Daniel Boone what was he, was he some kind of goverment agent?

Question

How could Daniel Boone afford to go trapping for two years and come back empty handed, saying Indians robbed him, and still support a family. Also, I never understood that Daniel Boone needed "elbow room;" Have you ever been to Kentucky. There is elbow room there even today. I think he was speaking for the government when he said this and meant "lebensraum." Nothing this guy ever did made any economic sense.

Answer 1

You didn't need money in those days to "support" a family, you only needed to grow your own vegetables and kill your own game. However some men are not made to simply stay home and be a husband.  Daniel was a pioneer an adventurer but maybe not great a dad or husband. I don't know.  You have to have an understanding of what a folk hero is and what men were like in those days.  They didn't sit on the couch or work in a cubicle, they fought there way through the rugged frontier and maybe some tales were exaggerated too.  It's the statement of a man who needs to explore, who needs to feel and see the country who says that Kentucky ain't big enough for him. Is that so hard to fathom that there's this great expanse of land and wilderness out there to explore and experience and that somebody would want to do that?

Answer 2

Not a bad question.  We have treated DB like an icon, but his contribution wasn't so different from many others who came on over.   He was almost convicted of treason by his peers in KY in 1778, I think....

Boone was very fortunate not to be killed when he was captured by the Indians.  His woodsmanship and willingness to live with and as an indian eventually gave him the ability to get away.

Kentucky, however, was a quicksand for many, many settlers regarding their property rights.  Large numbers of them were litigated out of their habitations and farms.  Boone found that the government of Missouri was entirely willing to guarantee his property in midstate MO, so he moved there.   I had Proctors in my line who came to KY to help defend Boonesboro and who mostly moved on to Missouri and Illinois before too many years passed.  They were never quite sure in KY if they actually owned where they claimed.  

Overall, I think Danl. Boone a bit overrated, or his contemporaries a bit underrated, one or the other.   Let us not overlook, though, that the movement of people into KY was motivated by land greed.  The character of such as survived the wilderness (most did there) was not particularly strong.  Many little forts sprung up, in part because of competition for a woman.  Sometimes the winner had to take her off to a new fort in order to put an end to the courting....When hunting expeditions, or chasing indians who had stolen cattle, etc. were being organized, great care was taken not to leave the wrong men behind with the ladies....  Whiskey was strong and readily available.