American Historical Ephemera & Photography Online

Scarce engraving depicting frontiersman Simon Kenton rescuing Daniel Boone from being scalped at the hands of a Native American warrior. Titled under left portion of vignette "Boone Rescued by Kenton," with "Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1858 by Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson...." underneath right portion of vignette. Additional title at center "Engraved for the State of Ohio." Engraving measures 2 3/4 x 6 in., on paper cut to approx. 5 x 7 in. (light soil and toning, trimmed).

[With:] Newspaper accounts of the life of Simon Kenton: Farmers’ Cabinet, 24 May 1833, approx. 13 1/4 x 20 in. paper with article "The Renegade's Revenge," details Kenton's capture and torture by the Shawnee, as well as his ultimate rescue;  United States Gazette for the Country (?), ca 1807, approx. 13 x 20 in. paper with two letters related to Indian affairs near Greenville, Ohio, signed in type by Kenton; Claypoole’s Daily Advertiser, 
4 June 1793, approx. 13 x 20 in. paper with account of "Captain Kenton" and an Indian raid; Boston Courier, 3 June 1830, approx. 15 x 22 in. paper with  article about Simon Kenton's pension application; an obituary for "Gen. Simon Kenton" published in unknown publication, 3 x 20 in. column cut from full page; The Family Magazine, Vol. 1 - 53?, [1836], pp 419-421, featuring lengthy memorial "From the West Lit. Journal" about Kenton, "The Last of the Indian Fighters"; and a Harper’s New Monthly Magazine article about the life of Simon Kenton.

Legendary frontiersman Simon Kenton (1755-1836) was born in Virginia. When he was 16, he fled to the frontier wilderness of West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio, following a fight over a woman, going thereafter by the name "Simon Butler" until 1782. Kenton served as a scout against the Shawnee Indians during Lord Dunmore's War. During an April 1777 Indian attack on Fort Boonesborough in Kentucky, Kenton rescued a wounded Daniel Boone saving the life of his friend. It was said that no one knew the Kentucky frontier better than Boone, and no one knew the Ohio frontier better than Kenton. Kenton also served as a scout during the Revolution, then fought with "Mad" Anthony Wayne in the Northwest Indian Wars of 1793-94. By about the late 1780s he began exploring the Mad River Valley and making land claims in the region, and by the early 1800s he had removed to Ohio where he remained until his death.