depleted--and makes it clear that he was a contradiction, a man who understood the Indians but didn't care to live with them, who enjoyed the wilderness and wildlife but did a great deal to destroy or transform both. Legend has it that he would guide people to an area, and when enough had settled there, he would tell his wife they had to move further west to escape the press of civilization. This is a well-written, intelligent biography, and I enjoyed it a great deal. I would recommend it to anyone interested in early American history, exploring, or the wilderness.