Daniel Boone (November 2, 1734 - September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of the settled part of the Thirteen Colonies. He was a militia officer during the Revolutionary War, which in Kentucky was fought primarily between the American settlers and the British-aided Native Americans. He was captured by Shawnee warriors in 1778, who after a while adopted him into their tribe. Later, he left the Indians and returned to Boonesborough to help defend the European settlements in Kentucky/Virginia. Following the war, Boone worked as a surveyor and merchant, but fell deeply into debt through failed Kentucky land speculation. Frustrated with the legal problems resulting from his land claims, in 1799 he emigrated to eastern Missouri, where he spent most of the last two decades of his life. He was a legend in his own lifetime, after an account of his adventures was published in 1784. He died in 1820 at the age of 85. His adventures, real and legendary, were influential in creating the archetypal Western hero of American folklore. In American popular culture, he is remembered as one of the foremost early frontiersmen.