Daniel Boone Biography

During colonial times, most settlements clustered on the East Coast between the Atlantic Ocean and the Appalachian Mountains. The Native Americans crossed the Appalachians at a place called the Cumberland Gap. This passageway is located just north of where Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia meet. In 1775, Daniel Boone led a group of axmen through the passageway. They cleared a trail that became known as the Wilderness Road. Afterward, a large number of settlers followed the trail into western Kentucky and Tennessee.

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