What lessons can we learn from Daniel Boone?

Persistence through hardship and turmoil certainly was a
trademark of American frontiersman Daniel Boone (1734-1820). Born to a family of
Quakers, Boone's father was expelled from the church, though Boone always maintained a
Christian ethic. As a youth, he maintained friendly relations with neighboring Native
Americans, and when he was captured by Shawnees during the American Revolution, they
thought so highly of him that he was adopted into the tribe. In 1775, Boone was hired to
blaze what became known as the Wilderness Trail from Western Virginia throught the
Cumberland Gap into Kentucky; there, he founded the settlement of Boonesborough, one of
the first towns west of the Appalachians. Despite his earlier friendship with Native
Americans, Boone became famous as an Indian fighter, repulsing many attacks against
Boonesborough. Nevertheless, Boone was court-martialed following his escape from capture
by the Shawnees, but was found not-guilty. He fought in several small battles during the
Revolutionary War (being captured a second time), and he was active in the Northwest
Indian War of 1794. Elected to three terms in the Virginia General Assembly, Boone lost
most of his money in Kentucky land speculation. He moved to Spanish Louisiana (now
Missouri) where he was made military commandant of the district. Once again, Boone was
deprived of most of his land holdings when the area became part of the Louisiana
Purchase. In 1810, at the age of 76, he ventured as far west as the Yellowstone River;
and at the age of 80, he made a hunting trip "to the head waters of the Great Osage,"
where he trapped beaver and other game. Surviving both British and Indian capture--where
he was forced to run the infamous gauntlet--as well as several wars and financial ruin,
Boone died of natural causes just short of his 86th birthday.