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 through them. In some places there were low rolling hills and in others great towering mountains. The woods were thick and still. The sunlight made dancing patterns on the pine needles. Kentucky was as beautiful as John Finley had said.

Everywhere they went the men found lots of game. There were deer and buffalo. There were fur-bearing animals, such as mink and otter and beaver. There were many different kinds of birds.

When the men went hunting, they separated into pairs. One winter day Boone and his brother-in-law were captured by Indians. The Indians did not harm them, but they took all the white men’s deerskins.

“Get out of Kentucky and stay out!” the Indians told them.

Daniel Boone did not scare easily. He and his brother-in-law did not want to leave Kentucky.

But the other four were afraid. They returned to the settlements. Boone never saw Finley again. But Boone was soon joined by his brother, Squire, and a friend named Alexander Neeley. Squire had promised to harvest the crops back home and then join them in the late autumn with fresh horses, traps, and gunpowder. Skilled woodsmen that they were, the brothers somehow found each other in the wilderness.

While they were hunting, the men separated again. They met every two weeks. One week Boone’s brother-in-law did not return to camp. He never did come back. Five years later a skeleton with a powder horn beside it was found in a hollow tree. Perhaps he was wounded by an Indian. No one really knows what happened to him.

Neeley was scared. He decided to go home alone. But Daniel and Squire stayed on all winter and spring. They hunted and trapped until they had a lot of skins. Then Squire went home to sell the skins and buy more gunpowder and traps.

Daniel stayed on in the wilderness. He did not mind being alone. He was never afraid. With his trusty rifle, Tick-Licker, over his shoulder, he explored much of Kentucky. He was happy because the wilderness was wide and he felt free. After a few months, Squire came back. Again the brothers hunted together.

At last Daniel said to Squire, “I’ll go home with you this time. We have all the skins we can carry.”

“When we sell them, we’ll have plenty of money to take to our families,” Squire said happily.

It did not happen that way. Indians attacked the brothers when they were nearly home and took the skins. The Boones were still poor men.

But Daniel was happy. He was glad that he had roamed the wilderness for nearly two years. He was sorry he had lost the skins, but he was happy that he had seen Kentucky.