| On November 2, 1778, a small group of Delaware Indians entered the Slocum home & carried away Frances who was then just five years old. The first night after her abduction was spent in a crude shelter under a rock ledge along Abraham Creek, believed to be within the state park boundary. Frances tried to escape during the first night but was soon recaptured. Frances was taken along as the American Indians moved westward & spent the rest of her life with them.
Her brothers never gave up the search. Fifty-nine years after her abduction they found her living on a reservation near Peru, Indiana. She had been married twice & had borne four children. Frances refused the pleas of her brothers to return to Pennsylvania. The brothers wrote to her & learned many of the details of her abduction & life with American Indians.
Frances Slocum died in Indiana in 1847, at the age of 74. The Mississinewa Reservoir & State Forest in Indiana contains the Frances Slocum State Recreational Area & Lost Sister Trail. Along the Mississinewa River in Indiana, there is a monument that marks the final resting-place of Frances Slocum, also called Mocanaquah, the “Young Bear.” |
Frances Slocum State Park Campground Web Site
Driving Direction GPS Coordinates:
41.348010, -75.891535
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Campground: Frances Slocum State Park in Wyoming Pennsylvania *