. . . . They are nearly 18 miles from Fort Henry and they worry for their lives. Fortunately, for them, Jonathan Zane and his companion were dispatched by Colonel Zane to search for them and they reach Fort Henry safely.

Helen Sheppard's family goes to Fort Henry to start a new life. She has many young men who are interested in her. One especially seems obsessed with her, a Mr. Brandt from Detroit. Helen, however, finds him crass and ungentlemanly. She finds Jonathan Zane quite alluring, but because of his frontiersman upbringing, he has very little proper manners. His gruff mannerisms upset Helen. Then Helen overhears Mr. Brandt talk of a plan which involves the guide Mr. Sheppard had hired to bring them to Fort Henry. A plan that involves her abduction. Rather than run back to the fort and risk capture, she runs into the forest to find Jonathan Zane, who is on patrol. And she must find them before Mr. Brandt and his men manage to steal everything from Fort Henry and destroy the lives of everyone who lives there.

Zane Grey is best known for writing over ninety pulp and adventure novels set in the romanticized Old West. His novels include Lone Star Rangers and Riders of the Purple Sage. He is an inductee Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. The Last Trail is the sequel to Spirit of the Border.