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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.