19. The Scheme That Took a Railroad For a Ride
Lord Gordon-Gordon told the Northern Pacific Railroad’s Land Commissioner, James Loomis, that he was in the market for huge tracts of land. As Gordon-Gordon explained, he needed many acres in order to relocate many of his tenants from overcrowded estates back in Scotland. Huge tracts of land being exactly what the Northern Pacific wanted to sell at the time, in order to raise funds to expand their line, Loomis and his employer were all ears.
The Northern Pacific invited Gordon-Gordon on an all-expense-paid tour of their land. In the belief that he was ready to invest millions, the railroad put him in first-class hotels, hired him a personal staff, including a secretary and valet, and generously handed him money for extra expenses. All in all, the Northern Pacific ended up spending about $45,000 – serious money at the time – courting the Scottish Lord in order to secure him as a client. Gordon-Gordon wrapped up his Minnesota scheme in 1872, when he told his generous hosts that he needed to head east. As he explained it, he needed to arrange the massive money transfers necessary to buy all that land from the Northern Pacific. He never came back.
