In 1996, Radford University student Jennifer Bunn was taking Grace Toney Edwards’ class “Appalachian Literature”. In the class, among many other things, they read a play by Earl Hobson Smith called The Long Way Home, which tells the story of Mary Draper Ingles and her kidnapping and escape from Indian captivity.
Ms. Ingles, was born Mary Draper in Philadelphia in 1732. She married William Ingles in 1750 and the two moved to the Draper’s Meadow settlement on what is now the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. The French and Indian war was raging at the time, and several settlements in Virginia and elsewhere were being invaded by Shawnee warriorsm and at some point in late July of 1755, the settlement in Draper’s Meadow was one of these. Several people were killed and injured, five were taken prisoner, and among the prisoners was Ms. Ingles and two of her children. The captives were taken to Lower Shawneetown, a Shawnee settlement in Kentucky were to live among the Shawnee, and were later moved to a settlement in Big Bone Lick, Kentucky. In the Shawnee camps, Ms. Ingles was apparently respected because of her courage, strength, and knowledge of medicinal herbs and plants. Despite this respect, her children were taken from her and given to Shawnee families. In October 1755, Ms. Ingles and another captive, escaped and made a treacherous 800 mile journey, on foot, back to Draper’s Meadow in Virginia. One of her children was later ransomed and returned to the family, the other apparently did not survive.
The Appalachian Literature class required a final project, and Earl Hobart Smith’s play made such an impression on Ms. Bunn, that she decided to create a board game based on it as her final project. Dr. Edwards was impressed with her project, and encouraged her to pursue having the game professionally published. She introduced Ms. Bunn to Mr. Bob Nicholson of the Radford Heritage Foundation, who in turn encouraged her to make a presentation to the foundation to apply for aid in producing it- which she did and used the money to professionally produce the game.
Ms. Bunn registered the game with the Library of Congress and then arranged with local Radford area business’ to print various parts of the game: Prestar Packaging (Christiansburg) manufactured the game box, Plymouth Inc (Radford) computerized the cough copy of the game, Kinkos (Blacksburg) to print the directions and background information, Game Quest (Radford) made the pieces and dice. Assembly of the game parts were done at Ms. Bunn’s house and the games were then made for sale at The Long Way Home site, Glencoe Museum, Books-A-Million, and the Radford University Bookstore. Profits from the sale of the game were split between Ms. Bunn and the Radford Heritage Foundation. The sales of the game were so successful that she was able to finish paying for her education from the proceeds!
This play was performed in Radford, Virginia for many years and was even designated as Virginia’s “Official Outdoor Historical Drama of hte Commonwealth” by the Virginia General Assembly. Our copy of this game is special because it was signed by each member of the 1996 cast.
Jennifer Bunn graduated from Radford University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education, later returned to earn a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction in 2004, and again returned to earn an endorsement in Library Science for K-12 in 2008. She has been named Virginia Lottery Super Teacher of the Year, 2008; Indian Valley Elementary Teacher of the Year, 2013; Fancy Gap Elementary Teacher of the Year, 2016; and Carrol County Teacher of the Year, 2017-18. She continues teaching and is currently working in the Hillsville, Virginia school system.
To see this boardgame in person please contact us!
https://mozart.radford.edu/archives/findingaids/LongWayHomeGame.htm
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