Betty Zane: Western Heroine in American Revolutionary War

Elizabeth "Betty" Zane McLaughlin Clark was William Andrew Zane and Nancy Ann Zane's daughter. She was honored as a heroine of the Revolutionary War on the American frontier. In 1769, Ebenezer, Silas and Jonathan who were Zane brothers migrated from Moorefield, Hardy County, West Virginia and finally settled at present-day Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia. The other Zane family’s members later joined them at the new residence. On September 11, 1782, in accordance to a historical marker in Wheeling, the Zane family was being chased in Fort Henry by American Indian enemies. During the fight, her father was wounded and fell from the top of the fort right in front of her while Betty was loading a Kentucky rifle. The chief of the fort said, "We have lost two men, one Mr. Zane and the other gentlemen, and we need black gunpowder."