Elias Vaughn, the protagonist of Walter J. Muilenburg's homesteading novel Prairie, is a flawed hero worthy of an ancient tragedy. His obsession with bringing the wild prairie to heel blinds him to the emotional and physical destruction he causes to those he loves. Originally published in 1925, the novel depicts the costs of trying to tame the sublime beauty, terror, and desolation of a landscape indifferent to human desires.
