Abstract:
“Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” Lord Acton claimed. And so Elijah Talle proves. In 1863, hiding his ambition to build a cattle empire on the frontier, he persuades four other men and their families to take up homesteads with him on land he has chosen. After he takes over their land, he goes on to acquire ever more land and cattle, riding ruthlessly over anyone who gets in his way. In the process he breaks all of the Ten Commandments save one: He does not take the Lord’s name in vain.