nd cheered
his home for so many years, was taken from his side. She died in March,
1813, at the age of seventy-six. The venerable pioneer was now to miss
her cheerful companionship for the remainder of his life; and to a man
of his affectionate disposition this must have been a severe privation.

Colonel Boone's memorial to Congress received the earnest and active
support of Judge Coburn, Joseph Vance, Judge Burnett, and other
distinguished men belonging to the Western country. But it was not till
the 24th of December, 1813, that the Committee on Public Lands made a
report on the subject.

The report certainly is a very inconsistent one, as it fully admits the
justice of his claim to eleven thousand arpents of land, and recommends
Congress to give him the miserable pittance of one thousand arpents, to
which he was entitled in common with all the other emigrants to Upper
Louisiana! The act for the confirmation of the title passed on the 10th
of February, 1814.

For ten years before his decease, Colonel Boone gave up his favorite
pursuit of hunting. The infirmities of age rendered it imprudent for him
to venture alone in the woods.

The closing years of Colonel Boone's life were passed in a manner
entirely characteristic of the man. He appears to have considered love
to mankind, reverence to the Supreme Being, delight in his works and
constant usefulness, as the legitimate ends of life. After the decease
of Mrs. Boone, he divided his time among the different members of his
family, making his home with his eldest daughter, Mrs. Callaway,
visiting his other children, and especially his youngest son, Major
Nathan Boone, for longer or shorter periods, according to his
inclination and convenience. He was greatly beloved by all his
descendants, some of whom were of the fifth generation; and he took
great delight in their society.

"His time at home," says Mr. Peck, "was usually occupied in some useful
manner. He made powder-horns for his grandchildren, neighbors, and
friends, many of which were carved and ornamented with much taste. He
repaired rifles, and performed various descriptions of handicraft with
neatness and finish." Making powder-horns--repairing rifles--employments
in pleasing unison with old pursuits, and by the associations thus
raised in his mind, always recalling the pleasures of the chase, the
stilly whispering hum of the pines, the fragrance of wild flowers, and
the deep solitude of the primeval forest.