He Introduced The US Government To Present-day Kentucky

The next fact about Daniel Boone is that he was the explorer who first introduced the US government to the region that is now known as Kentucky. Boone had heard of the region's productive soil and an abundance of game years before he ever set foot in Kentucky. Boone and his brother Squire first entered what would eventually become the state of Kentucky in 1767, but they were unable to make it to the lucrative hunting grounds. With a crew of five companions, Boone set off once more in May 1769 to begin a two-year hunting expedition during which he extensively explored Kentucky. His initial view of the Bluegrass region from the top of Pilot Knob was immortalized in paintings and turned into "an emblem of American history."

Boone collaborated with Richard Henderson's Transylvania Company in 1775 to create a path that would pass through the Cumberland Gap. He built the Wilderness Road with the help of about thirty colleagues, and it quickly became the main route used by white settlers traveling to the West. Boone's wife and daughters traversed the new road to Boonesborough shortly after it was finished, making them the first Anglo-American women to settle in Kentucky.