Mary Draper Ingles

Mary Draper Ingles is a Virginia historical marker in Blacksburg, Montgomery County, dedicated 1998.

West Campus Drive at Duck Pond Drive, VPI, Blacksburg

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On 30 July 1755, during the French and Indian War, Shawnee Indians attacked the Draper's Meadow settlement nearby. They killed Col. James Patton, Casper Barger, Mrs. George Draper, and a Draper child, wounded James Cull, and captured Mary Draper Ingles, her two sons, Mrs. John Draper, and Henry Leonard. The Indians took their captives to Ohio. After several months, Ingles escaped and wandered some 800 miles to return home, a legendary feat. She and her husband, William, moved near Radford and operated a New River ferry. She died and was buried there in 1815, aged 83.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1755 · (Canada, Louisiane et Terres Angloises. Southeast section) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1794 · Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1807 · Map Of Virginia (lower center sheet) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1814 · Kentucky (Mathew Carey, 1814) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1890 · Christiansburg, Virginia (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

(Canada, Louisiane et Terres Angloises. Southeast section), 1755, covering the location of Mary Draper Ingles, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — (Canada, Louisiane et Terres Angloises. Southeast section), 1755, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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Marker program managed by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

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