Capture and rescue of Jemima Boone

The capture and rescue of Jemima Boone and the Callaway girls is a famous incident in the colonial history of Kentucky.

American Indians, particularly Shawnee from north of the Ohio River, raided the Kentucky settlements, hoping to drive away the settlers, whom they regarded as trespassers.

The Cherokee, led by Dragging Canoe, frequently attacked isolated settlers and hunters, convincing many to abandon Kentucky.

By the late spring of 1776, fewer than 200 Americans remained in Kentucky, primarily at the fortified settlements of Boonesborough, Harrodsburg, and Logan's Station in the southeastern part of the state.

On July 14, 1776, a raiding party caught three teenage girls from Boonesborough as they were floating in a canoe on the Kentucky River.

The Abduction of Daniel Boone's Daughter by the Indians by Charles Wimar (1853)
The rescue of Jemima Boone and Betsey and Fanny Callaway, kidnapped by Indians in July 1776 [ 1 ]
A photograph of the traditional site, designated by the four sycamores on the right shore, of the capture of Jemima Boone and the Callaway girls