HB129

AN ACT designating the official state Daniel Boone portrait.

WHEREAS, in 1775 a longhunter named Daniel Boone was commissioned to blaze a trail through the Cumberland Gap which became known as Boone's Trace and later, the Wilderness Road; and

WHEREAS, the opening of the Cumberland Gap released a flood tide of settlers into the lands of America's interior, causing Kentucky to grow in population; and

WHEREAS, the region's population growth spurred by Boone's opening of the Cumberland Gap enabled Kentucky to join the Union as America's fifteenth state; and

WHEREAS, the story of the first gateway to the American west is commemorated at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park in Middlesboro, Kentucky, through an historically accurate oil painting; and

WHEREAS, David Wright, an American historical artist born in Rosine, Kentucky, conducted extensive historical research to produce an accurate artistic rendering of Daniel Boone leading settlers through the Cumberland Gap; and

WHEREAS, the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park displays David Wright's painting of Daniel Boone's passage through the Cumberland Gap to educate park visitors with historically accurate documented facts and images from American history;

NOW, THEREFORE,

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:

SECTION 1. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 2 IS CREATED TO READ AS FOLLOWS:

The portrait of Daniel Boone entitled "Gateway to the West," by the Kentucky-born artist David Wright, is named and designated the official state Daniel Boone portrait.

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