The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1882-09-23

vailed and she was permitted to essay
the effort.

the effort.
Divesting herself of superfuous
clothing, the gates were thrown open
for her egress, when, bounding forth
with the feetness of deer, her long
black hair streaming like a banner
on the air, she rapidly sped in the
direction of her brothers house, which
she reached in security. Not rife
had been raised nor shot fired at
her, the Indians, when they saw her,
contemptuously exclaiming, "A
sqnaw!" "a squawr
Hastily communicating her errand,
COL Zane snatched tablecloth at
hand, which he securely bound around
her waist. and emptying into it the
coveted powder, she set out on her
return. She had covered about half
the distance between the house and
the fort, when the savages, appre-
hending her purpose, fired a
storm of bullets at her person,
which happily proved harmless. In
recounting her adventures subse-
quently, and especially this stirring
incident, she would relate that the
bullets whistled around her SO thick
and came so fast that her eyes were
blinded with the dust so that she
could scarcely distinguish her way
to the fort. AS the gates were thrown
open for her entrance the Indians
made an unavailing effort to reach
them, by rushing towards them and
securing an ingress.
This act of heroism upon the part
of Elizabeth Zane saved the lives of
the inmates of the fort and enabled
them to successfully withstand the
siege.
In the meantime the besiegers had
been continually harassed and en-
barassed by the continual firing from
Col. Zane's house, which as an out
post contributed largely To the pro-
lection Of the stockade. On the
second night it was therefore resell
we'd by the Indians TO attempt its
destruction. About midnight the
savagcs became quiet and they had
allowed their fires to die out, while a
hush of silence rested on the scene
around. The vigilance Of the oceu-
pants of the house, however, was
not deceived by appearances.
Old Sam, a Guinea negro, who be-
longed to, am, was strongly attached
to his master, Col. Zane, was on the
alert, with trusty rifle in hand. He
perceived dark object with light
ed torch in its hand wriggling along
on the ground, which, ever and anon
il would wave through the air and
blow upon to rekindlc it. Allowing
the Indian, for such it was, to ap-
proach within sure range, Sam fired,
when the savage jumped to his feet,
but fell back again yelling with rage
and pain, until he either made his
own way of or was aided to do so
by others. Twice during the night
did Sam Illustrate two similar at
tempts on the part of the Indians.
While peace between Great Britain
and the Colonies had not yet been
proclaimed, and was not for some
months subsequent, yet virtually it
did prevail and continued until its
formal declaration, so that this siege
of Fort Henry was the last battle of
the Revolution, and the capstone of
the war was laid on the soil Of West
crn Virginia.
Elizabeth Zane, the heroine of Fort
Henry, was twice married-the first
time to man by the name of Nc
Baughlih, and the second time to a
man by the name Of Clark, and her
life was spent il the immediate vi
entity of the scene Of her exploits.
Her immediate descendants have all
deceased; but her heroisms will ever
remain as monument to perpetuatc
her name and fame.
Unless speedily rescued, the past
with all its splendid achievements,
its incidents and its memories, will
be swallowed up in Oblivion. To the
youth of our land we therefore ap-
peal not to let these things die. Let
them become the guardians of our
pioneer history. and by frequent
recurrence to the scenes of the past
restore their loyalty and revive their
patriotism.