REBECCA'S APRON part 2 of 4

"With Daniel Boone at their head, six families left North Carolina for Kentucky in September of 1773. Of course, being Rebecca Boone's apron I was carried right along. It was an exciting trip, let me tell you, but not all the adventures were welcome ones. Their son James, who was 16 by then, was trailing behind with some other youngsters. For two weeks things went well, then near Cumberland Gap disaster struck.

"Young James Boone and his friends were ambushed by Shawnees. James was horribly tortured and surely Rebecca could hear him screaming for death until it came, at last, for the poor boy. Daniel rode back in time to bury his son. Well, that was the end of that trip to Kentucky. The whole party turned around and started back to where they'd come from.

"Clinch River in North Carolina, was the Boone's next home. They stayed there for almost two years. During that time Rebecca's uncle, James Bryan, showed up on their doorstep one day, and his news was not good. His wife had died and there he was with six children to see to, ranging in ages from six to sixteen. Rebecca, bless her heart, didn't hesitate an instant. She told James to bring the children in to live with her and Daniel. Then Rebecca's ninth child was born.

"Daniel still hadn't gotten the idea of a home in Kentucky out of his head. So in 1775 the Boones and a caravan started for Fort Boonesborough, Kentucky. Back then, Boone's Fort wasn't much more than a few crude shacks built along the Kentucky River, and that is what Rebecca saw that was to be her new home. In spite of its crudeness, in true Boone style, Rebecca made do. And she did gain the prestige of being the first white woman to stand on the banks of the Kentucky River.

"While they were there, in July of 1776, some Shawnees captured and carried off Rebecca and Daniel's daughter, Jemima, and two of her friends. Well, Daddy Boone didn't give up until he'd gotten those girls back home, safe and sound. Daniel tracked those Indians for three days. When he did catch up to them he had to kill two of the Indians before he could get the girls back.

"Things went pretty well for the Boones in Kentucky until about 1782, then what was said to be the last considerable combat of the Revolution took place. It came to be called the Battle of Blue Licks and it turned out to be a pretty bloody affair. Five minutes after the battle began 60 Kentuckians lay dead. Unfortunately for the Boones, one of the dead was their son Israel. Daniel had tried to prevent that backwoods militia from plunging into this Indian ambush. No one listened to him and the Wyandots mowed them down. The truth of it was that the whole uproar was the aftermath of a raid into Kentucky by a force of more than 400 Ohio Indians under the notorious Simon Girty.

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