My first exposure to Daniel Boone was as a child watching the Daniel Boone TV series with Fess Parker portraying the legendary figure. I was 9 years old the first year the series appeared on television and that next summer my parents took my brother and I to some kind of western-themed attraction. In the gift shop they were selling coonskin caps and while I begged and begged my mother for one (though I wisely knew when to take her “No!” seriously enough to avoid getting smacked for continuing to ask), she felt they were grossly overpriced and refused. I may have been scarred for life…I’ll double check later and let you know.

Here’s the TV series theme with the lyrics below the video.

Daniel Boone, Daniel Boone
What a do-er,
What a dream come-er true-er was he!

From the coonskin cap on the top of ol’ Dan
To the heel of his rawhide shoe;
The rippin’est, roarin’est, fightin’est man
The frontier ever knew!

Daniel Boone was a man,
Yes, a big man!
With an eye like an eagle
And as tall as a mountain was he!

Daniel Boone was a man. Yes a big man.
And he fought for America to make all Americans free.
Daniel Boone was a do-er,
What a dream comer truer was he.

Daniel Boone, Daniel Boone

So, when I discovered that legend was buried right in Frankfort, KY where I’m working, I drove over to the cemetery this past Friday morning when we were off for the holiday and visited the grave site. The cemetery sits atop a hill and overlooks the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s capitol building; a fitting view for the pioneer who blazed a trail through Kentucky for others to follow.

You can see all the photos over at my Flickr site.