Character guide

Betty Zane

major

Also known as Elizabeth Zane, Betty, Elizabeth, Zane, Poor Betty, ketch Betty, Dear Betty, Mis' Betty

Betty is the bright center of Fort Henry's social life: she teaches Sunday school, paints her birch-bark walls, and charms settlers, children, and shy young frontiersmen alike. Her brother brags about her marksmanship and canoeing, but her private grief over a departed Eastern gentleman reveals a more vulnerable self beneath the cheer. As the story opens, her restlessness and hidden longing make her the emotional hinge on which the fort's quieter dramas turn.

Alfred Clarke

major

Also known as Clarke, Alfred, Mr. Clarke, Mr. Alfred Clarke, Poor Clarke, Poor Alfred

Alfred arrives at Fort Henry as an educated outsider, well-liked by Colonel Zane and his wife, and quietly adored by Betty. His absence the previous fall is the first clue that something has dimmed her usual brightness, and his name alone can pale the Colonel's face. Whether he returns or remains a memory, he is the measure of Betty's heart and the story's romantic undertow.

Lewis Wetzel

major

Also known as Wetzel, the intrepid Wetzel, Lew, Lew Wetzel, Lewis, answer Wetzel

Wetzel is the legendary Indian fighter whose name alone quiets a room, a man of few words who tells his tales only when Betty coaxes him. His story of sparing a wounded young Shawnee, and of that brave later cutting his bonds at the stake, reveals a code deeper than vengeance. In a settlement braced for war, he embodies both the frontier's brutal necessity and its strange, unexpected mercies.

Colonel Ebenezer Zane

major

Also known as Col. Zane, Ebenezer, Ebenezer Zane, a Zane, Zane, Col, Colonel Zane, The Colonel, the Colonel

Colonel Zane is the story's anchor: a broad-shouldered pioneer who blazed his claim on the Ohio, built the fort, and hosts famous men beside his roaring hearth. He dotes on Betty, brags about her daring, and reads her moods more sharply than he admits. As both family head and military leader, his judgments and his household set the stakes for everything the settlement faces.

Isaac Zane

supporting

Also known as Isaac, Zane, Poor Isaac

Isaac was taken with his brothers in the frontier wars; unlike the others, he was never ransomed, bound instead by the affection of Myeerah, daughter of Chief Tarhe. His long silence has hardened into assumed death, leaving a wound in the Zane family that the story quietly probes. His fate, and the pull between two worlds, shadows the settlement's sense of who is lost and who might yet return.

Myeerah

supporting

Also known as The present Myeerah, a Wyandot brave

Myeerah is the princess of Tarhe's Huron band, and her devotion to Isaac has kept him from escaping the Wyandot again and again. She stands at the intersection of two peoples, her affection both a shelter and a chain for the youngest Zane. Her presence complicates every assumption the settlers make about captivity, loyalty, and who counts as family.

Simon Girty

supporting

Also known as Girty, Simon, Mr. Simon Girty, the tories Girty

Girty moves through the border country as the settlers' most feared enemy, a white man who has thrown in with the British and their Indian allies. His menace is the shadow that makes Fort Henry's walls feel thin and every distant war whoop feel personal. He matters because the dread he spreads turns an already dangerous wilderness into a place where loyalty, courage, and survival are tested daily.

Major McColloch

supporting

Also known as Major Samuel McColloch, Sam, McColloch, Major, Sammy, old Sam, Old Sam

McColloch is one of the trusted men of the border, a soldier whose easy camaraderie with the Zane family masks a hardened readiness for Indian warfare. He has known Betty since they were children, and his affection for the family sits alongside the grim duties of defending the fort. His daring and steadiness make him the kind of ally the settlement leans on when the alarms come.

Jonathan Zane

supporting

Also known as Jonathan, Zane

Jonathan belongs to the remarkable Zane clan, a family whose name alone steadies nerves along the Ohio. He is a man of the woods rather than the parlor, more at home reading sign than making conversation, and his competence is the unspoken standard his siblings measure themselves against. In the early arc he stands as one of the fort's dependable defenders, a brother whose presence shapes Betty's world and the settlement's safety.

Silas Zane

supporting

Also known as Silas, Zane

Silas is part of the storied Zane family, whose history of captivity, ransom, and frontier hardship has forged a clan both hardy and close-knit. Where his brothers may burn with daring, Silas brings a grounded, workmanlike presence to the household and the fort. He matters as one of the family pillars whose loyalty and steadiness give Betty a home worth defending.

Lydia Boggs

supporting

Also known as Lydia, Boggs

Lydia moves through the settlement's social world as a companion to Betty and the daughter of Captain Boggs, part of the tight circle of families bound together inside the stockade. Her friendship with Betty offers warmth and normalcy against the backdrop of raids and alarms, a reminder of what the settlers are protecting. She matters as one of the young women whose lives and romances give the early story its human stakes.

Tige

supporting

Also known as Dear old Tige

Tige is the dear old companion who follows Betty everywhere, a familiar presence in the Zane household and along the trails beyond the fort. His devotion is simple and absolute, a counterweight to the human treacheries and dangers that surround the settlement. He matters because his loyalty mirrors Betty's own courage, and his presence lends warmth to a story shadowed by war.

Tarhe

supporting

Also known as Old Tarhe

Tarhe belongs to the wary diplomacy of the Ohio frontier, where settlers, British agents, and rival nations all seek his ear. His authority rests on restraint rather than raids, which sets him apart from chiefs who measure honor in scalps and victories. That patience becomes the story's quiet counterweight: while war parties gather and Fort Henry braces, Tarhe's choices help decide whether the coming storm can still be turned aside.

Mrs. Zane

supporting

Mrs. Zane keeps the family anchored inside the stockade, raising children who ask about bears and buffalo while soldiers and neighbors pass through her door. She speaks little, but her few words—like the report of her brother's ride from Short Creek—carry the weight of a woman who has learned to read danger in ordinary news. Her quiet competence gives the settlement its sense of normal life, the thing the coming siege will threaten most.

Alice Reynolds

supporting

Also known as Alice

Alice moves through the same parlors, church services, and evening gatherings that make Betty the darling of the frontier, and the two share the confidences young women trade when danger is always near. Her presence sharpens the stakes of fort life: courtship, gossip, and courage all matter more when the stockade walls may soon be tested. Through Alice, the novel's domestic warmth and its approaching violence sit side by side.

Cornplanter

supporting

Cornplanter stands at the far edge of the settlers' world, the feared answer to every rumor of canoes on the river and tracks in the woods. Where Tarhe counsels and waits, Cornplanter strikes, and his reputation gives the novel its constant low hum of peril. He matters because he turns the fort's wooden walls from a curiosity of frontier engineering into a necessity—and because the settlers' survival will be measured against his skill.

Logan

minor

A Mingo chief, mentioned in historical context of frontier conflicts.

Ralfe Miller

minor

Also known as Miller, this Ralfe Miller

A settler at the fort, possibly a minor antagonist or neighbor.

Andrew Zane

minor

Also known as Andrew, Zane

A brother of Betty, possibly a younger sibling.

Lord Dunmore

minor

Also known as Dunmore

The British colonial governor of Virginia, involved in frontier policy.

Daniel Boone

minor

Also known as Boone, Dan

The legendary frontiersman, mentioned as a contemporary figure.

Jack

minor

Also known as Captain Jack, Johnny

A minor character, possibly a scout or soldier at the fort.

Crow

minor

A Native American character, possibly a scout or warrior.

Bessie

minor

Also known as Bess

A young girl at the fort, likely a child of one of the families.

McKee

minor

Also known as the renegades McKee, Elliott, Girty

A renegade working with the British and Indians against the settlers.

Captain Sullivan

minor

Also known as Sullivan

A military officer involved in the defense of the frontier.

Colonel Crawford

minor

Also known as Crawford, Col, the Colonel

A colonial officer leading campaigns against the Indians.

Captain Boggs

minor

Also known as Capt. Boggs

A military officer and likely relative of Lydia Boggs.

Betts

minor

A minor character at the fort, possibly a soldier or settler.

Miss Zane

minor

A formal reference to Betty Zane, used in dialogue or narration.

Caesar

minor

A servant or enslaved person at the Zane household.

Wingenund

minor

Also known as Son-of-Wingenund, Wapatomeka

A Delaware chief, involved in negotiations and warfare.

Susan

minor

A minor female character at the fort.

Eb Zane

minor

Also known as Eb, brother Eb

A brother of Betty, possibly a variant of Ebenezer or another sibling.

Dan Watkins

minor

Also known as Dan

A settler at the fort, possibly a neighbor or friend.

Thundercloud

minor

A Native American warrior, likely a Wyandot or Delaware.

Madcap

minor

A horse owned by Betty, known for its spirited nature.

Red Fox

minor

A Native American character, possibly a scout or warrior.

White Eagle

minor

Also known as The Eagle, the Eagle, The White Eagle, the White Eagle

A Native American chief or warrior, possibly a Delaware.

George Reynolds

minor

Also known as George

A settler at the fort, possibly related to Alice Reynolds.

Old John Bennet

minor

Also known as old John Bennet

An elderly settler at the fort, part of the community.

Roger

minor

A minor character, possibly a soldier or scout.

Harry Bennet

minor

Also known as Harry, little Harry Bennet, Harry Bennett

A young boy at the fort, likely a child of the Bennet family.

Slover

minor

A scout or frontiersman, possibly captured by Indians.

Hugh Bennet

minor

Also known as Hugh, Bennet

A settler at the fort, part of the Bennet family.

Hamilton

minor

Also known as Governor Hamilton

The British governor at Detroit, orchestrating Indian attacks.

Smiling Moon

minor

Also known as Moon

A Native American woman, possibly a Wyandot.

Captain Pratt

minor

Also known as Capt. Pratt

A military officer at the fort.

Lyde

minor

A minor character, possibly a soldier or settler.

George Martin

minor

Also known as George

A settler at the fort, possibly a neighbor.

Annie

minor

A minor female character at the fort.

Grandmother Watkins

minor

Also known as Watkins, old Grandmother Watkins, old Grandma Watkins, Grandma Watkins

An elderly woman at the fort, part of the Watkins family.

General George Rogers Clark

minor

Also known as General Clark, Clarke

A famous frontier military leader, mentioned in historical context.

Pipe

minor

A Native American chief, possibly a Delaware.

Harry Martin

minor

Also known as Harry, Martin, Henry

A settler or scout at the fort.

General Braddock

minor

Also known as Braddock, Gen. Braddock

A British general defeated in the French and Indian War, mentioned historically.

Simon Kenton

minor

Also known as Kenton

A famous frontiersman and scout, mentioned in passing.

King Louis Philippe

minor

The future French king, mentioned as having visited the frontier.

James Girty

minor

Also known as James, Girty

Brother of Simon Girty, also a renegade.

Colonel Cresop

minor

Also known as The Colonel

A military officer, possibly a minor character.

Bruin

minor

A bear, possibly a pet or wild animal encountered.

Old White Tail

minor

A deer or animal, possibly a hunting reference.

Will Martin

minor

Also known as Martin

A settler at the fort, possibly a minor character.

Young Bennet

minor

Also known as Bennet

A younger member of the Bennet family at the fort.