Daniel Boone.
What image does the name evoke? A mountain man wearing a beavertail?
If you answered, a mountain man wearing a beavertail cap, you’re likely a baby boomer or a fan of TV reruns.
Daniel Boone’s pioneer exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He was born on October 22, 1734 in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, lived in Kentucky, and then at the age of 65, he moved his wife and several children to Missouri.
The 
American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman inspired a TV show bearing his name. Fess Parker starred as Daniel Boone in the historical series that ran from 1963 to 1970, and now enjoys an audience of another generation or two through reruns.
I was a fan of the show, and so was my hubby. I had no idea how deep Bob’s fascination with Daniel Boone and the life of a frontiersman ran until March 2012 when he joined me in Saint Charles, Missouri. I was there researching the area for The Quilted Heart novellas and Prairie Song, Book 1 in the Hearts Seeking Home Series, when we discovered The Historic Daniel Boone Home and Heritage Center in Defiance, about 25 miles west of Saint Charles.
The center features the home where the legendary hero, Daniel Boone, spent much of his time while in Missouri–the home of his youngest son, Nathan Boone. It is the home in which Daniel Boone died September 26, 1820. Guided Tours are available of the home and a dozen other buildings that represent life in the early 1800’s–the adventures and the adversities. The Daniel Boone Home overlooks a simulated town comprised of a general store, school house, grist mill, and other historic buildings, which were moved to the site from within 50 miles of the local area, and offer a peek into life on the Missouri frontier.
Click here to read more about Daniel Boone, his family, and the Early History of the Boone’s Lick Road.
Click here to learn more about The Quilted Heart eBook novellas set in Saint Charles in 1865.
Click here to see the upcoming print collection of The Quilted Heart novellas.
Click here to find out about Prairie Song, the story in which the Boone’s Lick Wagon Train Company set out from Saint Charles.
Were or are you a Daniel Boone fan? Have you ever visited the Daniel Boone Home in Missouri?