Follow the River: Thom versus Original Account Follow the River, written by James Alexander Thom, was based on the capture of Mary Draper Ingles by a group of Shawnee Indians and the escape that followed her captivity. It was a somewhat accurate account of the events that may have happened during her long journey to and from the Shawnee village. These similarities are very beneficial because it gives the reader a sense of the factual side of the journey. Thus, the reader is able to understand how hard a life the frontier people had to live. However, there are a few deviations that Thom makes. Th