Zeb was born in 1846 durin' the Mexican war. He grew up on a farm in Illinois. When the Civil War broke out he was only 15, however by '62 he'd talked his father into consenting. He enlisted in the 130th Illinois Vol. Infantry. In the next 3 years, he was field promoted up to the rank of Colonel. After the "war" he went out west. He roamed and worked on several ranches. He did some bounty hunting before he settled down. He finally moved to Montana and worked for a rancher killing wolves and collecting bounty from them. 2 years later, he'd saved enough money up from the bounty to buy out the rancher.