viii

Preface

done so much to plant in the country beyond the mountains. And, finally, after the Revolution, when the American people had begun to take possession of the new territory gained and held for them by him and his fellow-pioneers, Boone once more entered upon his self-imposed mission of pointing the way for his countrymen to the land of the setting sun; and, having crossed the Mississippi, died as he had lived     in the very forefront of civilization.

The attempt, therefore, to write such a book as the present     which is intended to serve the double purpose of a biography of Daniel Boone and a study of the first phase of the territorial growth of the United States   finds ample justification in the facts of Boone's career. On the biographical side the effort has been made not only to give as complete and accurate an account of Boone's life as is now possible, but also to estimate and make clear his specific contributions to the progress of the nation ; while on the historical side my chief aim has been to describe the process of expansion in its military, political, economic, and social aspects. This has necessitated a somewhat detailed examination of the characteristics of the people who won the West, and the measures they took     notably in the organization of the Watauga, Transylvania, and Cumberland