They eventually reached the Mississippi River and,
having taken a good quantity of peltry on the way, they launched
upon the stream and came in time to New Orleans, where they made
a satisfactory trade of their furs.
* Kentucky, from Ken-ta-ke, an Iroquois word meaning "the place
of old fields." Adair calls the territory "the old fields." The
Indians apparently used the word "old," as we do in a sense of
endearment and possession as well as relative to age.
Boone was fired anew by descriptions of this successful feat, in
which two of his kinsmen had participated. He could no longer be
held back. He must find the magic door that led through the vast
mountain wall into Kentucky--Kentucky, with its green prairies
where the buffalo and deer were as "ten thousand thousand cattle
feeding" in the wilds, and where the balmy air vibrated with the
music of innumerable wings.
Accordingly, in the autumn of 1767, Boone began his quest of the
delectable country in the company of his friend, William Hill,
who had been with him in Florida. Autumn was the season of
departure on all forest excursions, because by that time the
summer crops had been gathered in and the day of the deer had
come. By hunting, the explorers must feed themselves on their
travels and with deerskins and furs they must on their return
recompense those who had supplied their outfit.
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