A fantasy book immortalizing early Americans Indian trackers as heroes. ( )

Set in and around Fort Henry shortly after the American revolution, the novel follows the adventures of the "border men", Jonathan Zane and Lewis Wetzel as they fight Indians and gangsters who threaten the settlers along the Ohio. They have dedicated their lives to killing the local natives and the white men who use the Indians to do their killing.

Enter Helen Sheppard who falls in love with Jonathan and is determined to have him settle down and live with her on a farm. At first oblivious to her charms, he notices her when every other man in the settlement including some of the more unsavory types pursue her. Eventually he has to rescue her from some of the most unsavory men in the area.

The border men at times seem almost super human with their ability to move unseen and unheard through the forest. As with any of Grey's fiction, one must wade through extremely long romantic descriptions of the countryside the characters travel through. Despite this, this was an easy and enjoyable read. ( )

This series by Zane Grey is my favorite of all his books. Wetzel is a stand out character, one I've never forgotten. To me, all the other characters in the books revolve around him, but Jonathan Zane is pretty cool too. ( )

The Last Trail by Zane Grey
Story of Fort Henry and it's occupants and how some travel there to set up their farm to work it.
Even with the military being there the bordermen can't handle all the corruption of the Indians and their friends.
Helen and her father and nephew have arrived and she's quite put off one of the bordermen won't pay attention to her.
Story takes you to the places the bordermen hunt for those who've stolen the horses and women. You feel like you're there with them as they crawl along the ground
and smell and touch and see things in the surroundings. ( )

Zane Grey stories usually convey to the reader a piece of Americana that has long vanished. The Last Trail was no exception. Set in the backwoods country of the Ohio River a few years after the American Revolution, this story is of the last of the bordermen or woodsmen that were still roaming this area, hunting Indians and outlaws and helping the homesteaders stay safe. Many of the same characters from his earlier books Betty Zane and Spirit of the Border are in this story as well, in fact these three books are often grouped together as his “Ohio River Trilogy”.

Grey portrays the border men as a dying breed, and uses a love story to show the pull that his hero goes through as he decides on whether to stay in the wilderness or come into the settlements and marry Helen, the girl he has fallen in love with. When Helen is abducted, he vows to get her back and start a new life or die trying.

With lots of killings and violence, offset by the gentle love story, The Last Trail was a fun read. The author’s love of nature shines through his poetic yet detailed descriptions of the surrounding woodlands. Originally published in 1909, the prose is somewhat outdated and flowery, yet fits with the mode of the story. ( )