Introduction

Introduction to Boone Trace 1775

We feel that the best method to achieve this noble goal of preservation is to rediscover and restore it as much as possible, create more public awareness, and actually promote it from the standpoints of historical significance, educational benefit and tourism, the latter of which could indeed bring money into our area.

What is incredibly cool about Boone Trace is that not only is it of enormous historical significance, but it can make a fascinating journey along the backroads of Kentucky into the past, recreating the footsteps of Daniel Boone on his monumentally important journey, which took place during just those two months of 1775. He followed the buffalo trails, and the buffalos followed creeks and streams staying near water as they meandered about looking for food and salt licks. The consequence is that now, all along the way, there is usually a waterway that keeps you company.

This web-site is dedicated to the sole purpose of saving and preserving Boone Trace, the trail blazed by Daniel Boone and his thirty “axemen” in March and April of 1775 from North Carolina, through the Cumberland Gap to Boonesborough. It was the first road, ever, to bridge “the Wilderness” into Kentucky for the specific purpose of bringing in settlers. No other road is of greater historical significance to the founding of Kentucky and opening of the west than “that little road.” And it comes right up through the heart of Kentucky!

Unfortunately, after 237 years of evolution, there are only a limited number of markers and remnants of the actual Trace. On the flip-side, the route has been fairly accurately identified, and at least there are some markers and remnants remaining to investigate. Furthermore, this situation will never get any better than right now; and it is therefore incumbent that we, which now hopefully includes you, are going to save what remains and preserve it in perpetuity, once and for all.

John Fox

To me, this blend of natural elements has made The Trace (my nickname for Boone Trace) very personal. I have learned the names of many of these creeks and streams, and they have become like friends. There is something about the raw nature of The Trace that connects with your heart and soul, probably as it did Daniel Boone. You, like me, may have grown up near a creek bank where you fished, or a hunting spot in woods, or maybe just a place in a park where you explored as a kid. But the trees and ground, the streams, the air and sky all become part of your being and you part of it. It is the same with Boone Trace.

It may sound a little crazy, but I often sense the presence of Daniel Boone going down the trail; and it produces a strange emotion, somewhere between laughing and crying at the same time. It’s almost as if The Trace is still alive with the spirit of Daniel Boone.

It is never possible to use the word “exact” when speaking with reference to the precise path of Boone Trace, but when traveling along a narrow, winding road with a steep hill on one side, a creek on the other, and the road in the middle, it becomes apparent that he had to come right through there. That’s when I get that almost spiritual feeling. It is my wish that others become intimately familiar with The Trace and share in that experience as well.

At this point in time, Boone Trace is a hidden treasure of our entire country, largely overlooked, ignored and forgotten about for at least the last forty years except for a very few discerning folks. It cannot be allowed to continue to disappear into extinction by the passage of time and from the wheels of “progress.” We must intervene and take whatever measures necessary to preserve what remnants are left, in perpetuity.

I personally plan to dedicate a good portion of the remainder of my life to this goal. I am now 69 years of age, so that should give me about ten more good years at it.

Hopefully, this web-site will inspire others to join in the effort and, if necessary, pick up where we leave off.

John Fox

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