Daniel Boone is considered one of the United States' first folk heroes for his exploration beyond the thirteen colonies into Kentucky. Hugh McGary, the Irish-born American pioneer who joined Boone on his 1775 expedition, is lesser known, but he played a prominent part in establishing early posts such as Harrodsburg.

In Kentucky Frontier to Commonwealth: Historical Archaeology at Daniel Boone's and Hugh McGary's Stations, author Nancy O'Malley provides insight into Kentucky colonial life through research into station site remnants. Boone's Station is well preserved and shows what a lasting occupation looked like, whereas McGary's Station—abandoned soon after the end of the Revolutionary War—bears the markers of settlers who endured more primitive conditions.

Kentucky Frontier to Commonwealth considers written records of Boone's and McGary's journeys along with the physical evidence they left behind to create a compelling picture of what the sites' occupants were like, how they survived, how the stations functioned, and ultimately, how this newfound knowledge fits into the state's storied history.