Land of the empire builders, murderers

"Some people did not quite believe that there ever had been a Mr Hurtle. Others said that there certainly had been a Mr Hurtle and that to the best of their belief he still existed. The fact, however, best known of her was, that she had shot a man through the head somewhere in Oregon. She had not been tried for it, as the world of Oregon had considered that the circumstances justified the deed."

-Anthony Trollope, The Way We Live Now

"I'm a bookkeeper's son/ I don't wanna hurt no one/ I crossed my old man back in Oregon/ don't take me alive./ Got a case of dynamite/ I could hold out here all night/ I crossed my old man back in Oregon/ don't take me alive.

- Steely Dan,"Don't Take Me Alive"