Daniel Boone biographer Randell Jones recently held a book signing and talk at the Appalachian Theatre of the High Country’s community room, collaborating with the Southern Appalachian Historical Association (SAHA). The event, which took place Tuesday evening, served as a fundraiser for SAHA while Jones recounted the storied life of Daniel Boone during the American Revolution.
Jones’ presentation was part of his “Between Two Sons” book tour, promoting the 2024 second edition of his biography, “In The Footsteps of Daniel Boone.” This updated edition features 330 photos compiled over two decades from historical reenactments and sites connected to Boone’s life. A significant aspect of the evening was its fundraising role, with $10 from each book sale directly supporting SAHA’s ongoing historical work.
SAHA, the organization behind the Horn in the West Outdoor Drama and the Hickory Ridge History Museum, experienced challenges in 2024. Hurricane Helene led to a drop in visitors, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) utilized the Horn in the West parking lot as a debris site until summer 2025. Additionally, the cabins at the Hickory Ridge museum sustained storm damage, resulting in their closure for several months. Marrena Greer, SAHA Executive Director, confirmed the organization has since rebounded, with the 2026 Horn in the West season enjoying increased attendance. Greer stated that SAHA had been "coming back out of a hard time" last year, but despite some rainy nights, they consistently drew strong attendance, with one night reaching nearly 350 people.
Daniel Boone, the namesake of the town of Boone, was a prominent early American land surveyor, hunter, and militia leader. He grew up in North Carolina and later founded Boonesborough in what would become Kentucky, one of the first English-speaking settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains. Boone’s conflicts with the Cherokee and Shawnee, whose traditional hunting grounds his settlement encroached upon, along with his involvement in the Revolutionary War, became foundational elements of early American folklore. Jones’ biography specifically focuses on Boone's extensive travels throughout the war.
During his talk, Jones shared well-known accounts of Daniel Boone’s service as a militiaman, engaged in battles against British and Shawnee forces from 1775 to 1784. He also delved into more obscure trivia about Daniel Boone’s historical importance. An example he highlighted was Felix Walker, a member of Boone’s company during the Revolutionary War. Walker survived the conflict and later became a congressman for Buncombe County, North Carolina.
In 1820, while debating Missouri’s admission to the Union as either a free or slave state, Walker delivered a lengthy speech that inadvertently coined a phrase. His drawn-out oration led to the expression “Talking for the people in Buncombe,” a term that evolved to describe nonsensical speech. Jones explained that this phrase eventually shortened to "bunk" and subsequently inspired the modern term "debunk," used when identifying and disproving nonsense.
Jones concluded his history lesson by narrating Daniel Boone's final journey. Later in his life, Boone faced legal challenges that led him to depart the Appalachian mountains. By the late 1790s, believing he had been poorly treated in Kentucky, he sought a new frontier. Boone and his family were granted 8,000 acres by the Spanish government, prompting their move west to the Missouri territory, then Spanish Louisiana, where he lived for another two decades.