Ever Oversold An illustration from an 1891 book presents the seizure of the Boone and Galloway girls in highly melodramatic terms.
the British, and nature itself.” On July 14, 1776, Jemima, 13, and two other girls were rowing near Fort Boone, named for her near-legendary father, when Shawnee and Cherokee braves seized the trio. The Indians likely meant to use their captives as trading chips with the British or the settlers. But the raid backfired. A great woodsman, Daniel led a team that rescued the girls unharmed—a feat facilitated by the captives’ cleverly marked traces. Taking becomes far more interesting after the rescue: Daniel’s capture by Shawnee braves in 1778; his adoption by Blackfish, a chief of that tribe; his escape, aided by his adoptive Indian mother; the Indian siege of Fort Boone; Daniel’s court-martial for treason, contrived by jealous enemies. He defended himself and was not only acquitted but promoted from captain to major in the militia. The author errs by not recounting Daniel’s
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The Taking of Jemima Boone: Colonial Settlers, Tribal Nations, and the Kidnap that Shaped America By Matthew Pearl Harper, 2021; $27.99
The title oversells, but don’t be put off by that. Matters involving Jemima Boone’s kidnapping are but a fraction of this book, and nothing in Taking persuaded me that that abduction shaped America. Even so, the book absorbingly chronicles the roil of events and individuals along the American frontier during the Revolution, particularly its protagonist, the remarkable Daniel Boone (1734-1820), explorer, settler, archetype—and Jemima’s father. The setting is what eventually became the state of Kentucky. The time is the late 1770s. The era and locale featured atrocities, betrayal, espionage, and pitched battles, but also heroism, decency, dignity, even wisdom. American settlers were fighting the British for independence. Indian tribes were not only fighting for their long-held land but for their survival. As author Pearl observes with some understatement, “The frontier remained in limbo, caught in a struggle among Indians, settlers,
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FRONTIER DRAMATICS
