<P> Boone's adventures, real and mythical, formed the basis of the archetypal hero of the American West, popular in 19th - century novels and 20th - century films . The main character of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales, the first of which was published in 1823, bore striking similarities to Boone; even his name, Nathaniel Bumppo, echoed Daniel Boone's name . As mentioned above, The Last of the Mohicans (1826), Cooper's second Leatherstocking novel, featured a fictionalized version of Boone's rescue of his daughter . After Cooper, other writers developed the Western hero, an iconic figure which began as a variation of Daniel Boone . </P> <P> In the 20th century, Boone was featured in numerous comic strips, radio programs, and films, such as the 1936 film Daniel Boone, with George O'Brien playing the title role . </P> <P> Daniel Boone was the subject of a TV series that ran on NBC from 1964 to 1970 . In the popular theme song for the series, Boone was described as a "big man" in a "coonskin cap", and the "rippin'est, roarin'est, fightin'est man the frontier ever knew!" This did not describe the real Daniel Boone, who was not a big man and did not wear a coonskin cap . Boone was portrayed this way because Fess Parker, the tall actor who played Boone, was essentially reprising his role as Davy Crockett from an earlier TV series . That Boone could be portrayed the same way as Crockett, another American frontiersman with a very different persona, was another example of how Boone's image could be reshaped to suit popular tastes . </P>

The man who can be said to have saved the kentucky settlements during the american revolution was