The Spirit of the Border is a historical fiction work based on events taking place in the Ohio River Valley. The book follows the life and adventures of two brothers Jim, a Christian missionary and Joe, a newcomer to frontier life. It is a historical novel, but Grey uses real people such as Lewis Wertzl (Death Wind) and the renegades Simon and Jim Girty to tell the story of those who acted as the American border rangers.

Spirit of the Border is an historical novel written by Zane Grey, first published in 1906. The novel is based on events occurring in the Ohio River Valley in the late eighteenth century. It features the exploits of Lewis Wetzel, a historical personage who had dedicated his life to the destruction of Native Americans and to the protection of nascent white settlements in that region. The story deals with the attempt by Moravian Church missionaries to Christianize Indians and how two brothers' lives take different paths upon their arrival on the border.

Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1941) was an American author best known for his popular adventure novels and stories that were a basis for the Western genre in literature and the arts; he idealized the American frontier. Riders of the Purple Sag1912) was his best-selling book. In addition to the commercial success of his printed works, they had second lives and continuing influence when adapted as films and television productions. �.