A History of the Daniel Boone National Forest 1770 - 1970

I first became fascinated with Daniel Boone when I was a boy. There was a wonderful woods across from my house on Boone Avenue in Winchester, Kentucky, and each summer the neighborhood children and I played the hours away pretending to be Robin Hood, Tarzan, and others, but especially Daniel Boone, since he came to Kentucky and built the Fort at Boonesborough, only a few miles from our home.

This fascination was renewed again a few years ago when the Fort Boonesborough Park Association commissioned me to paint this great historical figure for the Fort and Museum, which was being constructed at the State Park.

I was quite honored and excited about this undertaking. My first decision was that I would paint him as a young man when he first came here to Kentucky and built the original fortification. He was forty-one years old, five-ten, and weighed one hundred and sixty-five pounds. He had blond hair, blue and very keen eyes, and was a very powerfully built man, well above average size for his day. These descriptions were made by a number of different people who had seen him at this time and were still alive after his death and the first histories of Kentucky were being written.

The only portrait of him rendered from life was by Chester Harding. This was six months before his death at 87 in 1820. Using Harding's portrait as a guide, I began sketches making him a young man. Boone, in his old age, lost his teeth, so I reconstructed the mouth and chin area by observing a number of his family descendents. They all seemed to have a common mouth characteristic which I used in my portrait.

To be sure of my results, I secured the help of a sculptor, E. Carrol Hale, Jr., who taught at Eastern University. Hale had a thorough knowledge of anatomy, and putting our efforts together, arrived at what the pioneer probably looked like as a young man.

Robert F. Collins, the author of this history, gave me his valuable assistance with decisions on the use of dress and rifle. I had a replica made which is prototype of the many that Boone brought to Kentucky. The buckskin outfit was also custom made and I used some five different male models that were of his size to get just the look I wanted. The background for this painting was a beautiful location overlooking the Kentucky River which Boone could have stood on.

The completed portrait is five by eight feet tall and the bust by Hale was cast in bronze by a foundry in the Eastern United States. These works are on permanent exhibit at the Fort Boonesborough Museum.

In addition to these works, it was my idea to show the establishment of Boonesborough and Kentucky in a series of paintings by myself and other state artists. This project was accomplished with the help of Collins and a committee of the Fort Boonesborough Park Association. The works were financed by local governments, businesses, and organizations and are being enjoyed by thousands of citizens who visit the Fort each year.

Historical painting is very difficult and has been regarded as the highest form of painting. Rembrandt stated this even in his day. It is not possible for the artist to make the correct rendering without the help of historical authority. Bob Collins has given me the knowledge, guidance, and inspiration I have needed to accomplish my work in this field.

Jack Kennedy Hodgkin
March 26, 1976