Experience the American dream with today’s Patriots of the Past interview. I’m your host, John Gillespie.
It’s August 2, 1775. I’m in Kentucky with Daniel Boone.
JG: “Mr. Boone, why have you built this fort in the Kentucky wilderness?”
DB: “Johnny, where’s your coonskin cap? This fort is to protect the settlers from Indians and, if the redcoats ever get an idea to come this far up to steal our land, we’ll get ’em.”
Daniel Boone established Fort Boonesborough to protect the people of Kentucky, served the people as a legislative delegate, and epitomized the American symbol of the rugged individual.
In Madison County, Kentucky, a historical marker reads, “Boonesborough, ‘Capital of the Colony of Transylvania,’ was settled April, 1775, by Daniel Boone as the first fortified settlement in Kentucky. Near the fort, under the ‘Divine Elm Tree,’ in May, 1775, Colonel Richard Henderson held the first legislative assembly of frontier settlers of Harrodsburg, St. Asaph, Boonesborough, and Boiling Springs settlements.”
John and Jan Gillespie are the founders of the Rawhide Boys’ Ranch; they have fostered 351 teenagers and wrote the book Our 351 Sons; they have also assisted numerous churches in developing youth programs and expanding their total church ministries. After running for U.S. Senate, John founded 1776 American Dream, which exists to demonstrate the vision of our founding fathers and help our generation of youth passionately embrace those values.
