Benjamin Nathan Tuggle: Adventurer: Daniel Boone and the Settlement of Boonesborough, Kentucky

By Russell Lunsford

Benjamin Nathan Tuggle thinks hes just like any other twelve-year- old growing up in Eastern Kentucky in 1976until he learns he can travel back in time.

He knows for sure that hes not dreaming when he meets Daniel Boone, a hunter, woodsman, and adventurer. The year is 1776, and Boone and the other settlers of Boonesborough are braving the dangers of the wilderness to open up an unexplored frontier.

Wild bears and marauding Indians are no match for Boone. The woodsman has never met a situation he couldnt talk, fight, or run his way out of, but he might not be able to match Benjamins wit and energy. Despite their differences of personality and time period, the two develop a kinship as they discover the passion that they share for nature, adventure, and justice.

To truly make a difference and prove that he belongs, Benjamin must overcome his fears and get involved in events hes only read about in school. Join him as he journeys back in time, meets legends from the past, and explores the wonderful wilderness of the American frontier in Benjamin Nathan Tuggle: Adventurer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jul 29, 2010
• ISBN: 9781450233620

Russell Lunsford

Russell Lunsford enjoys reading and is passionate about American history. He is a retired counselor with the Commonwealth of Kentucky and a retired Chief Warrant Officer4 with the US Army and Army Reserve. He and his wife, Janice, live on their farm in Adair County, Kentucky. They have three children and five wonderful grandchildren.

Book preview

Benjamin Nathan Tuggle

~ ADVENTURER ~

Daniel Boone and the Settlement of

Boonesborough, Kentucky

Russell Lunsford

iUniverse LLC

Bloomington

Benjamin Nathan Tuggle: Adventurer

Daniel Boone and the Settlement of Boonesborough, Kentucky

Copyright © 2010, 2013 Russell Lunsford

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Certain characters in this work are historical figures, and certain events portrayed did take place. However, this is a work of fiction. All of the other characters, names, and events as well as all places, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN: 978-1-4502-3360-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4502-3361-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4502-3362-0 (e)

iUniverse rev. date: 7/12/2010

Cover art by Greg Tate

Contents

Dedicated To

Acknowledgments

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Recommended Reading

Places to Visit

Dedicated To

Benjamin Seth Roberts

1983–2004

and

All children who dream of adventure.

Acknowledgments

A special thanks to my wonderful grandchildren, Jesse, Jenna, and Joshua Morris. Their love is a joy for their Nana and Papa. Their wit, wisdom, and innocent outlook on everyday life have provided a child’s viewpoint for the loveable character, Ben Tuggle.

A special thanks to Greg Tate. His talented artwork on the book cover brought Ben Tuggle to life.

A special thanks to Isaiah Glasscock, who inspired me to write a children’s book.

Most of all, I am grateful to God for the abundance of blessings He grants me in my writing. He inspires my thoughts, guides my words, and occasionally tosses a great line my way.

2_BenTruck.jpg

Ben Tuggle And Grandpa’s Flatbed Pickup Truck

Chapter One

N ow, I’m not saying I’m a time traveler or nothing like that. It’s just that sometimes strange things happen that take me back in history to places right when things are happening.

Confused? Well, that’s how I felt my first time. I’m just a farm boy from eastern Kentucky. I’ve never been out of the state, much less out of my place in time.

There may be others who can do the same. You may be one, but we can talk about that later. I’m just talking to you about me right now. Who am I? Why, I’m Benjamin Nathan Tuggle, of course, traveler and adventurer.

I live on a small farm with my mom and dad outside Irvine, Kentucky. If you’ve never heard of Irvine, it sits on the Kentucky River right where the mountains kiss the bluegrass. My dad likes to say it’s the best of two worlds—the beauty of the mountains and the fertile flatlands.

Did I mention my older brother, Blake? I didn’t? Well, we’ll just leave it that way for right now. Why ruin a friendly conversation, I like to say.

You should have already seen my self-portrait, a pencil representation, if you will, of yours truly, standing next to my grandpa’s pickup truck. I like to say I got my pa’s good looks, my mom’s intelligence, and my granddad’s pleasant personality.

I’ve always fancied myself as quite an artist. Some of my friends say the pictures I draw of Mr. Polk, our principal at middle school, are the funniest drawings in any public school classroom in Estill County. My reputation as an artist has grown to the point that whenever someone puts a mark on a bathroom wall, yours truly is blamed: Ben Tuggle, report to Principal Polk’s office, Ben Tuggle, report to the principal’s office immediately.

As a true artisan, I don’t work in public bathrooms, but that hasn’t kept me from being accused of such. On more than one occasion, Ms. Miller, my art teacher, saved my hide by telling Mr. Polk the drawings on the bathroom stalls were just too childish to be the work of Ben Tuggle. I gotta like that Ms. Miller.

But back to the point of my story. I’m Ben Tuggle, adventurer. Did I say that already?

All I have to do is hold something old or something made by a person who lived and died years before I was born, and suddenly, zippity do da, I’m there at that time in history. I’ve stood next to General George Washington during the Revolutionary War, run alongside Harriet Tubman on the Underground Railroad, and sat in council with the Cherokee chiefs long before our ancestors ever set foot on the North American continent.

I’m actually there, visiting places I’ve only read about in history books. I thought I was dreaming the first time it happened, but I found out real quickly that I was awake. One hundred, two hundred, even three hundred years or more, I end up in the middle of whatever was happening.

I’ve never tried to push the limit on how far back I can go. I guess I could go back a far piece if I chose to. Just by taking hold of a dinosaur bone, I’d go back to the days before man, but I’d probably get eaten by one of those big meat eaters. Then I’d be dinosaur poo in some swamp, making oil for Mom’s station wagon or Mr. Orbey’s school bus.

No sir, traveling through history is serious business. I like to think I have control; but the fact is, I don’t plan my little trips, they just happen in a spontaneous kind of way.

Mom says I’ve been a spontaneous kind of kid since the day I was born. I just happened.

What! You don’t believe me? Let me remind you that some things in life require a little faith. Like the faith I have that, in spite of myself, my parents like me … most of the time. Well, that’s not really a good example. How about the faith that my grandparents love me no matter how goofy I act? That’s what I’m talking about, that’s the faith I have when I leave the here and now and travel back … back to the there and then. I have faith that I will survive all that history and get back to my time. I’ve met some real interesting folks on my adventures—some nice and some not so nice. It’s always a hoot, and I bring a lot of learning back with me.

You may have doubts, so sit back and listen. Let me tell you about my first adventure, my very first trip back in time. It happened last summer, the day I turned twelve. My family spent a long weekend at Grandma and Grandpa’s farm in a little community called Redhouse, just outside the big city of Richmond, Kentucky.

I stood out in Grandpa’s field, down by the spring, and my older brother was being his usual rude self. You could say my first trip back in history was a field trip. Mrs. Dabney, my sixth grade teacher, says I got a way with words—field trip. I amaze myself.

Chapter Two

W hat you doing, bonehead? yelled my brother Blake as he walked down the hillside toward me. Grandma says supper is ready. Go wash up.

I’m not hungry, I responded as I picked up a fresh chunk of plowed dirt and hurled it at Blake. He was walking toward the putt, putt sound of Grandpa’s tractor somewhere over the hill. He easily dodged the clod and