Did Kentucky Pioneer Daniel Boone Really Encounter Bigfoot?

I am an indirect descendant of Daniel Boone, one of Kentucky's most well-known historical figures. Mom used to refer to him as "Uncle Daniel" because we are direct descendants of his brother Squire Boone.

Daniel Boone

Because of this, I should probably kick myself for never having visited Fort Boonesborough or Harrodsburg or any of the other locations in central Kentucky where Boone lived and explored. To be fair, it isn't close to my home, but I'm still going to say that's no excuse.

I should also dig into Boone's journals to learn about other Kentucky locations tied to his adventures besides those two famous destinations. But geography isn't the only goal here. Daniel Boone's writings reveal something that could lead many people to believe that he may have been the originator of perhaps the most popular focal point of American folklore.

Daniel Boone's 'Yahoo' Encounter

According to Kentucky folklore, Boone encountered and killed what he described as a "ten-foot, hairy giant" that he called a "Yahoo." Now, where in the world did he GET that term? Well, he and his fellow journeymen were fans of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, in which Gulliver has an encounter with "quadrupeds" he called Yahoos. Here are a few more details.

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But Boone's description sounds strikingly similar to how we might describe Bigfoot. So you have to wonder...did Daniel Boone encounter such a creature? Did he simply mistake a bear or another animal for something more mysterious?

We may never know, but it sure is fun to think that America's most famous pioneer (arguably) might have contributed to the folklore that eventually became today's Bigfoot legend.