Who is Mary Rowlandson from Colonial American Travel Narratives and what is their importance?

Mary Rowlandson is the wife of a minister living in the village of Lancaster in the Massachusetts Colony during the 17th Century. While her husband was away in Boston, Lancaster was attacked by a group of hostile Native Americans, who killed several of the residents and took Rowlandson captive. Mary traveled with the Indians for eleven weeks before she was finally ransomed and returned to her husband.