Capture and rescue of Jemima Boone

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The capture and rescue of Jemima Boone and the Callaway girls is a famous incident in the early history of Kentucky and the most celebrated event of Daniel Boone's life. James Fenimore Cooper created a fictionalized version of the episode in his classic book The Last of the Mohicans (1826).

After the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1775, violence increased between American Indians and settlers in Kentucky. American Indians, particularly Shawnees north of the Ohio River, raided the Kentucky settlements, hoping to drive away the immigrants, whom they regarded as trespassers. Isolated settlers and hunters became the frequent target of attacks, convincing many to abandon Kentucky. By late spring of 1776, fewer than 200 Americans remained in Kentucky, primarily at the fortified settlements of Boonesborough, Harrodsburg, and Logan's Station.

On Sunday, July 14, 1776, three teenage girls from Boonesborough were captured as they were floating in a canoe on the Kentucky River. They were Jemima, daughter of Daniel Boone, and Elizabeth and Frances, daughters of Colonel Richard Callaway. The Indians, a war party of two Cherokee and three Shawnee men, were led by the Cherokee Hanging Maw. The settlement was thrown into a turmoil and a rescue party was organized by Boone. Meanwhile the girls were hurried north by their captors toward the Shawnee towns across the Ohio River. The girls attempted to mark their trail until threatened by the Indians.

The third morning, as the Indians were building a fire for breakfast, the rescuers came up. "That's Daddy's gun," cried Jemima, as one Indian was shot and toppled into the fire, seriously injured but not immediately killed. Two of the Native Americans later died from their wounds during the brief gunfight. The Indians retreated, leaving the girls to be escorted home. Jemima soon married one of the rescuing party, Flanders Callaway. Elizabeth Callaway married Samuel Henderson and Frances, John Holder. The episode served to put the settlers in the Kentucky wilderness on guard and prevented straying beyond the fort.

Although the rescuers feared that the girls would be raped or otherwise abused, Jemima Boone said, "The Indians were kind to us, as much so as they well could have been, or their circumstances permitted." (Faragher, p. 140)

[edit] References

• Draper, Lyman. The Life of Daniel Boone, edited by Ted Franklin Belue. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1998.
• Faragher, John Mack. Daniel Boone: The Life and Legend of an American Pioneer. New York: Holt, 1992.