By today's standards, Colonial America wasn't exactly bursting at the seams, but it was an agrarian economy, and fertile, cheap land was highly valued. Thus, many entrepreneurs like Colonel Richard Henderson found the vast territory west of the Allegheny Mountains too enticing to pass up.

His Transylvania Company could reap a fortune in land sales if only it could overcome resistance from Indians, similarly unfriendly political forces in Virginia, and the treacherous mountains. So Henderson hired Daniel Boone, the experienced long-hunter who was familiar with the territory, to carve a route into Kentucky for land-seekers.

Now, 241 years later, author Neal O. Hammon has written Following Boone's Trace, which precisely details that route Boone took through the wilderness.

Hammon touches on interesting stories, the successes and failures, and the unintended consequences of Boone's journey — for which we all are richer. In the words of Richard Taylor, former Kentucky Poet Laureate, "Hammon's meticulous, stubborn research makes him the dean of living Kentucky frontier historians."

The Kentucky where almost four and one-half million people live today is very different from the Bluegrass region that its forefathers — the intrepid pioneers of the eighteenth century — were drawn to explore and settle.

But however much the physical features of the Bluegrass State are amended to accommodate its present population, Following Boone's Trace reminds us that the exciting legends of yesterday are still very much alive.

by Neal Hammon & Peter Holste
Page Count: 144
Trim Size: 5.5 x 8.5
Publish Date: June 2016
Imprint: Butler Books
Genre: History

HISTORY / United States / Colonial Period
HISTORY / United States / State & Local / South