This book is the true story of Mary Draper Ingles's capture by the Shawnee and her heroic escape and journey home.

Reading a book can change your life. When Eleanor Lahr read "Follow the River", a novel about the true experience of Mary Draper Ingles, who was captured in 1755 by Shawnee Indians and carried 500 miles from her home, she felt inexplicably compelled to retrace Mary's escape route. With little previous experince, but with plucky courage, she planned and trained extensively, then set off on her 51st birthday. Before e-mail, cell phones, Facebook, and Twitter, occaisionally alone, usually with strangers, she hiked 43 days along the Ohio, Kanawha, and New Rivers--publisher.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “It takes a rare individual not only to see that history can live, but also to make it live for others. James Thom has that gift.”—The Indianapolis News Mary Ingles was twenty-three, happily married, and pregnant with her third child when Shawnee Indians invaded her peaceful Virginia settlement in 1755 and kidnapped her, leaving behind a bloody massacre. For months they held her captive. But nothing could imprison her spirit. With the rushing Ohio River as her guide, Mary Ingles walked one thousand miles through an untamed wilderness no white woman had ever seen. Her story lives on—extraordinary testimony to the indomitable strength of one pioneer woman who risked her life to return to her own people.

Mary Draper Ingles was a real, live pioneer heroine who lived through a Shawnee Indian attack, kidnapping, and escape, to walk almost 800 miles back home to her family. This is a true story of courage, love and sense of family.

The exploration of the history of Virginia women through the lives of exemplary and remarkable individuals. Seventeen essays written by established and emerging scholars recover the stories and voices of a diverse group of women.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

Everything changes for 13-year-old Travis, a new student who is trying to hide his illiteracy, when he meets a sassy classmate with her own secrets and a remarkable teacher.