Mary Ingles, Early American Heroine Part 9

Mary Ingles was awakened by the sound of a horse early one morning in October of 1755. After several grueling days on the move following their escape from an Indian settlement in Ohio Mary and Duchess slept in an abandoned Indian hut across the Ohio River from the main village.

They thought it was an Indian rider they heard and worried about being recaptured. As they slipped into the brush to get away they heard what sounded like the soft ringing of a bell. Soon they learned it was a horse without a rider. Settlers often belled domestic animals in that era and allowed them to roam free. The Indians sought to steal livestock and the bell led the Indians to their prize. As for Mary she felt the horse was a godsend.

“It’ll help save our lives Duchess,” Mary said to the woman who was fifteen years her senior. “It can carry the corn and at times we can ride.”

The bell was removed from the horse’s neck so the clanging would not lead the Indians to them. The women were careful to make little noise as they took corn from the field and packed it into two grips fashioned from a blanket. They were tied together and put astride the horse like saddle bags.

As soon as possible the women continued upstream along the south bank of the Ohio River careful to avoid being seen. After several hours they stopped to rest and to eat a coarse corn mix made by pounding the corn with their tomahawks. They ate it raw as they were fearful that smoke from a fire would give away their location.

When the women came to the Big Sandy River they found it too deep to wade and turned inland along the west bank to find a point they could ford. This trek lasted the greater part of two days but eventually they found a large logjam left from a recent flood. This was near the present site of Louisa, KY below the forks of the river.

The horse was reluctant to follow the two women as they started across the large drift of logs. Mary tugged and prodded and finally got the horse to start. As they neared the center of the Big Sandy River the horse slipped and fell, it’s leg becoming entangled in the mesh of logs and limbs. It became suspended nearly upside down and was frantic. There was nothing the two women could do despite being concerned for the horse and their cargo. They also worried that the commotion might be heard by Indians.

Mary took a long dead wood limb and snared the makeshift saddlebags which were laden with corn. As she tried to pull it free from the horse and debris it broke apart with one of the sections falling into the river. Soon thereafter the horse also toppled into and became submerged in the dark water.

The women put the salvaged corn on their shoulders the following morning and continued their journey. Once across the Big Sandy they backtracked along the opposite bank until they reached the Ohio River. It had taken four days along the Big Sandy to simply get from one side to the other. Both women were weary.

It was a stressful period for Mary and the older lady. Their moccasins were worn out and their feet were bare. Their clothing was ragged and their bodies were sore from scrapes and cuts that they suffered while traveling through the woods and crossing streams of bare rocks.

Duchess was becoming increasingly disagreeable and Mary had problems of her own. She was becoming very dizzy and at times losing her balance. Her eyesight left her for nearly two hours on their last day along the Big Sandy. Duchess, in her pain and misery, reacted by speaking harshly and threatened to abandon Mary leaving her livid with pain and fear. The night cooled down quickly and as Mary lay rolled inside a blanket next to a fallen log she pondered her situation.

“What can I do,” she mused before falling asleep. “I’ve got to keep moving but I also need to rest…need to eat. I’m worried that I can’t trust Duchess. She’s going mad. I’ve got to watch her.”

There was a marked change in the older woman following the night of rest. The two talked and decided they would have to take time to eat so they began foraging about the trees near the banks of the Ohio River. They found some butternuts and black walnuts right away and after looking further they found some paw paws and grapes, although they were of poor quality.

Duchess had been captured by Indians several years before in Pennsylvania and the Indians taught her various plants with edible roots. After eating an assortment of items from the wild they continued their journey but it wasn’t long before it made Mary sick. Duchess also became sick though less so. After a long rest she searched for roots to calm their stomachs. Duchess again became bitter.

“Why I listened to you I’ll never know,” she fussed. “I’m nearly dead, my bodies black and blue and nearly frozen. Winter’s setting in and we don’t even know where we are. We’re gonna die Mary Ingles and it’s ‘cause of you. I’ve got a mind to throw you in the river.”

“Now Duchess, I must say we’ve come many a mile and we’re a lot closer to our own people than we were,” Mary answered soothingly. “Who knows? If we get back to the settlements someone will know something of your family…your boy and girls and your mama. You’ll thank the Lord a hundred times that you went through this. I know I can’t live any longer without getting back to Will. And maybe they will find a way to get my boys back.”

copyright 2024 Jadon Gibson

Editor’s note: Cold and hungry Duchess attacks Mary Ingles in this true story of an early American heroine in Jadon’s From the Mountains next week. Jadon Gibson is a widely read Appalachian writer. His stories are both historic and nostalgic in nature. Thanks to Harrogate Hospital for Animals, Elmer Kincaid Coal, Lincoln Memorial University, the Museum of Appalachia, Arnett and Steele Funeral Home, Long’s Pic Pac, Gen. Paul Phillips and Brook’s Tire for their assistance.