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Daniel Boone and the Appeal of Kentucky Bluegrass: The 1775 Expedition through the Cumberland Gap
Daniel Boone is most well known for his westward exploration of North America. In particular, Boone is often associated with leading settlers from North Carolina and Tennessee through the Cumberland Gap and into Kentucky in 1775. This exploration, however, was not his first foray into Kentucky and the previous journeys had ended in failure. Nevertheless, Boone and others continued to return to Kentucky in spite of Native American threats and violent actions toward Americans. In order to gain a better understanding of why Boone persisted in his attempts to settle Kentucky, it is necessary to determine how the perceived fertility of the land led whites to view the Native Americans’ hunting culture as unworthy of inhabiting such promising agricultural territory. Another important aspect in understanding Boone’s migration is ascertaining how much he viewed the settlement of Kentucky as part of Americans’ rights to the entirety of the North American continent. In order to answer these questions the writings and journals of Daniel Boone and other earlier settlers will be useful, as well as other prominent Americans writing on expansion.