Zane and Zanesville

The fiasco with the exotic animals in Zanesville, Ohio made me think about the Zane family, who were the earliest white settlers along the Ohio River in both West Virginia and Ohio.  Most people recognize the name of one of the Zane family descendants, Zane Gray, an author who loved the west and history, and who did not really like his chosen field of dentistry at all.  So he started writing in the evening, after his practice had closed it's doors.

The Colonel Ebenezer Zane cabin, as it looked in 1805 - 23 years after Betty Zane's famous run from the cabin to Fort Henry during a siege by British soldiers and Native Americans.  She carried gunpowder in her apron, as the Fort had run out of stores.

This is a drawing of the Fort Henry powder house and the building standing in its place in 1915.

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Some of the dead animals at Thompson's farm in Zanesville, Ohio.  The death toll included: 18 Bengal tigers; 17 African lions; 6 black bears; 2 grizzly bears; 3 mountain lions; 2 grey wolves; and 1 baboon.  ** As a lover of wildlife, I say: "This kind of atrocity must not happen again!" **