CHAPTER 8 THE PIONEERS Part 1. Seatling the Frontier a the middle of the 18h century much of the land west of the Appalachian Mountains was a rich wildermess, It was a hunting ground for the American Indians. Bear, buffalo, deer and wild Daniel Boone' fntseters in new #eas, people whoopened the way west frohers, were turkey were pientiful Many colonists wanted to claim some of this land for themselves. alied pioneers. One of the pioncers was Danicl Boone. Danied Boone A fnetier is the very odge of a settled arca that borders on an unsettled area. a 1769 Boane and a few friends decided to explore Kentucky up in Panmsylvania Later his family moved to North Carolina on the As a young man, Boone heard stories about the Kentucky wilderness beyond the Appalachians. They spent many mondis on their way. They followed mountain paths and finally came to an opening betwoon the mountains called Cumberland Gap'. When Boone finally saw Kentucky for the first time, be thought it looked like a paradise. Much of the land was covered with trees. Buftalo, bears and deer ran through the ficlds. Daniel Boone spent more than two years in Kentucky, exploring the beautiful land and hunting. He neturned to the East with tales of the beauty of the land he had seern n 1775 Richard Henderson, a businessman, hired Boone to build a road through the Camberland Gap to Kentucky. With a group of strong men armed with axes and guns, Boone went The road which Boone and his men built was called the Wilderness Road The way west. The Wildermess Road was steep and narrow. The trip to Kentucky was difficult Pooplic loaded their goods on farm animals and walked alongside the animals as they made their way up and down the steep mountain road But walking was not the only way of getting over the mountains. Thousands of pioneers tavelled by land to Pittsburgh. There they bought or built boats, loaded their belongings and sailed dows the Ohio River to the Ohio Territory. Travelling by boat was easier and quicker than travelling by land. And setlers could bring more belongings with them on a boat than they could carry over the Wilderness Road. Bat river travel also had its problems. In spring the rivers flooded. Dangerous rapids and waterfaills could break a boat. Besides, bandits, pirates and American Indians often attacked and sanik the boats and stole the pioneers" goods. Flatbeats and keelboats. The pioncers used many different kinds of boats. The most popular was the flatboat. tt was built of wood and it had a large deck with a small cabin at one end. The pionees family stayed in the small cabin. The farm animals and most of the family belongings were kept on the deck The nat bottom of the boat made it possible to travel in shallow parts of the river. Plathoats had one disadvantage. They could travel in only one direction- - downstream. When pioneer famulies reached theie destination, they usually took their boats apart and used the timber