Ohio River Trilogy

Zane Grey is America's most beloved author of western novels. Set during the American Revolution, the Fort Henry Saga is based on the lives of Grey's own ancestors. The war is winding down when the pioneers at Fort Henry must fight off a fierce Indian attack. Their only hope lies with Betty Zane, who must run a deadly gauntlet.

Betty Zane is the story of the first settlers in the Ohio Valley and their fight for survival during the Revolutionary War. The British have organized and incited the various eastern tribes to attack American "Rebels" in this lesser-known theater of the war. Betty is a fiery beauty whose quest for romance with Alfred Clarke is interrupted time and again by Indian raids and battles. In an unexpected twist, it is Betty who turns the tide at the final battle of Fort Henry. Inspired by the life and adventures of his own great-great-grandmother, Betty Zane is Zane Grey's first novel. This and the other two books in the Ohio River series are considered some of Grey's best work.

Set in the dangerous West Virginia frontier, this is the story of the heroic Betty Zane, the beautiful young sister of old Colonel Isaac Zane, one of the most courageous of the pioneers. Balanced against the grim incidents of the Revolutionary War is the love story of Betty and Alfred Clarke, a handsome young soldier. Their romance, however, is plagued by troubles and endless interruptions before reaching its stirring climax. The exciting life around Fort Henry, an attack by Indians, Betty's heroic defense of the beleaguered garrison at Wheeling, the burning of the fort, and Betty's final race for life make up this remarkable story, a story filled with the life, color, and spirit of pioneer days.

In 1777, pioneers were faced with displaced Native Americans, and marauding white men who preyed upon settlers. But Wetzel, a great frontiersman, became their protector, known as "the Spirit of the Border."

Jim Girty and his brothers incite acts of savagery and war against white settlers.One of Jim Girty's targets is the Village of Peace, a settlement of Christian Indians who have been converted by Moravian missionaries. Under the preaching of Reverend Jim Downs, the Christian faith is gaining a foothold. Girty and his ruffians, playing on the fear and hostility of surrounding tribes, incite them to gather at the village where they throw the ominous war club to the ground.

As the Revolutionary War draws to an end, the violence on the frontier only accelerates. The infamous Girty brothers incite Indians to a number of massacres, but when the Village of Peace, a Christian utopian settlement, is destroyed, the settlers know they will have to hunt Chief Wingenund down.Lewis Wetzel, known to the Indians as the Death Wind, undertakes this mission of revenge. The stakes increase when he learns of a planned attack on Fort Henry. Armed with only his long rifle and knife, Wetzel sets out to single-handedly turn the tide in this bloody border war.

After the American Revolution, Jonathan Zane becomes a celebrated scout on the frontier. His adventurous spirit and love of the wild lead him to Fort Henry, scene of countless Indian attacks. Farmers have been murdered, women abducted, cabins burned. Zane teams up with a legendary scout to mete out justice to Indians and inciting outlaws, and settlers begin to enjoy the lush Ohio Valley in peace. One pioneer hopes to end Zane's career as a tireless protector. Spirited and beguiling Betty Sheppard begs him to give up his lonely borderman existence. Duty commands, however, that he resist all charms except those of the forest trails.

A genuine and vivid chronicle of frontier days along the Ohio River when a cocked rifle and a soft step were the surest means of survival.

The Last Trail is the third and final novel in Zane Grey's Ohio River trilogy. In many ways, this concluding volume of the saga is one of perpetuation. The wilderness along the Ohio has been rapidly disappearing. Forests have been replaced by farms. Woodsmen, hunters, and frontiersmen are becoming farmers. This is true, in fact, for almost everyone except that strange and wonderful character, the "mysterious, shadowy, elusive man, whom few pioneers ever saw, but of whom all knew," Lew Wetzel.Known by the Indians as Death Wind, Wetzel and his partner, Jonathan Zane, are hard on the trail of white rustlers led by Simon Girty and Bing Leggitt. One night at their campfire, Helen Sheppard and her father, who have become lost in the forest on their way to Fort Henry, are approached by Wetzel and Zane. For Zane and Sheppard, this accidental encounter is the beginning of a romance that will be fraught with many dangers. Betty Zane, whose dash for gunpowder in the defense of Fort Henry during the Revolutionary War is now legendary, and her brother, Colonel Ebenezer Zane, are also among the characters in The Last Trail-older now, sharing their wisdom and experiences with a younger generation.