In this epic novel, veteran writer Edwin Shrake explores the feuds and alliances among Americans, Mexicans, and Indians, the political treachery, and the tales of fortune-hungry settlers that combine to tell the story of how Texas was born. Set in the blossoming frontier town of Austin, The Borderland focuses on the lives of Romulus and Cullasaja Swift, the half-Cherokee offspring of two forward-thinking parents who have come to Texas from New York; of Henry Longfellow, a rapacious lawyer; and of Captain Matthew Caldwell, a Texas Ranger whose eccentric ways are matched only by his...