Daniel Boone in the analog world. Art by Steve White.
As you all know, I carry some deep ambivalence about this digital platform we share. Make no mistake I am deeply gratified that we have created a digital campfire here at Frontier Partisans — it’s the dark wilderness outside that circle of light that raises my hackles. Had an interesting conversation with a relatively new freelancer at The Nugget who was an early Internet journalist. She recalled how full of excitement she and her cohorts were at the prospect of this new technology connecting people and making the world a better place. She is now deeply skeptical of the digital world and its impact, especially on young people.
Well, my fellow Frontier Partisans, this right here is a reminder of the early promise…
*
Daniel Boone on the Missouri River. Art by Gar Zaboly.
An academic name of Andrew Offenburger has gifted us with an archive of the research notes from John Mack Faragher’s seminal 1992 biography of Daniel Boone.
Browse and search nearly 5,000 research notes that provide insight into the world of Daniel Boone, settlers, and Native Americans along the trans-Appalachian frontier of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Oh my my. Oh hell yes.
Not only is this a treasure trove of Faragher’s original source research, it’s also a rare glimpse into the process by which an ace historian shapes wide-ranging research into a cogent work.
Of course, I immediately searched the 29 entries under “Simon Kenton,” Boone’s friend and savior. Which gives me an excuse to re-run Steve White’s painting…
Kenton and Boone. Two old Frontier Partisans with storied lifetimes behind them.
Matthew says
Technology is a tool; it depends on how you use it. A hammer can be used to build a house or bash in a skull. The problem is that technology has gotten so complex that the results of use are equally complex.
Breaker Morant says
I mentioned Anthony Esolen on RIR. I am reading my first book of his called “Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of your Child.”
I keep thinking of you as I read it, because, at the core, it is all about the value of story. It is really nothing we here at FP don’t know deep in our souls, but I find myself tearing up at various points just the same at what we have lost in such a short time when it comes to “Story” and other similar things.
And to keep it on topic-there is a Daniel Boone story in the book.
A couple other Esolen books are jumping their way to the top of my list.
JimC says
I can get pretty melancholic about the losses — but then I see my daughter and her friend Odin engaged in Deep Story, and local families putting aside the screens for storytelling and reading and playing in the woods. Just hang on to that.
Brian H. says
A good number of us lack discipline (myself) in so many components of our lives. Tech is the news source, the neon billboard, the burlesque show, the comic strip, of today. All things that were meant to catch our attention for minutes, maybe an hour, not all damn day. I recently “deactivated” my Facebook account because, in my opinion, it’s just getting worse by the day in terms of stupid memes, ads, and my own only vaguely politically literate “friends”. I’m hoping to have the discipline needed to stay away. BUT, Like you’re saying, there is a wealth of good information within the matrix. The difference is akin to going into the library and only stopping at the magazine rack. p.s. I’ll try to stop by more often. This page still rocks!
JimC says
Good to see you again Brian.