Simon Kenton
Simon Kenton was born April 3, 1755, in
Fauquier County, Virginia. He grew up helping his father
on their family farm and therefore had no opportunity
to go to school. At the age of sixteen, Kenton became
involved in a fight involving a woman. Believing he
had killed a man, he fled west through the wilderness.
He remembered his rambling uncle Tom’s tales of
a fertile western land beside the Ohio River. There
were so many buffalo, Tom had said, that they shook
the ground and rattled your teeth. The woods were thick
with deer and elk; birds were so plentiful they blacked
out the sky when they flew over. In this wonderful place,
wolves, coons, beavers, mink, otters, bears and wildcats
abounded. Squirrels were as thick as mites on a hen,
turkeys were everywhere, and the creeks were clogged
with fish. Kenton determined to find this western paradise
and bury his identity forever.
Kenton reached Warm Springs, Pennsylvania
sixteen days into his flight. Having heard of a rich
miller there named Jacob Butler, he presented himself
at the mill as Simon Butler. Like Kenton’s family,
the miller has come to the colonies from Ireland. Kenton
soon convinced Butler that they were probably kin. Butler
hired him, paid him well for two months, and gave him
a fine flintlock rifle. Kenton named it “Jacob”
and carried it every waking hour until he lost it escaping
an Indian ambush during his first winter on the frontier.
Simon Butler had begun his life on the frontier.
A big man in stature and strength, his stamina was often
tested as he endured the worst that was known to the
frontier. During the late winter of 1773, Simon’s
first winter on the frontier, Simon and two companions
were attacked around the campfire as they were drying
their wet clothes near present day Charleston, WV. One
companion was killed, while Simon and the other man
barely escaped without food, clothing, or rifles. After
a week of wandering down the Great Kanawha River, they
finally reached the Ohio. Here they met some mountain
men on the banks of the Ohio River after a week of hunger
and extreme exposure to the weather.
Kenton spent the next two years hunting along the Ohio
River and searching for the legendary Canelands along
the Ohio that he had heard so much about; the Shawnee
called this land “Can-tuc-ee”. In 1774,
he served as a scout during Lord Dunmore's War. By 1775,
Kenton had moved to Boonesboro, Kentucky. For the next
few years he was employed as a scout for the settlement,
often coming in contact with the local Shawnee and at
one point saving the life of Daniel Boone. The Indians
also knew him as "The man who's gun is never empty"
for his skill of running and reloading his faithful
flintlock at the same time.
In September of 1778, Simon was captured by the Shawnee.
He was forced to run the infamous quarter mile "gauntlet",
which killed many prisoners, nine times. After the sixth,
while attempting escape, had a hole hammered in his
skull and was unconscious for two days. With a war club
and axe, his arm and collarbone were broken. While recovering
from these wounds, Simon was saved by his long time
friend Simon Girty who convinced the Shawnee to adopt
Simon as one of their own. Finally in June 1779 Simon
was sent to Fort Detroit as part of a prisoner trade
with the British. Simon escaped and after a 30 day march
he made it back to the American settlements in newly
formed “Kentucky.”
Joel Collins, who was a young boy in 1782, has left
a vivid description of the young captain as he looked
when marching through Lexington(Returning from Blue
Licks). "He was tall and well-proportioned,"
says Collins, "a countenance pleasant but dignified.
There was nothing uncommon in his dress; his hunting
shirt hung carelessly but gracefully on his shoulders;
his other apparel was in common backwoods style."
In 1782, Simon discovered that the man that he thought
he had killed had actually lived, and therefore Simon
Kenton was able to resume his own name once again.
During the next several years Kenton lived a relatively
quiet life. He settled near Maysville, Kentucky, marrying
Martha Dowden and purchasing some large tracts of land.
This life continued until 1794, when Kenton served in
the militia under General Anthony Wayne and fought at
the Battle of Fallen Timbers. After the death of his
wife, Kenton remarried in 1798 and, the same year, moved
to Ohio. He first lived near present-day Springfield
but a few years later settled in Urbana. Kenton's military
career continued, and by 1805 he had become a brigadier
general in the Ohio militia. During the War of 1812,
he participated in the Battle of the Thames. It was
in this battle that the mighty leader of the Shawnee,
Tecumseh, was killed. Simon was asked to identify the
body so the pathetic whites could scalp and ravage every
part of his body for souvenirs. Knowing this ahead of
time, Simon falsely identified Tecumseh so his body
would remain for his people to find and honor his life
and people with a proper burial.
During the last years of his life, Simon continued to
live in his cabin near present Urbana, Ohio; however,
he lived out his days in poverty and sorrow. Land ownership
disputes had cause Simon to lose all the land he had
staked claims on over his years in Ohio and Kentucky.
The government retracted its previous laws that Simon
followed to stake claims on land in the Northwest Territory
and left him without anything he thought he had owned.
He survived on a government pension of twenty dollars
a month. Simon Kenton died in 1836 and is now buried
in an iron-gated cemetery in downtown Urbana, Ohio.
The grave of the great frontiersman and
mountain man Simon Kenton is marked buy a huge memorial,
ironically given to honor him by the government that
did not give him any respect when he stood before them
in old age. Simon Kenton, a true, brave and honorable
pioneer who served his country and fellow man so well
for so many years.
***For More information on Simon Kenton’s life,
please check out this book:
The Frontiersmen by Allan W. Eckert
