Betty Zane, The Ohio River Trilogy

The legendary western author’s debut novel based on the real-life adventures of his own ancestor, an American frontier heroine of the Revolutionary War.

In the late eighteenth century, Wheeling, West Virginia, was the western frontier of colonial America. And when the young nation fought for its independence, Wheeling was the site of the American Revolution’s last battle: the Siege of Fort Henry. A vivid work of historical fiction, Betty Zane brings to life the events that culminated in that vicious attack.

On September 11, 1782, an army of two hundred British troops, together with four hundred members of the Shawnee Tribe, descended on the small fort. As enemy forces approached, Col. David Shephard charged the Zane family with mounting a defense. And while many fought bravely to save the fort, the heroine of the battle was Silas Zane’s young and spirited daughter, Betty.

Betty Zane is the first novel in a trilogy of historical westerns set along the Ohio River. It is followed by The Spirit of the Border and The Last Trail.