Maintaining the authenticity of our recreated frontier fort, Martin’s Station, has remained one of the focused goals here at Wilderness Road State Park. Our efforts to jury re-enactors to make sure their clothing, guns, tents and other accoutrements mirror those carried by our forefathers along the early Virginia frontier, has helped set us apart from other historical sites and has established our 18^th century fort replica as one of the most authentically recreated in America.

It is that same focus on authenticity that has also attracted many film-makers, directors and hobbyists whose goal oftentimes is to find the perfect blend of material realism along with a majestic background. “You could not have created a more perfect setting, even if you painted it on canvas,” explained Kent Masterson Brown, whose company, Witnessing History, LLC, just recently wrapped up shooting here at Wilderness Road for an upcoming documentary DVD entitled, Daniel Boone and the Opening of the American West.

The majestic Cumberland Mountains ascend into the skyline, providing a picturesque frame for Martin’s Station. It also didn’t hurt that a bright blue sky with no evidence of clouds hovered above the film crew and nearly 40 actors, including several Wilderness Road employees and volunteers, for the duration of the day of filming, which began around 4:00 am and wrapped up after dark on Saturday, November 12.

“The daybreak scenes were amazing,” said a jubilant Brown. “But, the attention to detail is what is really going to make this film so great.” The director cited the authentic look of the fort, the actors, the mountain, the stream and the canebrake located on the park, which was plentiful in the Powell’s Valley and Kentucky Bluegrass in the 18^th century, as samples of the detail which brought him to Wilderness Road and Martin’s Station. “As soon as (park manager) Jon (Tustin) gave me the tour of the park back in the summer, I knew exactly where we wanted to film the a large portion of the documentary.”

The two-hour production will trace the life of the famed frontiersman (Boone) from his birth near Reading, Pennsylvania in 1734, through his years in Kentucky and to his death in Femme Osage, Missouri in 1820. It will include stories about the death of his son James and perspectives of his wife, Rebecca Boone, who was left to raise their children, oftentimes fearing her husband had been captured by the Cherokee or possibly even killed.

Action scenes of Boone’s early explorations of Kentucky, his first attempt at settlement, the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals, the opening of the Wilderness Road, the Revolutionary War in Kentucky and the Ohio Valley (including the sieges of Boonesboro, Ruddle’s Station and Bryan’s Station and the disastrous Battle of Blue Licks), and Boone’s later life as a surveyor, tavern keeper and even a legislator in Virginia were filmed at the park using more than 40 actors, including Scott New, a former employee here at Wilderness Road, who portrays Daniel Boone.

In a press release from Witnessing History, LLC, Brown states: Scenes of the defenses of Boonesboro, Bryan’s Station and Ruddle’s Station, along with scenes of Boone’s first attempt at settlement in 1774 and the death of his son, James, were filmed at the site of Martin’s Station in the Wilderness Road State Park near Ewing, Virginia. 

In addition, scenes of John Finley’s first meeting with Boone and the first exploration of Kentucky by Boone and Finley’s party in 1769 were also filmed, along with scenes of life in the frontier forts and stations during the early years of Kentucky’s settlement.

The footage of the fighting from the blockhouses of the forts is positively gripping; all of the footage is so life-like that the viewer believes he/she is witnessing the events as they unfolded.  Filming is being planned for various episodes of Boone’s careers as a businessman, tavern keeper, surveyor and legislator during the winter of 2011-12.  

More scenes of Boone’s life and exploits in the settlement and defense of Kentucky will be filmed at Martin’s Station in the spring of 2012.

Daniel Boone and the Opening of the American West is scheduled for completion and premier broadcast on KET in the summer of 2012. 

With this documentary coming to completion, the park has once again showcased its natural and historical beauty. For more information about the park, please call the park office at 276-445-3065.

Daniel Boone and the Opening of the American West