North Carolina Celebrates Daniel Boone's 250th Wedding Anniversary in 2006

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Nine communities in northwest North Carolina celebrate with festivals all year the 250th anniversary of the 1756 marriage of pioneer hero Daniel Boone and his bride of 57 years, Rebecca Bryan.

Winston-Salem, NC (PRWEB) June 19, 2006 -- Tar Heels who know their frontier history are celebrating this year the 250th anniversary of the marriage of Daniel Boone and Rebecca Bryan in the Forks of the Yadkin. Celebrating this notable wedding of America’s pioneer hero is a wonderful occasion to help North Carolina citizens and out-of-state visitors learn about North Carolina’s unique and fascinating frontier heritage.

Daniel and Rebecca married in what is today’s Davie County on August 14, 1756 with Daniel’s father, Squire, a justice of the peace, conducting the service at his cabin along Bear Creek near Mocksville. The couple remained together for over 57 years through a host of hardships that were common on the American frontier of the 1700s. They also endured the challenges and episodes that make Boone’s life one of the most exciting ever lived, with 21 of his remarkable 86 years spent in North Carolina.

Nine communities from the western Piedmont to the Blue Ridge Mountains are hosting events in 2006 to celebrate Boone’s pioneer life in North Carolina. His footprints are commemorated today all across the region with markers, plaques, replica cabins, outdoor dramas, a historic cave, and museum displays. (Boone’s parents are even buried in Davie County in marked graves.) To celebrate the occasion, Winston-Salem, Salisbury, Davidson County, Mocksville, Statesville, Wilkesboro, Ferguson and Boone are collaborating in a region-wide series of events that invites visitors to explore this area of North Carolina where the Boone and Bryan families first settled two-and-a-half centuries ago.

A Collaborative Celebration
Historic Bethabara Park in Winston-Salem is hosting on July 2 and September 23 the “Detached British Army Field Hospital” which interprets medical practices of the 18th century. Daniel Boone took his ill brother to the Moravian physician at Bethabara in 1755.

Davidson County is hosting A Visit with the Boones and Their Neighbors on October 14-15 to celebrate the reopening of Boone’s Cave Park as a resource for teaching environmental awareness and Yadkin Valley Backcountry heritage. This living history event includes first person interpreters displaying frontier skills and the dedication of a new cabin.

Whippoorwill Academy and Village hosts visitors every weekend displaying a replica cabin like the ones Boone built nearby in the Upper Yadkin Valley in 1766.

Horn in the West is celebrating its 55th consecutive season of performing the Kermit Hunter outdoor drama that draws from the life of Daniel Boone to share a story about the movement west across the Appalachian Mountains. Hickory Ridge Homestead in Boone hosts on July 8 a celebration of frontier life with costumed interpreters demonstrating their frontier skills among historic buildings.

Wilkesboro welcomes visitors to the Wilkes County Heritage Museum and Salisbury, another community with a strong Boone connections welcomes guests to the Rowan Museum and 1766 Old Stone House.

Fort Dobbs State Historic Site in Statesville is celebrating this year its own founding in 1756 with several events from April into October. Boone forted there with his family for protection on several occasions during the Cherokee War around 1760.

On August 17, Old Salem in Winston-Salem is hosting noted North Carolina author and Cornell University professor Robert Morgan who is currently researching and writing a book bout the life of Daniel Boone.

On August 18 and 19 Mocksville and Davie County will host a wedding reenactment, a wedding frolic, and an original musical about the courtship of Daniel and Rebecca. A street festival with living history encampment will take over the town.

Tar Heels Will Travel in Boone’s Footsteps
A special commemorative souvenir program lists all the events and enables visitors to collect special commemorative stickers from each of the sites they visit across the Piedmont and into the High Country. The keepsake, full color, souvenir program also provides a brief introduction to the life of Daniel Boone in North Carolina.

More information about Daniel Boone’s exciting pioneer life is available by reading "In the Footsteps of Daniel Boone" by NC author Randell Jones. A companion DVD with 80 minutes of interactive programming, "On the Trail of Daniel Boone," shows heritage tourists 85 sites spread across 11 states where Boone traveled and his life is commemorated with markers, monuments, plaques, historic homes, and replica forts. See http://www.danielboonefootsteps.com for information about the book, DVD, and 2006 region-wide celebration.

Explore North Carolina’s frontier heritage in 2006. After all, how often do we get to celebrate a 250th wedding anniversary?

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