Elisabeth Betty Zane

Elisabeth Betty Zane was a heroine of the American frontier whose courage, which was brought to light during an attack by American Indians, inspired reports and literary novels. Betty lived in the city of Wheeling, in West Virginia, founded in 1769 by her elder Ebenezer brothers, Jonathan and Silas.

In the month of September 1782, according to reports, the city was under siege by the Indians who were allies to the British. Betty, who had just returned from Philadelphia, together with all the inhabitants of the city, took refuge inside Fort Henry without adequate supply of gunpowder. She volunteered to go to the Ebenezer’s house, which was around 50 metres from the fort, in which there was a large supply of gunpowder. To the objections raised regarding the greater speed of a man to cover the distance, she replied: you do not have any more men to assign to this; in defence of the fort, a woman would go amiss and it is better that a woman dies instead of a man. At this point, convinced, they opened the doors of the fort and Betty ran towards the house of the brother. The attackers, surprised and perhaps amused, did not open fire. When Betty, however, reappeared from the house, running with the gunpowder keg, they guessed the purpose of her incursion and immediately started to fire with their muskets. Despite several shots hitting her dress, she succeeded to reach the fort safe and sound. The gunpowder that she retrieved was enough to allow them to resist until the reinforcements arrived. The events just narrated are not proven by historical documents and there are several contradictions in narratives; however they have become part of those legends which are often spun around episodes related to the American Frontier. Published in 1831 in Chronicles of Border Warfare, edited by Alexander S. Withers, these were an integral part of the novel Betty Zane (1903) written by Grey Zane, her descendant. Very little is known of the later life of Betty Zane except that she got married and moved to Martins Ferry in Ohio. She died in 1831.