Simon Kenton's Fake Identity
Simon Kenton was a colonial frontiersman who served the United States in three wars.
Simon Kenton
At 16-years-old, a lovestruck Simon Kenton beat a man to death.
Or so he thought.
After attacking his love interest’s other suitor, Kenton fled Virginia for the untamed wilderness on the other side of the Appalachian Mountains.
After three years on the frontier, living as Simon Butler, Kenton served as a scout during Dunmore’s War.
Revolutionary War
When the Revolutionary War broke out, Kenton joined the Patriot Cause and quickly became an asset in the Western Theater.
As the story goes, Simon once saved the life of his friend Daniel Boone.
He then joined George Rogers Clark on the Illinois Campaign in the Old Northwest.
In 1778 Kenton was captured by the Shawnee and tortured. Apparently, he impressed that nation enough to be adopted into the tribe, despite their bringing him to the edge of life.
Wait, He’s Alive?
Eventually, Simon was returned to the Patriots in a prisoner exchange and he again served under Clark through the end of the war.
In 1782, a full 11 years after the incident, Kenton found out the man he thought he killed as a teenager had survived and he was finally able to live under his real name.
He began to live a quiet life and a 30-years-old first learned to read.
Two More Wars
A decade after the Revolutionary War concluded Kenton was called back to service.
He fought with the Americans at the Battle of Fallen Timbers which ended the Northwest Indian War.
Simon again retired but was again pulled back into service, this time as a Brigadier General in the Ohio Militia, to fight in the War of 1812.
In the aftermath of the Battle of the Thames he was asked to identify the body of Tecumseh but was concerned that his corpse would be defamed and therefore intentionally misled his fellow American soldiers.
Here are some other Founders on the Frontier:
Daniel Boone - Founding Father on the Frontier
James Wilkinson - America’s Favorite Double Agent
Kenton has several biographies, but the one I’d recommend is ‘Unlikely Hero’.
Pick up a copy through the Amazon affiliate link below (you’ll support this site, but don’t worry, Amazon pays me while your price stays the same).
