Simon Kenton, Shelby Explorer

•February 19, 2025•

by Janet Roney

Simon Kenton was born in Virginia in 1755.  When he was a teenager, he thought he had killed another man in a fight over a girl. He ran away west of the mountains, changed his name, and honed his survival skills in the wilds of Kentucky. He was one of the few who could prime and load a flintlock rifle while on a flat out run. He learned Indian ways better than most Indians did.

Few captives survived the blows from war clubs wielded by enraged Indians in a gauntlet run, but Kenton did…nine times in nine villages! Few captives survived being burned at the stake, but Kenton did when a heavy rain came from a nearly cloudless sky and doused the fire. Kenton became a frontier legend.

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