Unburying Daniel Boone By Matthew Smith, Ph.D.
S
eptember 26, 2020, marked the 200th anniversary of the death of Daniel Boone. The celebrated frontiersman is buried alongside his wife Rebecca in Frankfort Cemetery, on a bluff overlooking the Kentucky River. Like much of the Boone saga, elements of myth have crept into the historical account, but the Boones’ epilogue is clear enough in key respects. Daniel and Rebecca moved west from Kentucky in 1799, and likely never set foot in the Bluegrass State again. Both husband and wife died and were buried side-by-side in their adopted state of Missouri, where Rebecca predeceased Daniel in 1813. In September 1845, 18
Kentucky humanities
the couple were exhumed and reburied in Frankfort at the behest of Kentucky’s General Assembly. Thousands of visitors attended the reburial ceremony, presided over by ministers of various Protestant denominations and graced by the oration of Kentucky statesman John J. Crittenden. A striking memorial, added in 1860, marks the spot where Daniel and Rebecca were Above: In the fall of 1767, Daniel Boone entered the Kentucky wilderness on a hunting expedition. Several years later, in 1773, Boone reexplored Kentucky and decided to attempt a settlement. Photo courtesy of The Filson Historical Society, Louisville, KY
