live
to the north of Kentucky and to the south of Kentucky. They call the
land their hunting ground. They do not like the white men to go there."

"There should be room enough for both Indians and white men," Daniel
Boone replied. He thought for a while. "Some day I am going to
Kentucky."

When Daniel went back home to the Yadkin Valley, he married a tall,
dark-haired girl named Rebecca Bryan. Sometimes he liked to tease her.
One summer day before they married he was sitting beside her under a
big tree. Suddenly he took his broad-bladed knife and cut a long slit
in her fresh white apron.

"Why did you do that, Daniel?" she asked mildly.

His blue eyes twinkled. "I guess I wanted to see if you had a temper,"
he said.

Because she wasn't angry, Daniel felt that she would make him a good
wife. Life in the wilderness was often difficult and dangerous. He
wanted a wife who did not become upset easily.

They were married, and soon the first of their many children arrived.
Daniel loved his children. As soon as his son James was old enough, he
taught him to hunt.

In the spring and summer Daniel would farm. In the autumn he hunted,
and in the winter he trapped. He made long trips in the forest and
brought home food for his family and valuable furs and deerskins. Many
of these he sold. He enjoyed exploring as much as he enjoyed hunting.
Once he even went as far south as Florida with the idea of settling
there. But he was disappointed in the land. He longed to explore
Kentucky, but did not want to go alone.

One day the Boone family heard a knock at the door. It was Boone's old
friend, John Finley.

"Let's go to Kentucky, Daniel!" he said.

"Let's!" Daniel agreed. "I think about it all the time. You know how
much I love the wilderness. That's the one place I really feel at
home."

On to Kentucky

Early in 1769, Daniel Boone, John Finley, and four other strong men
started for Kentucky. One of the men was Daniel's brother-in-law. They
took their guns. They carried animal traps, too. They planned to bring
back skins and furs to sell.

The hunters rode their horses across the mountains. Soon they came to
Cumberland Gap, a narrow mountain valley which led into Kentucky. The
Indians used the Gap also, but the white men did not see any of them at
this time. It was weeks before they saw a single Indian.

But they did see rich green meadows, which stretched ahead for miles.
Silver rivers wound like ribbons thr