The most adventurous experience most modern-day travelers undertake is hiking a lengthy mountainous and rocky trail at one of America’s many national parks. These are usually well-marked with cairns or arrows, and any critter or weather danger is well presented via informational signage. However, when Daniel Boone traversed wilderness areas outside of the 13 original colonies, his journeys were often perilous and required persistence. Author Robert Morgan shows us just what the 18th-century frontiersman encountered in his thorough book, “Boone: A Biography,” published in 2007.
While the legend of the man has been perpetuated in everything from comic strips to a popular television series that ran from 1964 to 1970, the true Boone is offered up in Mr. Morgan’s in-depth work. Much of the writings about Boone (1734–1820) teeters on the edge of hyperbole, but painstaking research enabled Mr. Morgan to delve into the accuracies of this complex and very American icon.
