Blood and Treasure: Daniel Boone and the Fight for America's First Frontier

Drury and Clavin (The Heart of Everything That Is) again collaborate to present a survey of 18th-century American history focusing on the family of Daniel Boone and their migration from New England to the Carolinas and across the Appalachians to Kentucky. Colonial wars between the French and English and the American Revolution impacted the lives of settlers like the Boone family, but most European-American families had one overriding goal: acquisition of land that was already inhabited by Native Americans. Daniel Boone's life and exploits have become myth and legend, and the authors stay on familiar ground in presenting Boone as an ambitious leader, a fearless fighter, and a man with a strong belief in his own self-worth. Drury and Clavin often refer to Boone’s vision, and they state that Boone "no doubt foresaw that his journey opened a new chapter in the history" of the country. They describe him as a man who traveled with a Bible and copy of Gulliver's Travels in his saddlebag; yet some historians have said that Boone was semi-literate and could barely sign his name.