Simon Kenton: A forgotten American hero

By Charles Murray

Simon Kenton was one of Ohio’s greatest heroes; yet, he is all but forgotten now. I would like to share with you the good deeds and heroic feats this remarkable man accomplished for Ohio, and our country.  

The only man to save Daniel Boone’s life twice in one day, he was truly a man of action worth remembering.

In 1771, 16-year-old Simon Kenton, a native of northeastern Virginia, went on the run after he beat up a boy named William Leachman. He did it over a girl named Ellen Cummins, his girlfriend, for he was jealous of Leachman since he had married Kenton’s sweetheart, and he loved the young woman.  

Simon had pummeled his rival badly, knocking him out; young Simon thought he had killed him. He left on his horse quickly thereafter and hid in the mountains of West Virginia and changed his name to Simon Butler.

A canny woodsman even then, he lived off the land, hunting, fishing and foraging what fruits and vegetables he found. Exploring and wandering he went, and it was to be time well spent. Through Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kentucky he roamed alone. In his travels, Kenton met both friendlies and villains; some helped him, took him in and fed him for a few nights – a few tried to rob him, and these he made regret their actions with swift and forceful punches.

According to most sources, Kenton stood about  6' 1" and weighed around 195 pounds, most of it muscle, with deep blue, brilliant eyes and auburn hair. He had made many friends, including Daniel Boone, whose life he saved twice in the same day of April 24, 1777, as the Shawnee Indians, allies of the British, found Boone defending the settlers at his namesake, Fort Boonesboro, Ky.  

Two were about to kill Boone, one with a tomahawk raised over Boone’s head, who lay on his back, already shot in the leg. Kenton stopped the two warriors by shooting one with a musket; the other he struck with a club, killing both. Kenton then carried a wounded Boone, as the Shawnee warriors shot at them.

Daniel Boone later thanked Kenton profusely, saying: “You have behaved like a man today. Indeed, you are a fine fellow.”  

Kenton, only 22, was more than happy to be praised by Boone, already a frontier legend, who was 21-years Kenton’s senior.

Simon Kenton found himself again helping the settlers in Kentucky in the winter of 1777 when Harrodsburg, the first permanent English settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains, was assailed by Shawnee Chief Black Fish and his minions. Kenton would slip out at night, right under the noses of the ubiquitous Shawnee warriors, quiet and stealthy as a bobcat, kill deer, then cut the meat that would keep the settlers of Harrodsburg from starving, as no other settlers dared venture out to hunt as Kenton did.

Simon Kenton was then hired by lieutenant colonel George Rogers Clark in 1778 as a scout on the mission to capture Fort Sackville, Ind. from the British in the Illinois Territory, as well as attack allied Native-American settlements.  Kenton also helped him capture Kaskaskia and Vincennes, leading to American control of two great rivers, the Missouri and the Mississippi, opening the way for supplies from friendly Spanish and French people in New Orleans.  

George Rogers Clark, a bold, intelligent man-of-action himself, became the highest-ranking patriot officer on the northwestern frontier during the Revolutionary War, achieving the rank of brigadier general.

As if by peculiar fate, the Shawnee captured Kenton on Sept. 13,1778, tortured him horribly and condemned him to death by burning at the stake. His friend and fellow frontiersman Simon Girty pleaded for his life, convinced the Shawnee to spare him, and then adopted him to their tribe; they named him Cut-ta-ho-tha, meaning, “the condemned man.” 

He impressed the Native Americans with his physical talents and his frontier know how; in time, Kenton rejoined his folks, which he did by running very quickly, with many Shawnee warriors chasing him. He swam across the mighty Ohio River, naked, during a cold winter.

It was said that no one could beat Kenton in a fist fight. According to Allan Eckhert, who authored the historical novel, "The Frontiersmen," Simon Kenton actually defeated future president Andrew Jackson in a bar fight which Jackson started. It was agreed by all sources that Kenton was never bested in a fistfight. Kenton taught many folks how to build fires, and shelters, as well as hunting, fishing, shooting and self defense. He fed many in need on the frontier, as he and Daniel Boone were always able to find game no matter what the weather conditions were.

Ohio was his favorite place in the country, and Kenton believed it was truly “God’s Country.” He fathered a son with Christina Ruth in 1773, but they never married.

Kenton then married Martha Dowden, and had four kids. It was said they were happy until poor Martha died in a fire. He then married Elizabeth Jarboe, and they had six children.

During the Revolutionary War, he was a scout and spy. He gathered valuable information about the British troop strengths, positions and their whereabouts, which was invaluable to the rebel cause. He was much commended for his contributions.

During the War of 1812, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general, and his brave leadership led us to victory at the decisive Battle of the Thames in 1813. Kenton was a humble man, and it was said that if people praised him about his many deeds and accomplishments, he became very uncomfortable, and would walk away (much like his friend Daniel Boone did).

Simon Kenton died in New Jerusalem, Ohio in 1836, at the age of 81. Kenton had made many land claims for settlers in Ohio as early as 1775, greatly helping Ohio to become settled, and this included his own Virginia relatives whom he took down the Ohio River for the first time to settle in the Buckeye State.  

He has been called one of the “big three,” in the early annals of Kentucky and Ohio, along with friends and comrades, Daniel Boone and George Rogers Clark. It is sad to me that he is seldom taught in Ohio History classes in our state, or discussed elsewhere. It seems that in our modern age, people would rather praise victims than a bold man of action who did so much for Ohio, and America.