4: Where the Mines End and the Village Begins

Power in The Wilderness

Victor Power is now the Mayor of Hibbing, but his first action surprises many. Vic follows former Mayor Weirick to a posh resort in French Lick Springs, Indiana, for a private one-on-one meeting. Power’s working vacation allows his friends to vet candidates for a new administration. With Vic at the helm, this new government aims to develop this wild town with the tax dollars of the mining companies, whether the companies like it or not. We meet the members of Vic’s inner circle, a hodge-podge of characters with relatively little experience running a town, certainly not a small village with an enormous amount of money about to enter its coffers. Power’s task is complicated by the fact that U.S. Steel employs informants to trail local officials and embed themselves inside any organization that could pose trouble for the company. But Vic has his eyes on a big prize: an independent Hibbing that attracts people and businesses from all over the country, one that will endure longer than the mines.