The move to Kentucky
Daniel returned to North Carolina in 1771 at the age of 37. He had been robbed several times by Indians and had nothing to show for his labors, but he still wanted to return. In 1775 Richard Henderson purchased land in Kanta-ke which was now commonly called Kentucky from the Cherokee. He sent Daniel Boone to create the first road to Kentucky for the new settlement. For this task Daniel was to receive 2000 acres of the new land. When Daniel completed the road, he and his crew set about making a fort. They named this fort after Daniel; it was called Boonesborough. Later Boone returned to recruit settlers and to bring his family back with him to Kentucky. When they got there his family raised a cabin and already had an ample supply of food because Daniel had planted it before he left. Things were looking good in the new land.
Captured
While the body works, it loses some of its salt reserves. So on the American Frontier salt was a valuable resource. Kentucky had many salt springs (where there is a natural spring that produces salt water) but all of these springs are out in the open where the workers are vulnerable. Daniel had a plan to gather the salt with little risk of attack. The plan went like this. In the dead of winter all of the men would leave Boonesborough and go to a salt spring. While they were there the workers would boil the salty water down to the solid product only and every few days someone would go back to the fort with the salt and come back with more supplies. This way the settlers only had to work for a few weeks for a year's supply of salt and since it was winter it was unlikely the natives would attack the unmanned fort. When it was Daniel's turn he led the horse laden with salt back to the fort, but on the way he spotted several Shawnee Indian scouts who ran after him. The intruders chased Daniel but since they were younger and fitter than Boone who was 43 at the time, the natives soon caught up and Boone was forced to surrender. The scouts brought Daniel back to their camp where Daniel met with their chief: Blackfish. Boone came to an agreement with Blackfish who was preparing to mount a attack on Boonesborough. The agreement was that Daniel would tell all the workers to surrender and they would be the Native's captives. Then in the spring all of them would go back to Boonesborough and with no snow it would be a safer journey for the young and elderly. Daniel did this because he knew that without enough men protecting the fort it would be overrun and without a fort the workers would be overcome by the larger Native force. So Boone led the Natives back to his camp and he told the men why they needed to surrender and they did so willingly (this displays Daniels impressive leadership). The Natives then took Boone and the workers back to their village. Daniel along with 16 other salt boilers (the remaining men were to be sold into slavery) were adopted into the tribe which is when the Natives accept the new members as part of their community and the new members accept the Indian way of life. Boone however did not plan to give up his fort without a fight so when the Shawnees were distracted hunting turkey Boone escaped. He rode four days back to Boonesborough and warned them of the incoming attack. When the Shawnees arrived they tried to make the Kentuckians surrender but when that did not work they laid siege to the fort for almost three weeks. Finally the Natives gave up and Boonesborough was saved.
The Battle of Blue Licks
This was the last Revolutionary war battle that Kentucky participated in. Boone was now a lieutenant colonel in the militia and commanded 44 men from his district. Daniel's company was part of a larger force commanded by Col. John Todd that was sent out to respond to an Indian and British raid at Bryon's Station. The small army arrived at Bryon's Station and found the attackers had fled. The militia knew that if the Indians and British crossed the Ohio River all hope of catching them would be lost. So the settlers pursued but when they spotted several Indian scouts crossing the Licking River ahead Boone suspected an ambush. Even though the other officers knew of Boone's prowess concerning Native American tactics they chose to ignore him. This proved to be a crucial mistake. So the militia divided itself into three flanks. Boone commanded the left flank. The army advanced but Boone was soon proved right as Indians and British lept out of cover in front of the Kentuckians and began firing at them. The middle group which was led by Col. Todd did not fare well from the beginning. Todd was shot at the first part of the ambush and his men, with no one to lead them became chaotic. On the right side the Soldiers of that company did not expect the enemy behind a ridge to their right but thought them to be hiding ahead. This proved to be a fatal mishap when half of the entire enemy army shot at them from behind the ridge. Meanwhile Boone's troops were proving to be the most effective who were firing as they moved forward. They were so focused on their task that they did not realize how bad the rest of the military was faring. When Boone discovered what was happening to the other militiamen he ordered a retreat. Boone's company fled back to where their horses had been but when they got there they saw that most of the horse had been spooked by the gunfire and run off. Boone grabbed the first horse he saw and gave it to his son Israel who was serving under Daniel's command, but before his son could mount the horse and escape Israel was shot in the heart. Daniel Boone knew the shot had killed him and so with great grief at leaving his son's body Boone retreated with the rest of his fellow soldiers.