A professor with a PhD in English and tenure at a major university once said to me, “I never realized Daniel Boone was an actual person; I thought he was a creation of folklore.” I told her that even though she was wrong she was also half right, because the Boone most people know about is largely the creation of folklore. It is hard to rescue figures like Daniel Boone and Johnny Appleseed from the distortions of television and Walt Disney. The folklore and legends are part of the story too but should be identified and separated from the facts.
