Over the course of this History class I have learned many things about the settlement of Kentucky, as well as those individuals who were responsible, our forefathers. Colonel Daniel Boone, with his many wild adventures, is the one man who has garnered most of my interest as I have learned about the history of Kentucky, which is why I chose to review his biographical memoir. Timothy Flint had the honor of speaking with the “Patriarch of Backwoods Pioneers,” in addition to others who knew him personally, to gain a firsthand view of his wanderings, captivities, and escapes. He then wrote an impeccable biography of Boone’s journey throughout his adulthood…”on foot and alone, with no companion but his dog, and no friend but his rifle, making his way over trackless and unnamed mountains, and immeasurable forests, until he explores the flowering wilderness of Kentucky” (preface), with detail vivid enough that the reader can clearly envision in one’s mind the tale as it unfolds.
Flint, knowing well that Boone, like many other important men felt during that time, had no interest in recording his own accomplishments, was compelled to tell the tale of Boone’s life work. Beginning from the time that he was just a boy, Flint explains that it became evident that he possessed a peculiar hunting ability that became an absorbing passion for him; that, to anyone’s knowledge, had not been genetically passed to him nor taught to him by his ancestors. By the age of 14, this instinct that had by then ingrained into him, enabled him to hunt any game, including bears and panthers. Flint has described Boone’s struggles, sacrifices, and loss along the way, such as being captured and then escaping from the Indians, the ongoing war’s with the Indians leading to the attack of Boonesborough and the Battle of Blue Lick, the passing of his children and later his wife. Flint also describes a deep admiration, felt by the author and all who ever knew him, for his unique expertise, strength, and perseverance throughout his life that ultimately led to the settlement of this great state. The final chapters outline his later years; losing his land by a court ruling, resulting in an eventual retirement to Missouri with his family, and then finally his death at the age of 84 in the year 1818.
Timothy Flint, a Harvard graduate, was a pioneer himself, as well as a missionary prior to and during the period he became a highly accomplished editor and author in the 19th century. From 1826-1833, Flint had published four books in all about frontier life, and he served as editor and coeditor for two literary magazines from as late as 1834 until he became too ill to continue. The Biographical Memoir of Daniel Boone was written and entered according to an act of Congress in 1833, and there have been four editions published. However, the content has remained the same, and in fact, the edition of the book I have read looks as if the pages and pictures from the original book were simply copied and reprinted for this publication. Not all of the words in the book are legible to read, and it is written by Flint in the formal way in which they spoke during that time. However, his entertaining style of writing with such vivid description certainly makes up for that.
Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed this book by Timothy Flint. His purpose for the book was to capture the essence of one of Kentucky’s greatest forefathers, and share with his readers the lifelong journey of the first settler of this state. I love to learn about people, and when I run across interesting memoirs about people who have led such extraordinary lives, such as Daniel Boone did, it makes it really hard to set the book down. I couldn’t wait to read through one tale and then to the next, and I was actually saddened for it to come to an end. I am not a history buff, but I think anyone who is would find this autobiography very captivating, as equally as any individual who may not necessarily love history, but who just loves to read about interesting people.
