born , 0441; Nov. 2, 1734, Berks county, Pa.
died 0441; Sept. 26, 1820, St. Charles, Mo., U.S.
U.S. frontiersman and legendary hero.
He lived on the North Carolina frontier as a hunter and trapper. He made several trips through the Cumberland Gap into eastern Kentucky (1767, 176971) and in 1775 was employed to blaze a permanent trail, called the Wilderness Road. He established the settlements of Boonesboro and Harrodsburg. As a militia captain he defended Boonesboro against the Indians; he was captured by the Shawnee in 1778 but escaped after five months to warn Boonesboro of an impending attack. After losing his Kentucky land claims in the late 1780s, he moved to the Missouri Territory. His exploits were featured in a widely read history of Kentucky and in Lord Byron 's epic poem Don Juan .