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Show r" 1 Famous Forts in U. S. History By ELMO SCOTT WATSON - (, 1924. Wetrn Newspaper Union.) Boonesborough, Symbol of Frontier America Boonesborough is more than Kentucky's Ken-tucky's most famous fort. It is a national na-tional landmark whose palisaded walls symbolize the American frontier and Its name stands as a monument to the memory of Daniel Boone, the one great American pioneer. Brief as was Its existence, there are few forts In America which have a more romantic history. In 1775 Col. Richard Henderson, a North Carolina land speculator, sent Daniel Boone to survey a road into Kentucky, the "Dark and Bloody Ground," and to bulid a fort there. Boone set out with 20 men and, after several skirmishes with hostile Indians, In-dians, he reached his goal April 1, and on April 29 began building a fort. Since Boonesborough was typical of all frontier forts, it is worthy of description. de-scription. At each of the four corners was a two-story blockhouse. A series of little cabins placed close together, with their roofs sloping inward, was built along the sides, and the space in between these cabins was filled up with palisades. There were heavy gates in front and back and the whole fort inclosed in-closed a space 260 feet long and 150 feet wide. The walls, which were about twelve feet high, were loopholed for rifle fire, as were the cabins, and there was hardly a nail or piece of Iron used in the whole fort. From the date of Its establishment there was always something thrilling taking place. In July, 1776, occurred the capture of the Boone and Callaway girls and their romantic rescue soon afterwards. The next year the Indians attacked Boonesborough and Simon Kenton made his famous rescue of Daniel Boone. In September of that year the British and Indians again besieged be-sieged the fort after they had called out the frontiersmen for a council, and their treacherous attack under the white flag had failed. During this siege the Indians tried to get into the fort by digging under it. "What are you red rascals doing there?" one old frontiersman yelled to the savages in their own tongue. "Digging," was the return yell. "Blow you all to the devil soon; what you do?" "Oh," was the cheerful reply, "we're digging to meet you and intend to bury 500 of you." Such were the Incidents which make up the history of Boonesborough. After the Indian wars were over this pioneer station lost its importance and never became the metropolis of the state of Kentucky, as it once promised to do. Today Boonesborough is noted as a pleasure resort where hundreds go every year to play a strange contrast con-trast to the grim scenes of savage hatred ha-tred and bloodshed it witnessed in the days of Daniel Boone. |
