Mary Draper Ingles

Mary Draper Ingles. A Frontier Heroine. Mary's history on the frontier began with her parents' arrival in Pennsylvania in 1729 from County Donegal, Ireland. George and Eleanor Draper gave birth to Mary in 1732, and took their young family into Virginia to settle new land. They settled at Drapers Meadows (Blacksburg) where in 1750, Mary wed William Ingles, whose family left England and eventually came to America., Life was not easy on the frontier, and it was made more difficult by the events unfolding in the 1750s, as England and France vied for control of territory in the New World. The French encouraged the Native Americans to attack British settlements, which they did, moving their way ever closer to Drapers Meadows., In late July 1755, a party of Shawnee Indians attacked Drapers Meadows, killing several, including Eleanor Draper, and taking others captive. The Shawnees took Mary, her two sons, and Mary's sister-in-law to the Shawnee nation in what is now southern Ohio. The Shawnee separated Mary and her family members from each other., Mary remained in captivity only a few months before she and another woman, now known only as the Old Dutch Woman, made an escape. They fled their captors and began a journey of several hundred miles, using only the Ohio, Kanawha and New rivers as their guide. The scarcity of food and dropping temperatures took their toll, and Mary, who felt threatened by her companion, set out completely on her own. After traveling hundreds of miles on foot for over 40 days, Mary made her way back home where Adam Harman found her., Mary Draper Ingles was reunited with her husband William, and they had four more children. Of their first two children taken into captivity, they never saw their son George again, and they did not see Thomas until 13 years after the massacre., By the 1760s, William and Mary settled along the banks of the New River in what is now Radford. Mary's descendants have stayed along the New River for centuries, playing a major role in the development of the region. To this day Mary Draper Ingles inspires awe and admiration, sparking research and artistic interpretation. Over the years this frontierswoman's story has been retold through film, an outdoor drama and numerous books, including James Alexander Thom's bestselling novel, Follow the River., Captions (top to bottom) , . View of the New River flowing through Virginia. Courtesy Eric T. Gunther , . Map illustrating the territories involved in the French and Indian War (1754-1763). Courtesy Hoodinski , . The path taken by Mary Draper Ingles to escape in 1755.