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Taming the Wilderness — The Life of Daniel Boone By Toni Lee Robinson |
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Directions: Fill in each blank with the word that best completes the reading comprehension.
In the early 1700s, America was small. It was a group of tiny
colonies--little more than a narrow strip of people clustered along the
Atlantic coast. Settlers still had to carve farms and homes out of the
forests. In 1734, a boy named Daniel Boone was (1) _______________________
in this new land.Daniel was the sixth of twelve children. He spent his early years on a Pennsylvania farm. Like many farm kids at the time, he never really went to school. Instead, he learned life skills like (2) _______________________ and farming. Later, he learned to read and write.
As he grew, the boy spent much of his time roaming the forests near the farm. He made friends with people of the native tribes in the area. He also studied the habits of wild animals. He was known as a (3) _______________________ hunter. The traits that made Daniel at home in the wild also set the path for his future. He never liked big groups of people. He was never one to stay in one place too long. He hardly ever did things the easy way.
The Boone family moved south, to a (4) _______________________ valley in North Carolina. Daniel grew into a young man. His love of wild places grew with him. From time to time he went on "long hunts," vanishing into the woods for months at a time.
At that time, the Appalachian Mountains marked the outer edge of the known world. Anyone who (5) _______________________ over them had to hack out his own trail. Beyond the mountains lay the (6) _______________________ area of Kentucky. Daniel had heard stories about it. The stories said that its forests were alive with wildlife. As he worked on the farm, the young man dreamed of slipping like a deer through the deep forests of Kentucky.
Before he could escape, however, another creature caught his eye. Daniel met Rebecca, a neighbor girl. Later, Daniel would (7) _______________________ that, at first sight, he'd mistaken Rebecca for one of the graceful deer he hunted. He'd never seen a deer with blue eyes before, though. Entranced, he'd followed her home. As Daniel told it, he just kept following her around, staring. Lucky for him, he said, the girl finally agreed to marry him. The two were wed in 1756.
For a while, Daniel settled for farming. His long hunts still took him into the forest for months at a time. Rebecca usually stayed home, looking after things. One after another, children came along. In all, the couple had six boys and four girls. Daniel loved his family. But the voice of the wilderness still whispered to him. In his hunts, he began to venture into the eastern edge of Kentucky.
Over the next few years, Daniel made several treks into the territory. Twice he was captured by the Shawnee. Daniel seemed undaunted by the trouble. He brought his family and others to settle in Kentucky. (8) _______________________ one Shawnee attack, James, Daniel's oldest son, was killed. Heartbroken, Daniel and his family returned to the farm.
In 1775, Daniel ventured out again. He led a party to cut a road through the wilds of Kentucky. The trail was called the Wilderness Road. At the end of the trail, the town of Boonesborough was established. Daniel settled his family in the new town. Thousands of people came through, pushing west over Daniel's road.
For several years, Kentuckians struggled with two enemies—British soldiers and native fighters. The Boones fought and worked alongside their neighbors. Daniel served in the (9) _______________________ . The Boones' second son, Israel, was killed in the Battle of Blue Licks, one of the last battles of the Revolutionary War.
Finally, the hostilities were over. After that, Daniel's worst battles were with lawyers and (10) _______________________ collectors. He never quite mastered paperwork. His land in Kentucky was lost through (11) _______________________ problems. The Boone family moved on. After rambling for a while, they ended up in Missouri.
When he was 76, Daniel joined a party of old friends canoeing upriver. For six months, Daniel did what he loved most, hunting and roaming. The party came back in the spring, their canoes heavy with beaver (12) _______________________ . Daniel happily told his family he had seen the mouth of the Yellowstone River (in present-day North Dakota).
In 1813, Daniel's beloved Rebecca died. After that, the old (13) _______________________ spent long hours by her graveside. He just liked to be near her, he said. In September of 1820, he died, too. He was laid by Rebecca's side in a quiet spot in the woods near their home.
Even today, Daniel Boone's legend lives on. Behind the stories lies a very real man. Daniel failed at some things in his life. What he succeeded at, (14) _______________________ , was most important. He was one of those who blazed the trails to America's future. It turned out that he was just the kind of person to help America grow.
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A
classroom—he loved school
The
woods—he loved to be by himself in the wild places
The
forge—he found blacksmithing to be satisfying work
A
field—he loved working with his father on the farm
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Write a paragraph using all of the words that are given.
| 1. | hack, blacksmithing, graveside, heartbroken, undaunted |
| 2. | claim, during, entranced, escape |
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