Lewis Wetzel

Who was Lewis Wetzel?

Lewis Wetzel was a frontiersman and Indian fighter who roamed the hills of western Virginia and Ohio. Wetzel County, West Virginia, is named for him. Zane Grey, the great Western novelist, wrote about Wetzel in his books Spirit of the Border, Betty Zane, and The Last Trail. Wetzel is regarded as a hero by many Americans, a lesser-known version of Daniel Boone. He was accused in 1788 of the murder of peaceful Indians, but he escaped and there was no trial.

Lewis was the son of a German emigrant named John Wetzel, who was later killed by Indians, and Mary Bonnet, daughter of Jean Jacques Bonnet of Friedrichstal, Baden, Germany. The Wetzel and Bonnet families moved to the Wheeling Creek area in what is now the northern panhandle of West Virginia in 1770. The Wetzel family settled on a section far upstream from the Ohio River in a fairly isolated location.

In 1777, Lewis, then 13, and his brother Jacob, 11, were taken prisoner by Indians, but managed to escape. Lewis was shot in the leg during the capture. The young man vowed to avenge his family. Lewis and Jacob managed to return to the location of what is now Wheeling, West Virginia, which was then called Fort Henry.