Daniel Boone is most well known for being one of the "trailblazers" of American history. A fur trapper, hunter, and trader, Boone spent much of his life forging the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap. During this period, the British crown refused to offer protection for settlers moving further west, so pushing west into the mountains and into Native American territory was dangerous. Despite many warnings from fellow settlers and Native Americans alike to stay out of that region, Boone went on to settle what became the state of Kentucky. Today, this is considered his greatest accomplishment.

Daniel Boone was active in both the French and Indian War and the American Revolution, predominantly fighting the Native Americans who were armed and aided by the enemy. During the Revolutionary War, Boone's daughters and two other young women were kidnapped by a Native American war party. Boone and some other men surprised the war party and recovered the young women. The heroism of this act elevated Boone to legendary status and would ultimately serve as the inspiration for James Fenimore Cooper's celebrated novel, The Last of the Mohicans.

Despite being known for so long as a trailblazing hero, Boone's life after the American Revolution was unhappy. He fell heavily into debt after a series of unsuccessful business ventures and moved around, eventually settling on the farm of his youngest son. He died in 1820 at the age of eighty-five and was buried in a grave that was not marked until nearly fifteen years later. Today, he is memorialized as one of the first heroes in American history.