Betty Zane

A 19th century depiction of Elizabeth Zane's legendary feat of retrieving powder during the 1782 siege of Fort Henry

Elizabeth "Betty" Zane (July 19, 1759 – August 23, 1823) was a heroine of the Revolutionary War on the American frontier. She was the sister of Ebenezer Zane, and a direct aunt of the author Zane Grey.

The community of Betty Zane near Wheeling, West Virginia was named after her.

According to a historical marker in Wheeling, on September 11, 1782 the Zane family was under siege in Fort Henry by American Indian allies of the British. During the siege, while Betty was loading a Kentucky rifle, her dad was wounded and fell from the top of the fort and right in front of her. The captain of the fort said that we had lost two men, one Mr. Zane and another gentlemen, and we need black gunpowder. Betty Zane's dad had known that this was going to happen so he had buried a box of black gunpowder in their cabin. Betty Zane volunteered to venture out of the fort to retrieve more supplies. The other women refused to let her go. But she had two reasons why she had to go. The first reason was that she was a woman and the enemy would let her go. The second reason was that she was the only one who knew where her father buried the gunpowder. The opposing forces, apparently surprised at seeing a young woman emerge from the fort, let her pass. In her family's cabin, Betty filled either a tablecloth or her apron (accounts vary) with gunpowder and ammunition, and transported it back to the fort. Apparently unaware of what she was carrying, the enemy again let her pass. (Some accounts say she was shot and attacked by the Indians when they relized what she was doing, but she made it safely back into the fort. )

The Zane family later settled in what became Bellaire, Ohio, across the river from Wheeling, and played an important role during Ohio's formative years.

Betty was buried in what is now the Walnut Grove Pioneer Cemetery in Martins Ferry, Ohio. Her heroism is remembered each year during Martins Ferry's Betty Zane Pioneer Days.

Betty Zane's descendent, the author Zane Grey, wrote a historical novel about her, entitled Betty Zane. One of the main events in the story is the tale of Betty Zane fetching supplies from the family cabin. When Zane Grey could not find a publisher for the book, he published it himself in 1903 using his wife's money. Zane Grey later named his daughter, Betty Zane, after his famous ancestress.

References

• Grey, Zane (1903). Betty Zane. New York: Charles Francis Press. p. 291. LCCN 04-1342.

External links

• Betty Zane by Zane Grey' at Project Gutenberg
• Elizabeth Zane chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution

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