After serving in the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War, Col. Zane traveled to Washington, D.C., in early 1796. He petitioned Congress for money to finance the construction of a road to encourage settlement in the Northwest Territory and speed up travel times to Kentucky. Zane would profit by construction of the road, both because he owned most of the land at its starting point of Wheeling, and also because he intended to buy tracts of land along the route (see below). Nonetheless, it was in the national interest for such a road to be built. Congress approved a contract financing the project in May 1796.