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Series

Ohio River Trilogy

The Ohio River Trilogy follows the Zane family and the bordermen of the upper Ohio Valley through the final years of the Revolutionary frontier. Betty Zane establishes Fort Henry and the family legend; The Spirit of the Border moves into missionary settlements and border warfare; The Last Trail looks toward the passing of the old borderman world after the Revolution.

The three novels blend family tradition, frontier legend and real Revolutionary-era conditions into a connected historical sequence.

Reading order

Books in this series (3 books)

Betty Zane cover

1. Betty Zane

Zane Grey

First published 1903

4.2(939)

On the upper Ohio frontier, the Zane family helps establish and defend the settlement around Fort Henry at present-day Wheeling. Their lives are shaped by isolation, raids and the uncertain authority of a community standing at the edge of colonial and Revolutionary-era expansion. Betty Zane grows…

The Spirit of the Border cover

2. The Spirit of the Border

Zane Grey

First published 1906

4.0(1,815)

In the Ohio Valley frontier of 1782, missionaries, settlers and experienced bordermen move through a region shaped by raids, reprisals and competing claims to land. Efforts to convert Native communities coexist uneasily with military violence, while isolated settlements depend on men who understand the forest and…

The Last Trail cover

3. The Last Trail

Zane Grey

First published 1909

4.0(2,612)

In 1783, the upper Ohio frontier is entering a period of uneasy transition. Two veteran bordermen, including the famed Lewis Wetzel, continue to defend isolated settlements around Fort Henry even as the Revolutionary War draws to a close and increasing numbers of settlers push westward. Their…