There is an inclination to think of American frontiersmen in near mythic terms. They’re independent, fearless, dress from a coonskin capped head to moccasined toe in animal skins and spend their lives in a constant state of hand-to-hand combat with some group of Native Americans. Robert Morgan dispels many of those stereotypes in his “Boone, A Biography” (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2007).

The first sentence in Morgan’s introduction informs us that no raccoon gave up his life for Boone’s chapeau, and then with an easy narrative Morgan shaves away other preconceptions that come naturally to a society whose impressions of the Long Hunter are gleaned from 20th Century entertainment. Morgan says, for example, that Boone admitted killing only one lone Indian in his long life, a far cry from the number Fess Parker dispatched on a weekly basis on his 1960s television series.

Boone had a much more complex personality and life than might be expected. While his formal education was limited, indications are that he spoke well. Growing up in an era were reading and writing were not complementary educational practices, Boone was an avid reader but a random speller. He was the enthusiastic hunter that one might expect — leaving home for a period of two years at one point — but his trips were also journeys of exploration, a search for new lands that eventually led him into speculation in the era after the American Revolution. While Boone was at home in the wilderness, surviving happily and going to great lengths to avoid confrontations with the Shawnee and Cherokee, he was ham-handed in his relations in the political and commercial business spheres. The result was that despite having owned tens of thousands of acres in Kentucky, he left the state for his later years in Missouri deeply in debt.

Morgan’s description of this early American hero with a strong moral compass to match his internal compass is rich, vivid, insightful and well researched. But Morgan’s background as a poet and fiction writer lead him often to draw analogies to Whitman and Emerson when Jedediah Smith and Kit Carson seem to fit more neatly. Morgan’s inclination toward the literary yields convincing arguments that Boone’s exploits inspired the likes of James Fenimore Cooper and Lord Byron. In all, “Boone” adds an impressive depth of understanding this trailblazing guide who was a legend in his own time and beyond.

N.B. Those who appreciate this sort of adventurous narrative might also be interested in reading “Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West“ by Hampton Sides.