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Red Hawk
Lost in the Wilderness
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
May 18 2009
Status: offline
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 Posted - May 18 2009 : 5:58:35 PM
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There's been a tale handed down in my family that I have not yet found verified by any sources. The tale was that "Last of the Mohicans" was loosely based on a true event. That event was the capture of three Boonesboro girls and their subsequent rescue by Daniel Boone and other settlers. The tie to my family is that one of the girls who was captured married one of the men in the rescue party. The girl was Elizabeth Calloway and the man was my gggggg(?)uncle Samuel Henderson. Has anyone heard this tale?
Also, the first time I saw LOTM I was surprised to see several extras I have been associated with in Clann Wolf, a re-enactment group I help start about 20 years ago. It kind of drew me closer to the movie project.
All Hail The Celtic Race,
Red Hawk
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Bookworm
Colonial Militia
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
February 10 2004
Status: offline
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Posted - May 19 2009 : 05:56:57 AM
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| Welcome to the board, Red Hawk! I found the following statement in "Daniel Boone: The Life and Legend of an American Pioneer" by John Mack Faragher (2002): "[The] central episode of captivity [in Cooper's novel] was loosely based on accounts of Boone's rescue of Jemima [his daughter] and the Callaway girls." |
Bookworm
"I've gotten so fascinated with the eighteenth century, I'm going to stay there." -- David McCullough
"Nothing to it, brother." -- Barack Obama |
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Bookworm
Colonial Militia
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
February 10 2004
Status: offline
Donating Member |
Posted - May 24 2009 : 2:57:20 PM
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The Faragher biography also recounts a story which may or may not be true, but which was widely told, and of which there were several versions. This is the basic tale:
Having been away from his wife, Rebecca, for almost two years, Boone returned home to find Rebecca, weeping, with a baby in her arms. In explanation Rebecca said, "You were gone so long, I thought you were dead." Boone thought a few moments, then said, "Oh well, the race will be continued." When he asked about the baby's father, Rebecca answered, "It's your brother, Ned." Boone's response: "So much the better, it's all in the family."
Although the versions of this tale varied in details, they were all consistent on at least two points: 1) Boone's reaction was always magnanimous and forgiving, never harsh. 2) Not only did Boone treat this baby as if she were his own, but this child was Jemima, the one he later went to great pains to rescue from the Indians. According to this biographer, after having been kidnapped, "Jemima never wavered in her conviction that her father was on their trail." |
Bookworm
"I've gotten so fascinated with the eighteenth century, I'm going to stay there." -- David McCullough
"Nothing to it, brother." -- Barack Obama |
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Cooper's inspiration for LOTM
