Early American history has been told--and often exaggerated--by the pen and the paintbrush. Daniel Boone's fame as a bear hunter is depicted by Severino Baraldi (above), while this portrait of the lone woodsman was painted by Robert Lindneux. Boone blazing the trail west in George Caleb Bingham's 1851-52 oil painting, Daniel Boone Escorting Settlers through the Cumberland Gap Boone was not a man who relished a fight, but he never backed away from one, either. In 1774, he led the defense of three forts along Virginia's Clinch River from Shawnee attacks and, as a result, earned a promotion to captain in the militia--as well as the respect of his men. While