Leviticus Cornwall
The ruthless industrialist whose iron grip on the frontier forced a desperate final stand.
Leviticus Cornwall is a wealthy industrialist and the head of a vast mining empire. He represents the encroaching modernity that seeks to crush the outlaw way of life. Unlike typical bandits or lawmen, Cornwall operates with the cold efficiency of a businessman who views human lives as mere resources to be exploited or discarded.
Lore & Background
He meets his end in Annesburg, where Dutch van der Linde shoots him after he refuses Dutch's demands.
Reader's Guide
Leviticus Cornwall, played by John Rue, is a wealthy businessman. After the gang robs one of his trains he funds the Pinkertons to bring them down, and in Valentine he holds John and Strauss hostage to draw Dutch out. He has close business ties with Fussar through Guarma's sugar plantations and drives the Wapiti Indians from their reservation in search of oil. In Annesburg he scolds agents Milton and Ross for their slow progress; after they leave, Dutch confronts him and kills him. His businesses carry on, but little oil is ever found on the reservation. Scholars Hilary Jane Locke and Thomas Mackay read him as a metaphor for American capitalism, resembling robber barons such as J. P. Morgan and John D. Rockefeller.
More in History & Folklore
Elsewhere in Red Dead Redemption
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