American Pioneer. She was born in Philadelphia to George and Elenor Hardin Draper. In 1748 the Drapers and other pioneer families moved to the western frontier to what would become Drapers Meadow near present-day Blacksburg Virginia. In 1750 an 18-year-old Mary wed 21- year-old William Ingles in the first wedding of European descent west of the Alleghenies. Their son Thomas was the first child of European descent born west of the mountains in 1751. On a Sunday morning in July 1755 a band of Shawnee Indians raided Drapers Meadow, killing 4 settlers and taking 5 hostages, including Mary and her 2 sons. The warriors and their hostages traveled for a month to a Shawnee village at the confluence of the Scioto and Ohio Rivers, where Mary was separated from her sons. After 2 French traders brought cloth to the village Mary was put to work sewing shirts, gathering herbs and making salt. Soon Mary and the woman known to history as "The old Dutch woman" were taken farther west, always following the river to present day Big Bone Lick State Park in Kentucky. During their journey Mary and the old Dutch woman were the first white women to enter Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. Here, in October while foraging in the woods for nuts and grapes, the women made their escape with 2 blankets and a tomahawk and began to make their way home. Always following the rivers they fought fatigue and starvation in a nearly 600 mile journey. Twice, delirious from starvation the old Dutch woman tried to kill and eat Mary, forcing her to put the New River between them for protection. After 43 days Mary arrived home naked, skeletal and white haired despite her age of 23. After recovery Mary and William had 4 more children and established Ingles Ferry across the New River in 1762, where she died in 1815 at the age of 83. The story of Mary's ordeal inspired a number of books, documentaries and films, including the 1995 TV movie "Follow The River" and the 2004 film "The Captives".