Simon Kenton was one of the truly outstanding figures of the early frontier.  In the days when Kentucky and the Ohio territory were unmapped country where Indians prized a white man's scalp, Simon was known among the pioneers as a leader and guide in their struggle to wrest the land from the wilderness. America was being built, and Simon was one of the hardy and daring men who helped build it.

Forced to face the dangers of the frontier at the age of fifteen, Simon had to learn to survive or perish. Brave and resourceful, he grew to love the life of a frontiersman, with the freedom and opportunities it offered—but danger was his constant companion. He was captured by Indians, tortured for days and then actually tied to the stake to be burned. Only a sudden thunderstorm, and the unexpected appearance of an old friend among the Indians, saved his life.

During the Revolutionary War, George Rogers Clark made him his aide in the fight against the British in the West. After the war he organized a group known as "Simon's Boys" to protect the settlers now streaming into the West, training his men to be more than a match for the warring tribes. Meanwhile, he was mapping the new country and staking out claims for himself in the rapidly expanding nation. The qualities that made Simon Kenton a great pioneer—unfailing generosity and openheartedness—led to his own doom. Matchless in the forest, he was helpless in a law court; gradually the land he had won passed into the hands of others.

Simon Kenton is one of the great heroes of the westward movement. His action-packed story vividly brings to life a vanished era, and his name has taken a permanent and honored place in the annals of American history.

From the dust jacket