DID YOU KNOW THAT THE LEGENDARY EXPLORER DANIEL
BOONE LIVED IN OUR STATE FOR OVER 20 YEARS?
THAT'S RIGHT.
HE FARMED, FISHED, HUNTED, EVEN MARRIED IN OUR GREAT STATE.
WELL, THAT BIT OF INFORMATION CAUGHT DEREK
LONG'S ATTENTION, SO HE DECIDED TO LEARN MORE
ABOUT DANIEL BOONE BY EXPLORING THE DANIEL BOONE
HERITAGE TRAIL.
TONIGHT WE BRING YOU PART ONE OF HIS JOURNEY.
>> I WAS IN HILLSBOROUGH THE OTHER DAY WHEN I
NOTICED THIS MONUMENT COMMEMORATING DANIEL BOONE
AND HIS 1769 EXPEDITION TO KENTUCKY.
THAT GOT ME ON TO DANIEL BOONE'S TRAIL IN NORTH CAROLINA.
>> DANIEL BOONE IS AMERICA'S PIONEER HERO,
AND I THINK WHAT IS SURPRISING TO MOST PEOPLE,
ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO LIVE IN NORTH CAROLINA, IS THAT
HE LIVED HERE FOR 21 YEARS BEFORE HE MOVED ON TO KENTUCKY.
HE ARRIVED HERE IN HIS LATE TEENS, ABOUT AGE 18,
WITH HIS PARENTS AND WHAT WE CALL NOW THE FORKS OF
THE YADKIN, WHICH IS BASICALLY DAVIE AND YADKIN
COUNTY.
DANIEL BOONE AND HIS FAMILY FIRST GOT TO NORTH
CAROLINA IN 1752.
THEY CAME DOWN THE GREAT WAGON ROAD, WHICH THEY
WOULD HAVE MOST DEFINITELY SEEN PILOT MOUNTAIN.
SQUIRE BOONE HAD TWO TRACTS OF LAND, EACH WITH
640 ACRES, THAT'S A SQUARE MILE, AND ABOUT
EQUIDISTANT TO EAST AND WEST OF TODAY'S MOCKSVILLE.
ONE ON THE DUTCHMAN'S CREEK AND ONE ON BEAR CREEK.
>> SQUIRE AND SARAH BOONE ARE BURIED AT THE JOPPA
CEMETERY IN MOCKSVILLE.
A LOGICAL PLACE TO BEGIN THE NORTH CAROLINA DANIEL
BOONE HERITAGE TRAIL.
>> THE NORTH CAROLINA DANIEL BOONE HERITAGE
TRAIL IS REALLY AN OUTGROWTH OF AN EFFORT OF
MANY PEOPLE LIVING IN THE WESTERN PART OF NORTH
CAROLINA TO SORT OF SHOWCASE AND CONNECT
PEOPLE WITH THE LIFE OF DANIEL BOONE BY BRINGING
THEM TO THE PLACES WHERE THEY CAN STAND WHERE HE STOOD.
DANIEL BOONE WAS A FARMER, BUT ONLY OUT OF NECESSITY.
HE REALLY HATED THE LIFE OF A FARMER.
AND WHEN HE WAS HERE WITH HIS FAMILY AS A YOUNG MAN
OF, YOU KNOW, 18, HIS JOB WAS TO DRIVE THE WAGON
FROM THE FAMILY'S FARM DOWN TO SALISBURY WHERE HE
WOULD TRADE THE PRODUCE OF THE FAMILY FARM FOR THE
THINGS THAT THEY COULDN'T GET ON THE FARM, THE SALT,
THE SUGAR, THE IRON, THE SHOT, AND THE POWDER.
BUT HE WOULD LOOK FOR ANY OPPORTUNITY TO GO OFF ON A
SHORT HUNT OR A LONG HUNT.
DANIEL BOONE WAS A MARKET HUNTER AND HE MADE HIS
LIVING BY SELLING HIDES, PELTS AND FURS THAT HE GOT
FROM HIS HUNTING AND HIS TRAPPING.
>> FIRE!
>> THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR BEGAN IN 1754, SHORTLY
AFTER THE BOONES ARRIVED IN THE AREA.
FORT DOBBS, NEAR STATESVILLE, WAS BUILT TO
HELP DEFEND THE FRONTIER.
>> DURING THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR, DANIEL BOONE
WAS NOT A SOLDIER.
HE WAS A WAGONER, HE WAS IN THE BACK DRIVING THE
SUPPLY WAGON.
>> THAT'S WHERE A FELLOW WAGONER REGALED HIM WITH
STORIES OF RICHES OF KENTUCKY.
>> IN 1755, DANIEL BOONE'S BROTHER, ISRAEL, WAS SICK
WITH CONSUMPTION, WHICH WE KNOW TODAY AS
TUBERCULOSIS, SO DANIEL AND HIS MOTHER BROUGHT
ISRAEL ACROSS THE YADKIN RIVER AT THE SHALLOW FORD
TO BETHABARA WHERE HE WAS TREATED BY THE MORAVIAN
DOCTOR, WHO WAS THE ONLY PHYSICIAN AROUND FOR
HUNDREDS OF MILES.
>> UNFORTUNATELY, LIKE HIS WIFE BEFORE HIM, ISRAEL
DID NOT RECOVER.
THEIR TWO SONS WERE LEFT FOR DANIEL TO RAISE.
>> AND SO DANIEL, BEING A LONG HUNTER, WAS 21 YEARS
OLD WITH THESE TWO YOUNG BOYS TO TAKE CARE OF.
WHAT HE NEEDED MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE RIGHT THEN
WAS A WIFE.
SO HE HAD MET THIS YOUNG WOMAN, REBECCA BRYAN AT A
FAMILY WEDDING THE YEAR BEFORE, AND SO THEY GOT
MARRIED ON AUGUST 14 OF 1756, JUST OUTSIDE TODAY'S
MOCKSVILLE ON BEAR CREEK.
THE MORE YOU STUDY ABOUT DANIEL BOONE, THE MORE
PEOPLE REALIZE HOW SIGNIFICANT REBECCA BRYAN
BOONE WAS TO HIS ABILITY TO ACCOMPLISH WHAT HE DID.
SHE WAS A REMARKABLE WOMAN.
TAKING CARE OF NOT ONLY HER OWN CHILDREN, BUT
OTHER CHILDREN IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, AND WHILE
DANIEL WAS GONE, SHE WAS DEFENDING THE HOMESTEAD
AND IT'S A REMARKABLE STORY AND REBECCA BRYAN
BOONE REALLY BECOMES THE ICONIC REPRESENTATIVE OF
WHAT IT WAS LIKE FOR WOMEN ON THE FRONTIER.
>> IF THINGS WEREN'T TOUGH ENOUGH, IN THE LATE 1750s,
THE CHEROKEE WAR BROKE OUT ON THE CAROLINA FRONTIER.
>> IT BECAME UNSAFE FOR ANYBODY TO LIVE THERE, AND
OVER HALF OF THE PEOPLE LIVING ON THE CAROLINA
PIEDMONT IN 1759 LEFT, INCLUDING DANIEL BOONE AND
HIS WIFE REBECCA AND THEIR TWO CHILDREN.
AND THEY MOVED UP TO CULPEPER, VIRGINIA.
>> BY 1762, THEY ARE BACK IN THE YADKIN VALLEY
REGION AND THAT'S WHERE WE WILL PICK UP THE TRAIL
NEXT TIME.
THIS IS DEREK LONG, FOR "NORTH CAROLINA WEEKEND".
>> TO LEARN MORE ABOUT DANIEL BOONE'S HERITAGE
TRAIL, VISIT NCDBHT.