Texas author Edwin Shrake sets his epic novel in the frontier town of Austin, Texas in 1839. Rapid growth of the community has made it a pearl for the
thirsty leadership of the young republic. Its second president, Mirabeau
Lamar, chooses to move the capital from Houston to Austin. The problems faced
in this move form the basis for Shrake's story.
His characters are, true to Texas form, larger than life. The predominant
hero is Matthew Caldwell, a Texas Ranger with the grit and determination
associated with the professional lawman. A widower, he arranges with an agent
for a German bride to come to Texas in return for an arranged sum of money. A
helpmate is desirable in the harsh country where he lives. Hannah proves
loyal, beautiful and a spirited companion.
A complication to Caldwell's anticipated bliss arrives in the person of
Doctor Romulus Swift. Doc's sister, Cullasaja, travels to Texas to live with
their distant relatives, remnants of the Cherokee nation. First Republic
President Sam Houston has given them land near Austin, a secure home for
their families. Swift escorts his sister to the tribal home where she will
make her new life. He seeks ancient treasure that is guarded by a grisly
half-ape, half-man at a cave's entrance at Comancheria, but the gold is
secondary to his dream of securing ancient wisdom in the cave. When Hannah
meets Doc, her loyalty to Caldwell is tested. He is attracted to her as well.
The sinister character Henry Longstreet is the epitome of all that is evil.
He is a braggart, capable of vile actions to carry out his selfish interests,
and Cullasaja becomes his innocent prey. The man is capable of grossest
inhumanity and will place blame on any that stand in his way to power in the
new territory. He operates under the guise of loyalty to President Lamar.
The native peoples become pawns in a guileless war for riches and land in
Austin. The Comanche, a warlike tribe that inhabits the Comancheria, are the
enemy when they resist the Texans' forward move. Because the native peoples
are misunderstood, soldiers seek to displace the Cherokees along with the
Comanche. Blood is shed when soldiers advance on them, and Sam Houston's
early promises of land ownership are ignored.
Shrake uses Caldwell, Swift, the women, the politicians, the native peoples,
and the land-grabbers to illustrate life in the new Austin. His words are a
mirror of both their depths and shallows as inhabitants in a harsh frontier.
At times, the sexual fantasies and activities played out on his life stage
are graphic. Undoubtedly, these actions were realities in massacres and
battles for survival, but the details could have been softened.
Countless books have been written about Texas history. But THE BORDERLAND is
unique in the story of the push westward to build a capital city. The hardy
newcomers in this novel break ground for their descendants to cherish and
remember more than a century later.
--- Reviewed by Judy Gigstad (gigstadjudy@hotmail.com)
