His roots started around Exeter, Devonshire, England. George Boone I, II, and III lived there in the 17th century. George Boone III emigrated to America, arriving in Phildelphia on October 10, 1717. George married Mary Maugridge of Bradnick, Devonshire in 1689 and they had nine children.

Their son Squire Boone (the father of Daniel) married Sarah Morgan and lived in Bucks County, Pennsylvania for ten years. In 1734 they moved to Exeter Township in Berks County where they purchased 250 acres. Their log house was built over a spring, this was a precaution in case of Indian attacks, and it was here that Daniel was born on October 22, 1734 in Exeter Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. They had eleven children including Daniel. According to another source he was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania near Bristol on the right bank of the Delaware about 20 miles from Philadelphia.

It was here that Daniel as a young boy, hunted, explored and spent alot of time with the Delaware Indians which lived near their home. Learning their traits and habits is what helped Daniel learn the Indian ways. The promise of a great hunter appeared early in his childhood, an excellent shot with the Pennsylvania rifle and could shot a squirrel's eye out at 200 feet, and he learned to bark like a squirrel.

When he was three years of age his family moved to the vicinity of Reading near Schrylkill. In 1750 they moved near Winchester, Virginia. And in 1753, when he was thirteen, they moved again to a farm on Yadkin River in Davie County, North Carolina. During this time Daniel spent outside hunting and exploring in the mountains east of the Blue Ridge and along the Tennessee and Kentucky borders and he learned surveying from George Boone IV.

In 1755, George Washington recommended Daniel as a blacksmith and he joined Captain Dobb's North Carolina Company as a wagoner in General Braddock's campaign against the French and Indians at Fort Duquesne in Pennsylvania.

In 1756 Daniel married Rebecca Bryan who was born January 9, 1739, whose father was Joseph Bryan of North Carolina they had ten children. The lived a few miles from Sugar Tree Creek, North Carolina for ten years. In 1759, Daniel moved his wife and his first two children to Virginia to get away from the Indians. Then in 1760 he joined Colonel Hugh Waddell's North Carolina regiment in the war with the Cherokee Indians, after peace was restored he moved his family back to the Yadkin where he purchased a farm. Daniel gathered a great deal of ginseng for medicinal purposes and to sell during his explorations. Daniel even explored and bought land in Pensacola, Florida but gave it up when Rebecca refused to move.

During the next several years Daniel, Squire (his brother), William Hill, John Finley, Richard Henderson, John Stewart, Joseph Holden, James Mooney, and William Cool started exploring Kentucky. They found the Cumberland Gap on June 7, 1769 and built a base camp at Station Camp Creek. During this exploration Daniel did alot of hunting, for furs brought money. Meantime, Daniel topped the hill which overlooked Kentucky and was amazed of its beauty. On December 22, 1769 they were ambushed and Daniel and John Stewart were captured by Indians, escaped, recaptured and escaped again a few days later. Five years later John Stewart was found dead in a hollow tree. Between May 1770 and July 27, 1770, Daniel was left alone in Kentucky while Squire left to get supplies, when he returned they started to return home in the fall but were robbed again of their furs. They arrived home in March 1771.

On September 23, 1773, Daniel, Rebecca and their children, with five families (including the Bryan's) and forty men started for Kentucky. On this trip Daniel's 16 year old son, James, was ambushed and tortured to death by Indians. The torture lasted about 2 hours and finally James gave up and pleaded with the Indians to just kill him. His is buried at the spot where he died. Daniel took his family back to Holston until the fall of 1775. On June 4, 1774, Boone and Michael Stoner left for the falls of the Ohio. When he returned home Gov. Dunmore ordered him to take command of three garrisons on the Clinch River. The struggle against the Shawnee Indians in this area was known as the Lord Dunmore's War. Daniel was finally being recognized as a great military leader and his skill, wisdom and courage was unsurpassed.

His next assignment was to arrange the Transylvania land purchase of 20,000,000 acres of land in Kentucky and Tennessee from the Cherokee Indians and draw up the boundaries. The treaty was signed on April 4, 1775 at Wataga. He was then contracted to open up a road into Kentucky. Daniel hired 32 axmen who were also gunmen and trained Indian fighters. They cut down a path through the woods and thickets and this path became the Wilderness Road, which was the first road across the mountains into Kentucky. Several men died during the making of the Wilderness Road but they finally were able to build a fort at the northern end of the road and called it Fort Boonesboro. The fort measured 165 feet by 250 feet and contained 26 cabins, and a two-story block house and was located in the middle of savage country. Richard Henderson ordered a meeting to organize a government and the six delegates from Boonesboro were Henderson, Daniel, Squire Boone, Callaway, Thomas Slaughter, and Dr. Lytle. Other delegates came from Harrod's Station, Boiling Spring and Floyd's settlement. The constitution and laws were drawn up but was not approved and the plans for Transylvania were abandoned.

Daniel's family was still located on the Clinch River, and on September 8, 1775 he returned with them to Boonesboro. Rebecca and his daughters were the first white women in Kentucky. Other families whom came with Daniel were the Callaways, Bryans and the Pogues. On July 14, 1776 Daniel's daughter Jemima Boone was captured by Indians along with Betsy and Fanny Callaway. The girls was rescued by Daniel and other men. The Indians were influenced by the British so the attacks on the settlements continued. During this time gunpowder was greatly needed and Daniel learned to make it, but he could not keep up with the demand. Harrod's Station and Fort Boonesboro were the main outposts and were defended by 87 men. With the British's help the Indians, lead by Chief Blackfish, attacked Harrod's Station on April 15, and then Boonesboro on April 24, 1777. Daniel was wounded in the leg when he left the fort to talk with Blackfish, and he was carried back into the fort by Simon Kenton who was also skilled to fight Indians.

Daniel discovered a mineral salt deposit at Blue Lick and on February 7, 1778 while Daniel was hunting meat for his 32 men he was captured by 102 Indians and two Frenchmen. Blackfish told Daniel they would kill everyone, but Daniel offered to surrender all of his men if the Shawnees would talk peace. They were taken to the English Fort at Chillicothe by forty Indians to Detroit. Governor Hamilton wanted Daniel to stay with him but Blackfish insisted that Daniel return with them. Blackfish adopted Daniel as his own son and named him Big Turtle. His hair was pulled out except for a top knot, dressed like an Indian, and bathed by the women to wash out all of his white blood. Daniel went hunting with them, repaired their rifles and soon gained their confidence. He was ordered by Blackfish to repair a large stock of rifles for the fight against Boonesboro and instead Daniel filed two slots on the triggers of each gun, which after one or two shots the trigger would fall off. On June 16, 1778, he escaped and returned to Boonesboro only to find that Rebecca and the children except for Jemima returned to North Carolina. On August 8, 1778 about 444 Indians surrounded Boonesboro, they were lead by Blackfish and Lt. Antoine Duquesne. On August 20, 1778 the Indians gave up and Daniel was promoted to Major by the Virginia Government.

On September 28, 1778, Daniel was court-martialed for surrending all of his men and himself to the British cause. The relationship between Col. Callaway and Daniel was never the same after the attack of Boonesboro. Many people at the fort defied Daniel but some never lost faith in him. Col. Callaway stated that Daniel committed an act of treason against the people and government of the United States. During all of this Daniel kept quiet about the surrender of his men, saying it was to protect the fort and the remaining people. The trial last several days and Daniel pleaded his case to a jury and was acquitted of treason.

The trial lead Daniel to move from Boonesboro and establish Boone's Station with the help of his brothers Samuel, Edward and Squire. In 1778, he went to North Carolina to Rebecca and returned to Kentucky with his family in 1779. In 1780, he was appointed Lt. Col. of the new Fayette County, Kentucky and deputy surveyor under Col. Thomas Marshall. In this year Daniel's brother Edward was killed by Indians, while returning from Blue Licks from making salt. Daniel had left Edward alone while he pursued a bear, Edward was ambushed and his head severed from his body. In 1781 the people of Fayette County elected Daniel to represent them in the Virginia Legislature.

During that same year Boone's Station was attacked by Indians and Squire Boone was severely injured. After this Bryan's Station was attacked and the Battle at Blue Licks began. Daniel requested from Gov. Benjamin Harrison (the Govenor of Virginia) 500 men. He wrote: "So valiently did our small party fight that to the memory of those who unfortunately fell in battle enough honor cannot be paid." Daniel received his reinforcements and drove the Indians into the Ohio, destroying the Indian settlements of Picua and Chillicothe. This signaled the end of the Revolutionary War and the treaty with the Indians was signed on April 19, 1783. Daniel also stated at one time, "My footsteps have been marked with blood. Two darling sons and a brother have I lost by savage hands. What thanks, what ceaseless thanks are due to that all -super-intending Providence which has turned a cruel war into peace. May the same Almighty Goodness banish the accursed monster war from all hands."

Daniel finally settled down to surveying, hunting and farming. He raised tobacco, cured and sold it to settlers who were coming in from the Allegheny Mountains and the Ohio River. He became a storekeeper in Limestone, on the Ohio River and laid claims to 50,000 to 100,000 acres. Daniel's hardships continued because he lent money that was never repaid, guaranteed land titles then had to sell some of his own land to make good on conflicting claims. In a ten year period all he had left was a few thousand acres. Certificates of land titles were issued by State Officials which overlapped the surveyors claims and that is how alot of the people lost their land titles that Daniel surveyed for them. He became one of the most hated men in Kentucky because of this he became discouraged and resentful. Daniel never gave up wanting land but he decided to leave Kentucky for good and never return.

In 1780, he moved to Kanawha county, Virginia were he became Lt. Colonel in Chief of the Militia and a member of the Virginia Legislature. In 1795 Daniel and Rebecca moved back to Blue Licks in Kentucky on the Busy Fork where his son Daniel Morgan had land. Daniel and Nathan cleared approximatley ten acres and planted crops, but in 1797 Daniel and Rebecca went back to Virginia. He applied to Govenor Shelby of Kentucky for the contract to widen the Wilderness Road that he had built in 1775, but his application was refused. In 1799, Daniel and Rebecca decided to moved to Missouri for a new start.