According to a historical marker in Wheeling, on September 11, 1782, the Zane family was under siege in Fort Henry by Native American allies of the British.

During the siege, while Betty was loading a Kentucky rifle, her father was wounded and fell from the top of the fort right in front of her.

In 1782 Native American and Loyalist forces attacked the small garrison of Fort Henry (modern-day Wheeling, West Virginia) which was being defended by forty-two men under the command of Colonel David Shepherd of the Ohio Militia.

Zane's actions are credited with allowing the defenders to continue to hold the fort, which remained under American control.

More than one hundred years after her death, John S. Adams wrote a poem called "Elizabeth Zane" that achieved some acclaim.