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Mary Ingles and the Escape from Big Bone Lick

James Duvall, M. A. Boone County Public Library

Mary Ingles in her old age was a lively and energetic lady. Stories are told

of her independence and determination. She still worked with her spinning wheel

when she was over eighty years old. Once it needed repair, and she could not get

her son John to attend to it, she ordered her servants to saddle her favorite horse,

Bonny, carried the wheel eight miles to a craftsman, and brought it home by

herself. Another story recounted how she stepped on a large black snake in her

vegetable garden, which instantly coiled itself around her leg. She held its head in

place with her foot, and called for her cook to bring a butcher knife by which she

freed herself. This is how her descendants remembered her, and the kind of stories

they liked to tell about her. Her children and grandchildren remembered the stories

she told many times of her own life, but the one they heard most often was that of

her escape from the Shawnee at Big Bone Lick. Mary’s son, Col. John Ingles,

wrote a narrative of his family’s history about a decade after her death in 1815.

Most of what is known about her comes from this account. Since Mary probably

could not write, this Narrative may be regarded as her account of what happened.

Draper’s Meadows, 1755

Mary Draper was eighteen years old when she married William Ingles in

1750. They settled near their parents in a place called Draper’s Meadows. This was

in Augusta County, Virginia, organized in 1745. It was the largest county ever

formed in America. The Virginians were aware that it was home to a large number

of Indian tribes, but it was valuable territory for settlement and trade. They were not

content to leave it to the French, who also claimed the entire area.

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Augusta County, Virginia. The largest county ever formed in America.

When the English traders began to explore the area the French decided to

expel them. They began to build a line of strategically placed forts throughout the

Ohio Valley in an attempt to secure the area, and establish a monopoly on trade.

The Indians wished to trade with both the French and the English. The English

offered better goods, in most cases, for much better prices. A few of the tribes,

especially those of the north, decided to trade only with the French, but the

Shawnee, in particular, were determined to maintain independence. When the

Ingles and Drapers came to Augusta County relations with the Indians seemed to

be good. The small community lived in peace, but this was soon to change.

The Shawnee and the Americans

John Ingles says of this sudden change on the part of the Indians:

. . . there had been several parties of the northern Indians, to wit, the Shawnees, passed by where my

Grandfather lived, on their way to the south, and would commit depredations on the Catawba Indians, but

was still friendly to the whites at that time. However, this happy state of things did not last long. The

Indians found out that they could gratify their heathen thirst for bloodshed and plunder much nearer home,

and at length commenced a warfare on the frontier settlements.

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The explanation doesn’t make sense. The truth is that it signaled a change in Indian

frontier policy. During one of the raids against the Catawba, six Shawnee warriors

were captured and imprisoned by the government of South Carolina. The Colony

was on terms of peace with the Shawnee, and the government of Pennsylvania tried

to mediate the affair, but to no avail. Five of the warriors escaped from the prison

in Charles Town, and returned home after many months; but the Shawnee never

forgot the insult, vowing eternal war upon the English. People living on the frontier

may not have known the real reason for this sudden change, but this incident, turned

the Shawnee against the English, and allied them more closely with the French.

The details of this affair and its effect on the Shawnee have been covered in detail

by Prof. Ian K. Steele. According to him, this act of violence by a colonial

government was responsible for much of the bloodshed that took place on the

colonial frontier and in the subsequent settlement of Kentucky and the other early

western states.

As often happens, the insult was avenged, not in the area where it happened,

but against those who happened to be closest; that is, on the frontiers of

Pennsylvania and Virginia. A deliberate policy of warfare, with the strategic aim of

halting and turning back colonial expansion, was begun by the Shawnee and other

tribes at this time. After the catastrophic defeat of Gen. Braddock and his troops by

the French and Indians, on 9 July 1755, Indian raids into Colonial territory became

more intense, some reaching as far east as the outskirts of Philadelphia.

Shawnee Raid and Capture

On the 30th

of July, 1755, during the wheat harvest, the Shawnee raided

Draper’s Meadows. It has been called a massacre, but it was hardly that: A few

people were killed, a few wounded, and the rest — well under a dozen — were

captured. A count compiled some time after the event reads:

1755, . . . . July 30th, Col. James Patton, at North River, killed; Casper

Barrier, at North River, killed; Mrs. Draper and one child, at North River,

killed; James Cull, at North River, wounded; Mrs. English and Her

children, at North River, prisoners escaped; Mrs. Draper, Jr., at North

River, prisoner escaped; Henry Leonard, at North River, prisoner escaped.

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We have only a few details of the capture of the Ingles family, supplied by the

Manuscript of John Ingles. The prisoners included Mary Ingles (here called

English), her two children Thomas and George, and her sister-in-law, Bettie.

Mary’s mother, who was living with her, was killed. Bettie Draper’s arm was

broken by a gunshot while she was attempting to escape. The Ingles Narrative

states that William, coming back from the harvest attempted to intervene. He was

chased by two warriors who nearly captured him. While he was being pursued he

jumped over a log and fell. He rolled under the log and remained there unseen.

The Shawnee had soon accomplished their intention, and moved down the

river towards the Ohio, but due to forest and undergrowth did so very slowly.

They crossed the New River by canoe about fifty miles north of where the capture

took place.

Mary Ingles at Sonnontio

Sonnontio, or Sonhioto, known also as Lower Town, was usually called

Lower Shawnee Town by the English traders. It is the site of many ancient

earthworks, which occur on both sides of the Ohio River. The town was built

about 1738, and was part of a large network of Shawnee villages in the Ohio

valley. The village had a mixed population, mostly Shawnee and Delaware. A

trader reported about 1750 that there were 300 men, that is, warriors, which

indicates that the population of the town may have been as much as 1,500 people.

There were about 100 houses north of the river, and forty on the Kentucky side.

The council house was a great birch-bark lodge about 90 Feet long with a covering

of bark. The French had a trading post in the area as early as 1740.

It has often been claimed that Mary Ingles was the first white woman in the

Ohio Valley, but this is not the case. In 1744 twelve year old Catherine Gougar

(1732-1801) was a captive among the Shawnee. She was captured in Berks

County, Pennsylvania, and lived among them on the Scioto for five years, near

present-day Chillicothe. Dr. Frank Warner writes of her: “Just eleven years before

Mary Ingles was led captive to our Ohio soil, Catherine Gouger was living upon

the fertile banks of the Scioto.” It is likely that there were many white women in

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the area before Mary Ingles. The earliest white woman living captive in the Ohio

Valley that can be documented is Mary Harris, captured at Deerfield,

Massachusetts, at the age of twelve, in 1704. When she was about eighteen she

married an Indian and had several sons. There may have been other white women

in the town when Mary arrived.

There were also French traders in the town. They sold cloth and other goods

to the Indians, and Mary spent much of the time she was there sewing French

goods into shirts for the Indians. She stayed at the town for several weeks before

she was taken to Big Bone Lick, 158 miles down the river, to help boil salt.

Big Bone Lick

Big Bone Lick is a legendary place. The place was frequented by many

different tribes from early times, and it had religious and magical associations. It

was a vast swamp, which meant it was associated with Underworld in the Indian

mind, and there were many bones and tusks of large animals scattered over the

ground. The salt springs, or licks, attracted both animals and men. The Big Bone

Lick is situated about two miles from the Ohio River and lies in a large valley

descending from Beaver Lick. Near Big Bone the creek turns south, and flows into

the Ohio River, about four miles away. The closest access to the river is at Little

Gunpowder Creek. The area around the Lick has changed drastically over the last

two hundred years, the destruction of the huge trees in the valley has caused the

ground to dry up, but 250 years ago the springs were still surrounded by a huge

swamp.

This was a place to get salt. Salt making parties probably camped for

several weeks at a time. Salt-making was hard, dirty work. Carrying wood, and

boiling kettles of brackish water in mid-summer, was not calculated to make

captives comfortable with their lot.

About the middle of October Mary decided to try to escape. A reasonable

date would be about the 19th

, but this cannot be established with certainty. John

Ingles, who heard the story often from his mother, gives the following reason for

her decision:

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My mother, being so distressed in being separated from her children and her

situation such a disagreeable one that she came to the determined resolution that she

would leave them and try to get home, or die in the woods, and prevailed upon an

old Dutch woman that was there and a prisoner too, to engage with her in the

seemingly hopeless and daring attempt.

Big Bone Lick, Kentucky. 1831 Map.

Ohio River to the East.

The Escape and Journey Home

Once she decided to leave, Mary Ingles felt the need of companionship.

Most Indian captives escaped in pairs, partly for mutual defense. There is no doubt

that the inclusion of the German woman was an important factor in the final

success of this flight. Very few prisoners escaped from Shawnee captivity, as Prof.

Ian K. Steele notes. Preparations for the journey were short, but important.

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According to the narrative, they had between them a blanket and tomahawk each,

“and perhaps a knife”. John notes that they started in the after part of the day. An

interesting incident is that of the three Frenchmen sitting on a bone cracking

walnuts. The French, though not a major presence in the area, were free to come

and go as they pleased. The bone on which they sat was apparently one of the

large vertebrae of a mammoth or mastodon. Travelers to the Lick used the bones

for all kinds of purposes, including camp stools.

Mary and the German woman made the excuse that they were going to

gather nuts and grapes. They might need a sharp tomahawk, and one of the

Frenchmen (who would not need a sharp one merely to crack nuts), willingly

exchanged his for Mary’s, which tells us that the French were on good terms with

the captives. The area was considered very secure, and there was no direct

surveillance of the captives at Big Bone Lick. Apparently the flight of captives

from this location was considered impossible, or so unlikely, that no captive would

even attempt to flee. No precautions were taken, and this is what made the escape

possible.

Since the captives could roam at will, at least when not otherwise employed,

there was no need for them to conceal their departure from the camp, and they left

in the most natural manner possible. Their immediate destination was the Ohio

River, which they were to follow for 250 miles upstream. We must consider

whether they headed directly for the river, or began to go in another direction, to

throw pursuers off the trail. North of the Lick are steep hills, and these would

hinder access the river, and delay them. If they had first gone east they would have

had to backtrack to get to the river, which would have involved returning close to

the camp later, and losing time, with the risk of being discovered.

They might have gone south along Big Bone Creek, and then moved off

west towards the river. If they took this route, it is almost certain they did not go

as far as Big Bone Landing, as that would take them some miles out of their way,

with the potential of meeting another party as they came back up the river from the

mouth of Big Bone Creek. There are large hills between Big Bone Creek and the

river, including legendary Indian Hill, which rises 300 feet above the surrounding

area, and is the place from which one of the great animals of the Lick, “bounded

over the Ohio”, according to Indian legend, then “over the Wabash, the Illinois,

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and finally over the great lakes, where he is living at this day.” This range of hills

would increase the difficulty and time. There can be no doubt that they wanted to

increase the distance between themselves and their captors quickly, and by as great

a margin as possible. For this reason, and since they were not trying to hide at that

point, it seems most likely that they went directly for the mouth of Little

Gunpowder, or Landing Creek.

It is about two miles from Big Bone Lick to the mouth of Little Gunpowder

Creek, the closest access from there to the river. This creek, now usually called

Landing Creek, is flooded most of the year because of the Markland dam, several

miles downstream, and considered, like many other creeks, backwaters of the

Ohio. This stream, the first of the 145 creeks and rivers they would have to cross

before getting to the mouth of the Kanawha, about 250 miles away, was not of

great difficulty to cross. The Ingles Narrative says that the water was lower at this

time of year than normal for October, which helped them, making the journey

possible.

At this point their journey was fairly underway, and they began walking

upriver through Lower East Bend Bottom, along the bank of the river. A mile

from Little Gunpowder is Big Gunpowder Creek. Many of the creeks and rivers of

the Ohio are companion streams. Though they have different sources the streams,

not far apart, were considered as pairs when they were named. Big and Little,

distinguishes them by size; sometimes the term “Indian” is used also, especially if

the stream was in Indian territory (that is, on the other side of the river), to

differentiate them. For example, there is the Kentucky River, the Little Kentucky

River, further downstream, and the Indian Kentucky River, which is in Indiana.

Big Gunpowder is much larger, and presented considerably more difficulty

than its little sister. It is the longest creek in the area now called Boone County,

and drains over 55 square miles of land. There was almost certainly a fairly large

volume of water in this creek; they would have had to walk up this stream,

possibly as much as two miles, before they could find a place to cross.

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Collot’s Map (1805) detail.

As they continued the journey they would have found wide and smooth

bottom land all along this stretch of the river. The walking here was probably as

easy as any on their entire journey, and they probably made considerable progress.

In 1755 the bottoms were covered with huge trees, which probably extended to the

shoreline; because of the height of the forest cover, it is unlikely that there was

much undergrowth in the forest. Only in the few open spaces would there be

tangles of weeds and briars that would make walking difficult.

A mile and a half from the mouth of Gunpowder lies Lick Creek, which is

very small. From there it was almost four and a half miles to Big Ranty Creek, and

three tenths more to Little Ranty; small streams, but they had to be crossed.

Walking just over a mile further they would be in a place now called Rabbit Hash,

at Parks Branch, a small stream which runs just behind the present general store,

built about 1930. Whether they crossed close to the river, or a little higher up, is

not a question of much moment.

By this time it should have been about dusk, and the Indians would be

beginning to wonder where they were. No doubt they were anxious about being

trailed, and continued on that night as far as they possibly could. They crossed

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over several streamlets so small they are not on the river charts, these were of little

consequence to them, but after leaving the wide bottoms of East Bend the terrain

becomes much steeper; the heavily wooded banks go down to the river at

something approaching a 45-degree angle. On the other side of this ridge, running

parallel with the river, is Lick Creek, draining an area of about eight square miles,

which they had crossed earlier.

Middle Creek, about a mile and a half beyond Parks Branch, is a stream of

some magnitude. This stream is large enough to power water mills, and there was

at least one, Garnett’s Mill, by 1810. The watershed of this creek is just over 11

square miles. Its name comes from the fact that it is located somewhere about the

middle of the river’s path around Boone County. The land becomes much flatter

once the creek is crossed.

Perhaps it is somewhere in this area that they stopped to sleep the first night.

It is about twelve miles from the Lick to the mouth of Middle Creek; if they went

two miles up Gunpowder, which would mean two miles back, that is a total of

sixteen miles. They had started late in the evening, and had probably spent a large

part of the day in boiling salt, and other difficult tasks. Sixteen miles is a long

walk for anyone not used to such travel. They would have rolled their blankets on

the ground, without a fire, and there was probably nothing to eat.

When the two women did not return, the Indians began to think they were

lost. It appears they never suspected they had run away, or the outcome of their

journey might have been different. In some cases the punishment for attempting to

escape was death. Christopher Gist, a guide to George Washington, was in Lower

Shawnee Town, just five years before the capture of Mary Ingles. Gist recorded in

his Journal for Wed 26 Dec 1750:

This Day a Woman, who had been a long Time a Prisoner, and had deserted, & been

retaken, and brought into the Town on Christmass Eve (sic), was put to Death in the

following manner: They carried her without the Town, & let her loose, and when she

attempted to run away, the Persons appointed for that Purpose pursued her, & struck Her

on the Ear, on the right Side of her Head, which beat her flat on her Face on the Ground ;

they then stuck her several Times, thro the Back with a Dart, to the Heart, scalped Her, &

threw the Scalp in the Air, and another cut off her Head: There the dismal Spectacle lay

till the Evening, & then Barny Curran desired Leave to bury Her, which He, and his Men,

and some of the Indians did just at Dark.

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Whether this would have been the fate of Mary and the German woman we cannot

be certain, but the consequences could be quite severe.

There was a full moon on 19th of October of that year, and they could have

walked longer into the evening. This would allay the fears of the Indians for their

safety, since they could see to return later than usual. The Indians did not suspect

them of trying to escape, even after their disappearance, and concluded that they

had been killed by wild beasts. This the Shawnee told Thomas Ingles years later,

after the Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774. Wolves, which were the greatest danger,

abounded in the area.

Feet in the forest that leave no mark —

Eyes that can see in the dark!

There are records of many bounties paid for wolf heads paid from the earliest days

of the Commonwealth, until about 1820. There were panthers, bears, and other

dangerous beasts that roamed these forests. It was natural for the Indians to

assume that two women, armed with nothing but tomahawks, and perhaps a knife,

would be unable to defend themselves against attack.

Middle Creek descends from the high ground of the interior, and sweeps

south less than a mile from the river, dividing the high ground from the river

bottom until it reaches the river. This should have been smooth walking. It was

forest, not huge fields of corn and other crops. This and the Lower East Bend

Bottom are huge farms today, but probably all of it was then covered with thick,

heavy forest, including trees of massive size.

Mary and the German woman crossed tiny Willoughby Creek a couple of

miles farther on. Just beyond the creek they would have seen an island called

Laughery’s Island, probably then at least a mile long; it is much smaller today due

to erosion, and the raising of the water level by the dam.

A little further on, less than two miles from Willoughby Creek, they crossed

Steep Gut Creek. This little creek is rightly named, and has a long history, the first

map of it is a survey dated 1780 made for the heirs of John Hawkins. The two

women may have had a good deal of trouble crossing this little creek, even if it was

dry, since the approaches on both sides are quite steep. This was probably some of

the most difficult they had walking so far, but it was for only about a mile. They

approached Kirby Rock, which guards the mouth of Woolper Creek. The atlas of

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1883 shows a large Indian mound in the area, but it may have been several hundred

years since anyone had lived here.

Survey of Steep Gut Creek. 1780.

Middle Creek, shown further from the River,

flows south.

Survey of Woolpers Creek Area. 1776.

This survey was purchased jointly in 1791,

and settled by John Taylor and John Tanner.

Woolpers Creek, less than a mile further on, drains one of the three major

watersheds in Boone County. Even if the weather had been particularly dry, there

was probably some depth of water in this stream. This area has long historical

associations, and was the first place in Northern Kentucky to be settled. It is

named for John David Woolpert, a Philadelphia merchant who never saw it. John

Taylor and his financial partner John Tanner, both Baptist preachers, purchased

2000 acres of land here from the merchant in 1788, for £750 in gold and silver.

Split Rock is a huge formation that has long attracted the attention of

geologists. It is on the north side of Woolpers Creek just at the river’s edge. As

the name implies this gigantic rock, on the banks of the Ohio, is split open. It was

a noted tourist attraction, and the steamboats once stopped there. The stone

appears to have dropped out of nowhere, which demands a geological theory. The

terrain is very rugged, and walking is difficult. Perhaps it was fairly early in their

second day when Mary and her companion crossed the creek, and we can be

certain they had difficulty passing along the river here.

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Split Rock in 1938.

Courtesy of the Peel Collection.

Boone County Public Library

Less than a mile further is Peaks Branch, a tiny stream shown in the 1883

atlas, which does not appear on the river charts; not much is known about it, in the

atlas a place called Nobley, with five houses, is shown at the mouth.

It should have been fairly easy walking in the large, flat river bottom, in the

northwestern section of Boone County, that begins here. This rich alluvial land

was attractive to white settlers from Virginia. The banks of this bend of the river

are now primarily used for gravel mining. Across the river a large stream known

as Hogan Creek empties into the river, with the present town of Aurora, Indiana, at

its mouth.

Just north of Peaks Branch, a town to be called Bullittsburg was proposed

and surveyed in 1773 by Col. Thomas Bullitt. Bullitt and his men were on the way

to survey at the Falls of Ohio, but spent several days here making surveys. The

town, which never existed, was to be very near the mouth of Taylors Creek. A

fort, called Tanner’s Station, was built nearby. It was the first settlement in

northern Kentucky, and was built by the Tanner family about 1790. It was near the

present town of Petersburg, established in 1818.

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Taylors Creek is six miles from Woolpers. A stretch of about five miles,

once they crossed Peak’s Branch, and is the longest distance along the Ohio in

Boone County without a creek to cross. The creek is named for the pioneer Baptist

preacher, John Taylor, associated with the Bullittsburg Baptist Church, which was

founded in 1796. He cleared land and farmed in this area. In his book, A History

of Ten Churches, published in Frankfort in 1820, he tells us that he was in a “new

heavy forest”, and that he and his black “servants”, as he refers to them, cleared

enough land the first year to “make” a sizeable crop. Probably this creek did not

present great difficulty in crossing, especially when the water was low. Some

distance up Taylors Creek, at the forks, is a spring called White Oak Lick; it is first

shown on a map dated 1804.

Second Creek, also known as Ferry Creek, was the home of two ferries in

1807. Boone County Court Orders show that Vance’s Ferry operated across the

Ohio on the northern side of Second Creek, and Tousey’s Ferry on the lower side,

indicating that it was a stream of some size.

The Big Miami, called also Rock River, from its smooth stone bed, flows

into the Ohio on the Indiana side, two and a half miles above Taylors Creek. This

was not particularly significant to them, as they did not have to cross it, but it was a

highway for the Indians going north by water, and they would have taken care not

to be seen from any canoes in that direction. This river is twenty-five and a half

miles from Big Bone Lick, and they may have stopped near this area to rest for the

night. It is about thirteen and a half miles from Middle Creek, where they may

have rested the previous night, followed by the difficult walk around Steep Gut

Creek. According to the Ingles Narrative it took four or five days to get to the

Indian Town opposite the Licking River, which is a distance of forty-six miles

from Big Bone Lick. If they stopped here there would be more than two days to

make the distance of about 21 miles to the Licking, so this is a reasonable

conjecture.

Garrison Run is three miles above Taylors Creek. About half way between

the two is a tiny creek, not appearing on the river charts. This may be Wicked

Creek, a name mentioned in several old deeds and court records. It flows over

level ground, and presented little difficulty in crossing; but much of the bank in

this three mile stretch is steep enough to make walking difficult if there was no

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trail to follow. Garrison Run is a modest stream, but large enough to power a grist

mill. The mill stood about half a mile from the river between it and the present site

of the Bullittsburg Baptist Church. A spring called Double Lick is shown on the

map of 1804. It is between Garrison Run and one of the forks of Woolpers Creek.

Two very small streams lie between Garrison and Sand Run, which is almost

two and a half miles from Garrison Run. By this time they were in the southwest

corner of North Bend Bottoms, and the walking should have been considerably

easier. This heavily forested region must have been a hunter’s paradise, and they

were probably on the watch for small hunting parties from the Indian town across

from the Licking and villages up the Miami and White Water rivers to the north.

Sand Run, or Sand Lick Creek, is the largest creek in North Bend Bottoms.

A little way back from the river there are steep bluffs on both sides. Not far from

the river is Sand Run Lick, a spring which may have been frequented by hunters,

but did not produce enough salt to be productive. It is not quite two miles further

to Potato Creek, This beautiful, fertile bottom, perhaps a mile wide, and nearly

level, is the northernmost point in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. To the south

is a range of steep hills, some of them 300 feet above the present level of the river.

About two and a half miles beyond Potato Creek is Bushes Creek, named for John

Bush, an early Justice of the Peace, who became Sheriff of Boone County in 1806.

He operated a ferry here before 1799. It is mentioned by his name in deeds

recorded as late as 1911, but it is now usually called Loders Creek, after Julia

Loder, a local landowner who died in 1893.

Elijah Creek, called Stony Creek in the earliest county records, is about four

and a half miles from Potato Creek. Here the level ground narrows considerably.

Just southeast of the mouth is the town of Taylorsport, established by Gen. James

Taylor in 1815. After walking couple of more miles they would cross a small,

unnamed stream, probably Pond Gut, which drains some marshy land, and, a little

further on, Wilsons Creek. There is a spring close to the creek, and an Indian

mound on the opposite side. Fox Branch is not a mile beyond, and close by is the

hamlet of Stringtown. Worlds Creek is less than a mile away, and about half a

mile further on is the mouth of Dry Run. These are not large streams. There are

hills fairly close to the river here, some of them more than 850 feet above sea level,

but the area should not have been too much difficulty for travelers.

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Just beyond Dry Run is the town of Constance, and between it and the

county line, less than a mile further on, is Anderson’s Ferry, which has been in

continuous operation since 1817. A short distance from the ferry is the line

between Boone and Kenton Counties. From Dry Run to the Licking River it is

about seven and a half miles. The only creek of any size in that distance is

Pleasant Run, which is about three miles from the Licking; tiny Willow Run is a

mile from the Licking. There may have been a few other small streams, now

obliterated by the sprawling encroachments of the city of Covington.

I have detailed the route of the journey thus far for two particular reasons:

First, I want to give the reader some idea of the physical obstacles with which they

had to contend. Second, this is the only section of the journey of which we have an

idea of the time they took to travel. The Ingles Narrative says it took them four or

five days to get opposite an Indian Town, which was on the other side of the Ohio

River, but before they arrived at the Licking. This was somewhere along the

present day riverfront in Cincinnati. The Narrative indicates that it may have been

just east of the Licking River. Since we have a fairly good idea of how long the

journey took to this point we can use it to help gauge the time it took them to make

the rest of the journey.

The distance from Little Gunpowder Creek to the mouth of the Licking is

44.4 miles by river. The additional two miles from the Lick means they would

have travelled about forty-six and a half miles — if there had been no obstacles to

circumvent. They probably had to travel up Big Gunpowder, which might add four

miles or more, bringing the total to somewhere around fifty miles. It is uncertain if

they had to go much out of their way near the Split Rock, though it slowed them

down in any case. If they reached the Licking in four days they travelled an

average of twelve and a half miles a day, or if five days, at ten miles a day.

Because they left late in the first day, they probably travelled an average of just

over eleven miles a day.

It is difficult to divide this out and decide where they might have stayed each

night. The night before they reached the Licking may have been spent somewhere

around Elijah Creek, a distance a little short of twelve miles, which would be

consistent with the average. Their stay at the Licking River was probably the first

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time they had a decent night’s sleep, without fear of being eaten by animals, since

they left Big Bone. According to the Narrative:

They lay in the cabin all night, and there was in the cabin some corn. They ate of it, and

in the morning, when they were about starting, there happened to be a horse beast in the

lot adjoining the cabin. They concluded to take it, and pack on it what corn they could to

help them along. They did so and then started in again, with the beast and corn, and

steering on up the river, and in sight of the Indian town; and what was very extraordinary,

they saw several Indian hunters that day, and they so secreted themselves that they never

discovered them.

The presence of a cabin at that time in the area that is now Covington has interesting

implications. This was built by white men, and the evidence indicates that it was

built to establish an early land claim, though possibly abandoned. The corn patch

was a legal requirement, necessary to establish the claim. The horse is more

problematic. Its presence, and the fact that it wore a bell, indicates that the claim, if

abandoned, had not been so for long. Perhaps the cabin belonged to a trader who

was on good terms with the Shawnee in the village across the river, but was away

for a while.

If they left Big Bone Lick on the evening of the 19th of October, they would

have arrived at the Licking on the 23rd

or 24th

, with about thirty-eight more days to

go. At this point the magnitude of the journey might have appeared daunting, but

they had never seen the journey plotted on a map; and, having eaten a supper and

breakfast of corn (probably chewing it raw with a little river water), and a night of

sleep in the cabin, the prospects may have seemed good.

A little further on they came to the Licking River, and faced the greatest

difficulty they had met so far. The water was low, but the Licking River was still

too deep and wide to cross. It is virtually certain that neither woman could swim.

Many people at that time never learned to swim, and women were less likely to

learn than men. Note that later, when Mary crossed the New River, trying to get

away from the German woman, she went in the canoe the Indians left there when

she crossed with her captors on their way to Sonnontio. When the German woman

saw her the next morning she asked Mary to come back and get her. This is good

evidence that neither woman could swim. Their only chance of crossing deep

water, like the Licking, was to go upstream until they came to a place shallow

19

enough to cross. The length of this river is about 320 miles, and today its average

width below Falmouth, about fifty miles upstream, is between 190 and 220 feet.

Because we do not know where they crossed the river it is difficult to

estimate the rate at which they travelled. We can only guess the distance upriver

from the amount of time it took to get back to the Ohio. In the Narrative John

Ingles says that they travelled up the Licking “three or four days”, then he wrote

over these figures, altering the text to “two or three days”.

Detail of the Narrative. A Change in the MS: 3 becomes 2, and 4 becomes 3.

This is of interest because it indicates the writer is trying to be accurate. The three

or four days would be the total time they took to get back to the mouth of the river,

on the other side. This means they only spent half that time going up the river.

Since they had been travelling about eleven miles a day, in two days they would

have come to a place on the Licking called Dutchmans Ripple (mile 22.8 from the

mouth). The fact that it is called a Ripple indicates it was fairly shallow. They

would have passed Three Mile Ripple and Six Mile Ripple, but the time indicated

by the Narrative implies they went much further.

They may not have gone the 23 miles to Dutchmans Ripple. They may have

crossed before they got to it. The Narrative says that they came to a place where

the Freshes, an old word meaning floods, had washed up a large amount of timber;

here they could cross in safety, but not with the horse. The German woman

decided she could get the horse across, but it got stuck over a log, and they could

not get it to move any further, and so they abandoned it to its fate. They managed

to salvage some of the corn they had loaded on it. The loss of the horse was a

disappointment, but it may have saved them from being detected later by Indians;

their trail would have attracted more attention as if they were leading a horse. The

horse may also have betrayed them when they hid from Indian hunters a few days

later.

If they left the Lick on the 19th October, and took eight days to get to the

other side of the Licking, that would mean they started upriver again on about the

28th of October. This side trip took about the same amount of time as it took them

to get to the Licking River. If we assume they left the Licking after nine and a half

20

days (28 Oct) and got to Kanawha about halfway through the forty-two and a half

days the entire journey took, that would leave them twelve and a quarter days to

finish the first part of the journey. They would have been travelling an average of

just over twenty-one miles a day. This is the rate they would have had to average

for the entire journey if they travelled nine hundred miles, as some writers claim.

About twenty-one miles a day appears to be about the right average for this

leg of the journey, and they may have been able to travel even faster while the days

were longer, and because they still had a fair degree of strength. They could have

gotten to the Mouth of Kanawha in about ten days, if they were able to go at this

rate. It would taken a total of nineteen and a half days from Big Bone Lick to the

mouth of Kanawha, which would leave twenty-three days for the rest of the trip.

From the Lick to the Licking they crossed twenty-four creeks. Most of these did

not present great difficulty. Probably all of them hindered progress to some

degree. We have some knowledge of their progress until they got to the Licking,

but after that we do not know how far out of their way they had to go. The

Narrative says that they had to go up several streams, as they did at the Licking,

since it was the only way they could cross the larger streams:

And thus was the course they had to pursue at every stream of water that came in their

way of any size, and which there was several; and they could never have surmounted that

difficulty had it not been at a season of the year when the water courses was very low,

and more so than common at the season; even in this case was obliged to travel several

days journey at several of them before they could wade them, and then down again to the

Ohio, which was their only guide.

Each stream is an unknown quantity. How many creeks would they have crossed

between Licking and Kanawha that would have required a journey of several days

to cross? The water was low, but what was the shoreline like? Was it smooth, or

did the trees come right down to the water? There is no reason to detail all of the

creeks they crossed between the Licking and the Kanawha, which is about two

hundred and fifty miles from the Lick. It is about two hundred miles from the

Licking to Kanawha. Big Beasley Creek is about a hundred miles from the Lick,

Conoconnique Creek, about 150 miles, and the Big Sandy about 200 miles, with

about fifty more on to the Kanawha. There are 145 creeks and rivers between the

Lick and the Kanawha. They had crossed twenty-five, which means there were

120 more.

The only yardstick we have by which to measure the rest of the journey is

the accurate distance, and fairly well-known time, of their progress through Boone

County on their way to the Licking. There is another, probably minor, factor to be

considered when we try to calculate the total distance travelled. The Narrative

21

says that after they crossed the ridges along bends of the river, they would slide

down the other side, to save distance. Whether this activity caused more exertion

than it was worth in distance is hard to tell, but apparently they thought it helped

their progress. How much distance they saved is a question that is hard to answer,

but we should bear it in mind.

Only a few of the creeks they crossed on their journey are very large. It was

their number rather than their size that presented the greatest difficulty. I will give

an estimate of the distance they might have covered daily, mentioning only a few

of the largest creeks, and other possible obstacles. A few of the streams they had

yet to meet appear to be large enough to spend several days crossing. The Big

Sandy River, the Little Sandy, the Guyondot, and probably the Tyger River and

Conoconnique Creek.

Food for the Journey

The most pressing difficulty facing Mary and the German woman, other than

the difficulties encountered in walking, was food. The corn they saved when the horse

was lost probably lasted a week or two. They may have eaten it quickly to keep from

having to carry it. The Narrative says they ate “black walnuts, grapes, pawpaws, etc.”,

adding that often they were “so pushed with hunger that they would dig up roots and

eat that they knew nothing of ”. Since they were walking up to twenty miles a day, or

more, this was not much to sustain such activity.

Vitis labrusca.

A major source of food on the journey.

22

Their pretext for leaving the Lick was to go hunt for wild grapes. According to

Thoreau’s classic Wild Fruits, the wild grape (Vitis labrusca), begins to ripen in early

September, but are in their greatest abundance in the twenty days from about 8th to 28

th

of September. He notes in 1857 that he found “an abundance of those small, densely

clustered grapes (not the smallest quite) still quite fresh and full on green stems, and

leaves crisp but not all fallen” on the 18th of October. On the 28

th he says of these

grapes: “The last mentioned are now as ripe as ever they will be. They are sweet and

shrivelled, but on the whole poor. They ripen then the latter part of October.” He

noted that on the 31st they were “shriveled, and therefore ripe”, but very acid and

inedible. Thoreau recorded that where he was staying in New Jersey, in November of

1856, there were

long bunches of very small dark-purple or black grapes fallen on the dry leaves in the

ravine east of my host’s house. Quite a large mass of clusters remained hanging on the

leafless vine thirty feet overhead there, even till I left (the twenty-fourth of November).

These grapes were much shrivelled, but they had a very agreeable spicy, acid taste,

evidently not acquired till after the frosts. I thought them quite a discovery and ate many

from day to day, swallowing the skins and stones, and recommended them to my host,

who had never noticed them.

The grape season where Thoreau lived was generally finished earlier than in

Kentucky, further south; they might have been able to find at least a few grapes,

perhaps wrinkled and sour, during most of their journey.

In Kentucky the season for pawpaws is from late August to the middle of

October; in a dry year this might be later. The pawpaw (Asimina triloba), is the

largest edible fruit native to the United States, and is very nutritious. Pawpaws

contain high amounts of magnesium, iron, copper, manganese, and vitamin C.

They are a good source of potassium and several essential amino acids, and have

significant amounts of riboflavin, niacin, calcium, phosphorus, and zinc,

containing as much or more of these vitamins and minerals as apples, bananas, or

oranges of similar size. These would have been a valuable addition to their diet,

though they were probably not available along the entire trail.

Black walnuts, once cured can last for years, if they are kept dry, since they

have a hard shell. They are edible when still green, but do not taste good. Thoreau

notes: “November 12, 1853. Tasted today a black walnut, a spherical and

corrugated nut with a large meat, but of a strong oily taste.” If there were old

walnuts left by the squirrels and other gatherers, the women could have cracked

them with their tomahawks; but they would have gladly eaten those with the strong

23

oily taste also. We can only guess at some of the roots they might have eaten, but

obviously none of them were deadly. It was long after berry season, so no kind of

berries would have been available.

A short news account of their journey, written in Philadelphia in December

of 1755 mentions that they lived all that time on grapes and nuts. A longer account

published in the New York Mercury in February 1756 says that as they were

travelling:

. . . they to their Surprize, found themselves got very near an Indian before they saw

him, but as he was busy in skinning a Deer, he did not see them, till they hid

themselves behind a Log, towards which the Indian’s Dog kept a continual barking,

which frightened the Indian as well as the Women, and having dispatch’d the

skinning of his Deer, with as much speed as possible, he made off, leaving the

Carcase behind him, which afterwards afforded an agreeable Repast to the starving

Travellers, and after having satiated their Hunger, took as much of the Meat along as

they could carry, and pursued their Journey, making the River their Guide, and

feeding on Grapes and Nuts for their Support.

It is stated that this occurred on New River, which probably included the Kanawha.

It would be helpful if we knew more about the source of this information, but what

evidence we have indicates it was true, as it was related by a traveler who had been

on the New River about that time. At this stage of their journey the meat would

have been a welcome addition to their diet.

They were always near a stream, either the river or a creek, and so had a constant

supply of water, for drinking, bathing, and soaking sore feet; certainly a great

benefit.

“The Ohio was their only Guide”

As the two women worked their way up the Ohio there were many creeks to

cross. There is much about this part of the Journey that is unknown. A manuscript

map, now in the Library of Congress, drawn in 1753, called the Trader’s Map,

shows only two streams between Salt Lick Creek, an early name for the Licking,

and White Foul Creek, which is shown with four branches. This probably

corresponds with the Big Sandy. On Evans’s map, published in 1755, it appears as

24

“Totteroy, or Big Sandy Creek”; “Little Totteroy”, probably the Little Sandy, is

shown some distance downstream. The two streams on the map are shown on

either side of the Scioto River, at the mouth of which was Sonnontio, or Lower

Shawnee Town. As they got closer to this town there was greater danger of

discovery, but they had to stay close to the river, as the Ohio was their guide.

The eleven creeks may be the larger or more important ones, but it was

probably intended to indicate that along this shore there were many creeks. The

creek shown to the west of Scioto is probably Salt Lick Run (not the same as Salt

Lick Creek, which is the Licking), near Vanceburg. This is shown on Collot’s Map

as a stream of some significance. The map also shows a salt works located on its

downstream bank, near the mouth. The more eastern stream is very likely the Little

Sandy River, a stream that is about ninety miles in length.

However, there are also two other possibilities: Closer to the Scioto, about

equidistant, upstream and down, from it, are Conoconnique Creek and Tyger

River. Both are fair sized streams. In Collot’s map the first appears as Kennekena

River, with an island, called Willow Island by the first settlers, shown close to the

bank on the other side. Today, it and the island are called Kinniconnick on the

navigation charts, but the local people call the stream Old Kinney, and the area

near the mouth Kinney Bottoms. The area has long historical associations.

Tyger River is called today Tygert Creek (sometimes Tygart). It is about

ninety miles long. Nathaniel Holmes Bishop recorded his journey down the river

in 1875. He records that he put up in the mouth of this stream for a night, and tied

up to “an ancient sycamore whose trunk rose out of the water twelve feet from

shore.” That tree was certainly there when Mary Ingles and the German woman

passed by. Bishop relates an interesting encounter that tells us something about the

size of the stream:

On Monday, December 13, the violent wind storm continuing, I remained all day in my

box, writing letters and watching the scuds flying over the tops of high trees. At noon a

party of hunters, with a small pack of hounds, came abruptly upon my camp. Though

boys only, they carried shot-guns, and expectorated enough tobacco-juice to pass for the

type of western manhood. They chatted pleasantly round my boat . . . I asked them the

name of the creek, when one replied, “Why, boss, you don't call this a CREEK, do you?

Why, there is twenty foot of water in it. It's the Tiger River, and comes a heap of a long

way off.”

25

Map of 1753 similar to the “Trader’s Map”.

Sonnontio is at the mouth of the Scioto (Siotha) River. The Map Shows Eleven Creeks between Licking and Big Sandy (White Fowl Creek).

Twenty feet of water is deep for women who cannot swim. Whether the Tyger and

Conoconnique are the streams on the map is uncertain. They are paired so evenly

that we cannot rule them out. At each of these four streams it is likely they had to

travel, probably at least a day, or more, to get across. Collot shows a “Great sand

bank” just west of Limestone (now Maysville), which was likely an effort for them

to surmount. There is no way for us to discover every geographical feature that

26

may have been an obstacle to them, because of the vast changes that have taken

place in the terrain since 1755.

We do not know exactly how their journey progressed, but it may be helpful

to estimate where they might have been on the various days of the journey. Based

on an average walk of twenty-one miles a day, and the likely assumption that they

began the journey on 19th October, with eight days to cross the Licking, the

following is possible. The figure after the date is the approximate number of

creeks crossed. I also suggest a place they may have camped each night:

Day 9 29th

Oct 11 about Herringers Run (Campbell County)

Day 10 30th

Oct 19 near Big Turtle Creek (Augusta, Bracken County)

Day 11 31st Oct 17 Sleepy Hollow Creek (Mason County)

Day 12 1st Nov 13 between Ruggles Run and Pond Run

Day 13 2nd

Nov 16 Rock Creek (Lewis County)

Day 14 3rd

Nov 13 Hoods Creek (Boyd County)

Day 16 5th

Nov 9 Three Mile Creek (West Virginia)

Day 17 6th

Nov 10 between Sixteen Mile and Flatfoot Creeks

Day 18 7th

Nov 8 Mouth of Kanawha River

Note that the twelfth day includes both Salt Lick Run and Conoconnique Creek.

The next day includes Tyger Creek, besides the other fifteen. Day fourteen

includes the Big Sandy River. Day fifteen includes the Guyondot River, in West

Virginia. These streams should probably be allowed less mileage (or more time)

than the other days, but the chart may give some idea of how far they would have

had to travel each day, and how many creeks this might involve. If this is correct

there were only a few days when they crossed less than ten streams, and several

days there were almost twenty.

Somewhere in this area, perhaps after they had crossed the Big Sandy River,

there occurred an incident that has caused much comment. They were pushing

hard to cover so much territory that human nature reached its breaking point. The

narrative states, in what appears to be an objective account:

And in all this extremity the Old Dutch woman, getting disheartened and

discouraged, got very ill natured to my mother, and made some attempts to kill

her, blaming my mother for persuading her away, and that they would die in the

woods. And as she was a good deal stouter and stronger than my mother, she

used every means to try to please the old woman, and keep her in a good humor;

and at length got to the mouth of the great Kanawha, and then had performed but

very little more than one half of their journey.

27

Mary was anxious to make the most of the shortening days. It has often been

assumed that the German woman attacked Mary to eat her, but there is no hint of

cannibalistic intent in the Narrative. This was the assumption of those who told the

tale from an early period, but what would have followed, had the German woman

killed Mary, can only be surmised.

Calculating the distance from Landing Creek to the Mouth of the Kanawha

from the Navigation Charts gives a distance very close to 250 miles. A military

chart published in 1765, just a decade after Mary’s journey, calculated the distance

from Fort Pitt “to the Big Bones” as 504 miles; subtracting 269 miles, the distance

given “to the mouth of big Canhawa or new river”, indicates a distance of 235

miles. Thomas Hutchins published a similar chart in 1778, but his figures were

less accurate: he gives the distance as 300½ miles.

The chronology of the journey from the mouth of the Kanawha is quite

problematic, as there is no indication of time in the Narrative:

However, they persevered on up the Kanawha in the same manner as they did the

Ohio, until they got within forty or fifty miles of where my mother was taken

prisoner from. And the old woman became more ill natured, and made another

attempt to kill my mother; and she thinks would have affected it had she not, by

accident, got loose from the old woman and, — being somewhat more active —

and out run her.

All we are told is that they made it to within about fifty miles of home before the

German woman tried to kill Mary for the second time. If we can rely on the

approximate figures given in the Narrative, we can decrease the unknown. The

second attack is said to have occurred 40 to 50 miles from home, and to have taken

place some four to five days before they arrived at Adam Harman’s on New River.

That means Mary traveled about 185 miles upstream from the Ohio before she and

the German woman parted company.

The Kanawha River is 97 miles long. I have counted 46 streams they would

have crossed before reaching the Falls of the Great Kanawha, just two miles below

the junction of Gauley and New River. The New River, which begins in North

Carolina, is at least 320 miles long, and it is only political and historical

considerations that have prevented the New and Kanawha from being recognized

as a single river, with a total length of more than 417 miles. The journey up the

28

New River to Mary’s home was about 131 miles. (I have not been able to locate

any accurate charts of New River.) If the 40 to 50 miles, mentioned in the

Narrative, is subtracted, we have a figure of approximately 85 to 90 miles that the

two women traveled this river together. This would mean the second struggle

between the two women took place on day 37 of the journey, an approximate date

of 26th of November, if they began 19

th of October; in which case the arrival would

be about 1st Dec. This would indicate that they traveled together from the Ohio

about 185 miles.

In the first part of the journey they travelled 97 miles (the length of the

Kanawha) in eight or nine days. This was only ten miles or so beyond the Licking.

If they arrived at the mouth of Kanawha on day 18 (7th November), then, they

might have made it to the mouth of New River in nine days, or 16th November (day

27). This would leave fifteen days for the rest of the journey.

The terrain, once they passed the river bottoms of the lower Kanawha,

became progressively more difficult. The estimated timetable, if correct, would

require they progress an average of less than ten miles a day. As they weakened

their progress would have naturally slowed, and the terrain, and increasingly cold

weather would have also hindered them. It also made Mary want to push forward

with as much haste as possible, to get home before they perished in freezing

weather.

Several of the tributaries of the Kanawha would have been crossed by going

upstream until they could be forded. Dr. Hale, a great-grandson of Mary, and a

lifetime resident of Charleston, West Virginia, on the Kanawha, was familiar with

the river. He notes: “They had to go up Coal river until they could wade it, as they

had done with Licking, Little Sandy, Big Sandy, Guyandotte, Twelve Pole, and

other streams.” He remarks that above the Falls of Kanawha is the beginning of

New River Gorge, and asks: “How did they ever get through it?” Today the New

and Gauley Rivers, which join to form Kanawha, are home to some of the wildest

whitewater rafting in the United States. Hale states that the hardest and most

difficult part of their journey was from Gauley Bridge to the mouth of Greenbriar

River.

29

New River Gorge.

from John P. Hale, Trans-Allegheny Pioneers, 1886.

From this point the terrain is so difficult, and they were so weary, that they

probably made very slow progress. Mary crossed the New River about forty or

fifty miles from home, but we cannot be certain where. If it was four or five days

before her arrival home (1st December 1755, if our starting date is correct), then

she would have crossed the river around the 25th or 26

th of November, which is

about day 37. There is one small piece of evidence that might confirm the river

crossing at this time: The Narrative states that after Mary got away from the

German woman she saw a canoe on the bank “the moon giving a little light”. 26

30

November 1755 was a Thursday, and the beginning of the fourth quarter of the

moon — the full moon occurred on the 18th

— and this sliver of moon would have

come up, giving a little light.

The crossing, according to John P. Hale, was near the mouth of the East

River, which flows into the New River. The fact that a canoe was left at that place

signifies that it was a regular Indian crossing. The Narrative states that Mary had

never paddled a canoe before, but it didn’t take her long to learn. On the other side

of the river she found a cabin, and, early the next morning she searched the small

overgrown garden, and found a few little turnips. The German woman on other

side of the water saw her, and called her to come get her in the canoe, but Mary

decided not to place herself in further danger.

There were hunters in the area who had built small cabins. The German

woman found a cabin, plenty of food, and some necessary clothing. She found a

horse, which would have told her that people were not far away. Mary continued

down the river and arrived at the home of Adam Harmon on the banks of New

River. It is said in the Narrative that he took great care of Mary, feeding her a little

at a time; however, the German woman apparently ate her fill immediately, and

suffered no ill effects.

Both women made it back to their homes. According to her son John’s

narrative it took Mary 42½ days to return home, and the German woman was

found shortly afterwards. This very remarkable circumstance, was reported in the

papers at the time. These notices from the newspapers, though meager, are the

earliest reports we have of the remarkable story of Mary Ingles’s journey.

After her return, the Ingles family lived for a short time at Vauses Fort, but

then she insisted on moving east of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and thus avoided

being captured again when that Fort was taken, 25th

June 1756. John Ingles wrote

in his Narrative of the Ingles Family:

My father and mother continued at the Dunkert Bottom until the next spring. And

as the settlers in this country was likely to be harassed by the Indians again that

season my mother became very restless and uneasy, and could not be reconciled

to stay there. My Father, to gratify her, moved her about twenty miles to another

fort, called Vauses Fort, on the Head of Roanoke, where their was more families

collected, and a much stronger fort; and more men to guard it. But as the Indians

was making depredations on the frontiers, she still could not rest reconciled the

31

stay there. My father then moved her down into Bedford County, below the Blue

Ridge, and in the course of that Fall there was a strong party of French and

Indians came on to Vauses fort, attacked it, and finally took the fort, and killed

and captured all the families that was there. And, had it not been through the

direction of a kind Providence that my mother had gone from this fort, she would

have fallen into their savage hands again, and would have been killed or taken

prisoner the second time.

Mary appears in the 1810 census living with her son John, but she was always

independent, and maintained her own separate cabin. The incidents her

descendants told of her old age show she still had plenty of spirit. Mary died in

1815, at the age of 83 or 84.

The Significance of Mary’s Life

Against what background can we view the life of Mary Ingles. What is the

significance of this single event that people should continue to discuss it after so

long a time? I think it can best be understood in the light of the great intellectual

tradition that culminated in what is often referred to as the Judeo-Christian, or

Biblical wisdom literature.

The significance of a single life in the worldview of the wisdom tradition

can best be grasped, according to Prof. James Kugel of Harvard University, by

comparing that life to the canvas of an artist. Each of us gets to paint a canvas; just

one, then it is ours forever. Not everyone will produce a masterpiece.

It is difficult to evaluate a painting — or a life — while it is in progress.

What was potential becomes actual as the process continues, but many other

possibilities are ruled out as the canvas fills up. At last it is filled up completely.

It is only then that we can step back and see its significance: The past is present

there on the canvas.

It is not the subject that counts. All those brushstrokes, and everyday events,

were creating a stark reality, not shades of gray, but in black and white, standing

aloof from the variegated intricacies of life — for neither money, ability, position, or

intelligence, is what counts in the end. What counts in this view of the world is what

Prof. Kugel calls “the sharp contrast of moral opposites and all-or-nothing choices”.

With one bold stroke Mary marked her canvas forever. This event eclipses

32

everything else in her life. It is the main thing we see when we see her canvas. It is

not the journey itself that stands out; it is the spirit in which she did it. Her

travelling companion made the same journey, but what tends to stand out there, for

most viewers, is the “moral opposite” — even her name has been forgotten. We

must not only do a thing, we must do it surpassingly well against all odds to produce

a masterpiece.

The Song of Moses (Psalm 90), as Prof. Kugel says, stands as a kind of

culmination of the wisdom tradition: The Psalmist reminds us that if, by reason of

strength, we reach the age of fourscore years, still we are soon cut off and fly

away: so teach us to number our days, and apply our hearts unto wisdom. Then

the song continues, showing us the significance and value of life: Let Thy work

appear unto Thy servants, and Thy glory unto their children, and let the beauty

of the Lord our God be upon us. It is this stark beauty that rests upon the life of

such as Mary Ingles. The “all-or-nothing” choice was Mary’s, but both Mary and

her son, John, attributed the accomplishment of it to the work of divine

Providence. Her inspiring deed has enriched us by example, becoming part of the

texture of our life and history. It teaches us to value the beauty possible in each

individual life, for some of her beauty has come to rest upon us.

Note

It is intended that complete notes and documentation for this work will be published in a

companion paper. The manuscript of the Ingles Narrative which relates the story of Mary’s

capture and escape, is available on the Boone County Public Library Website, courtesy of the

University of Virginia Library. Scanned copies of the first thirteen pages of the original, along

with my transcription, and some additional documentary materials, may be accessed at:

http://www.bcpl.org/lhg/ingles

33

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the following for their help and encouragement in the research and

writing of this paper: Lucinda Brown, Director, Boone County Public Library; Bridget Striker,

Local History Librarian, Boone County Public Library; Patty Hons, a descendant of Mary

Ingles, of Lawrenceburg, Indiana; Heather Riser, Special Collections Librarian, University of

Virginia, for her assistance in providing scanned copies of the original Ingles Manuscript; Karl

Lietzenmayer, editor of the Northern Kentucky Heritage Magazine, for many editorial

suggestions that improved the style of the paper; Becky Kempf, Director of Public Relations,

Boone County Public Library, for her assistance in the publication of the book; my aunt,

Margie Patterson, who encouraged me to research and write about Mary Ingles; my father

James R. Duvall, of Union, Kentucky, an editor of many historical documents, who has

encouraged my historical work; and for the assistance of my wife, Nicole Duvall, who came to

Big Bone from her home at Beauty Mountain, on the New River Gorge.

20 March 2009.

James Duvall, M. A.

James Duvall was born in Lexington, Kentucky. He graduated from Clay County High

School in Manchester, Kentucky, in 1976, and earned his B. A. in Bible and Ancient

Languages at the Lexington Baptist College in 1980. He graduated from the Austin Peay

State University with a M. A. in History. His thesis, Principia Historia; or, R. G.

Collingwood and the Logic of History, was accepted, and the degree granted, in 1988.

He has done doctoral work at Hebrew Union College, in Cincinnati, completing all

course work for the degree in Ancient Near Eastern Studies; instead of writing a

dissertation he took an M. A. in Bible and Cognate Studies, graduating in 2000.

James is the Local History Research Specialist for the Boone County Public Library, and

is compiling the Annals of Boone County. He is writing a history of Big Bone in his

spare time. He and his wife, Nicole, and their six children, live in a cabin on Big Bone

Creek, near the Ohio River, in Boone County, Kentucky.

Boone County Public Library

1786 Burlington Pike

Burlington, Kentucky 41005 859-342-BOOK (2665)

www.bcpl.org