Angels Along the River: Retracing the Escape Route of Mary Draper Ingles

When Eleanor Lahr read Follow the River, a novel based upon the true experiences of Mary Draper Ingles, it changed her life. Mary was captured in 1755 by Shawnee Indians and carried 500 miles from her home. Eleanor felt inexplicably compelled to retrace Mary's escape route. With little previous experience in the great outdoors, but with plucky courage, she planned and trained extensively. Sometimes alone and sometimes with strangers, she hiked for 43 days along the Ohio, Kanawha, and New Rivers.

Misunderstandings and ingrained prejudice challenged the band of walkers as much as Mother Nature; however, angels in everyday clothes helped them overcome their personal limitations, bloody blisters, broken bones, and life-threatening situations. Eleanor and her companions carried Mary's courageous story from Kentucky to Virginia in their own remarkable feat of determination and achievement.

As an act of self-preservation Eleanor did not understand initially, her physical journey became a transformative personal journey that redefined her as a capable, strong, and independent woman.

"The inspiration is contagious and it affects us all in different ways...Eleanor's book is another carrier of the inspiration." James Alexander Thom, author of the best-seller Follow the River