Minnesota Mayhem: A History of Calamitous Events, Horrific Accidents, Dastardly Crime & Dreadful Behavior in the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes

By Ben Welter

This true crime history recounts more than a century of crime, deviousness, and disaster in the North Star State. 
 
In Minnesota Mayhem, local historian and author Ben Welter explores the best of the state's worst moments. Culled from the archives of the Minneapolis Tribune and its successor newspapers, these stories and photos range from the catastrophic to the chillingly curious and the simply strange.
 
Among the true tales told in these pages, Welter recounts the career of a successful con man in 1871; an 1881 fire that destroyed the State Capitol; a flu outbreak that killed more than 10,000 Minnesotans in 1918; the arrest of Frank Lloyd Wright at a Lake Minnetonka cottage in 1926; an arrested stripper who claimed wardrobe malfunction in 1953; and the 1977 murder of a wealthy matron in Duluth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jun 5, 2012
• ISBN: 9781614235040

Ben Welter

Ben Welter is a Minneapolis native and former news copy chief at the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He has posted more than six hundred interesting stories and photos dating back to 1867 on his blog, "Yesterday's News." He published Minnesota Mayhem and Minnesota Mysteries with The History Press.

Book preview

A CON MAN WITHOUT PEER

AUGUST 1871–AUGUST 1874, MINNEAPOLIS TRIBUNE

Posing as a wealthy Scottish landowner, a well-groomed gentleman identifying himself as Lord Gordon-Gordon arrived in Minnesota in August 1871. Using money stolen in an earlier swindle in Edinburgh, he deposited $40,000 in cash at the National Exchange Bank in Minneapolis and checked into the Nicollet Hotel. In conversations around town, he mentioned in offhanded fashion that he was an heir of the earls of Gordon and had an annual income of more than $1 million. He also let it be known that he was interested in buying fifty thousand acres of Minnesota land on which to resettle tenants of his overpopulated estates.

Word of the wealthy foreigner quickly spread in the city of twenty thousand, and within days, Gordon-Gordon met with Colonel John Loomis, a Northern Pacific Railway official who invited him to join rail executives and surveyors on a tour of the state. The men traveled in high style. According to the Fergus Falls Daily Journal, the caravan featured forty horses, twelve men to pitch tents, a French cook and a number of colored waiters wearing white linen aprons and white silk gloves. Gordon-Gordon insisted that everyone address him as My Lord. The railroad provided him with a private carriage, a secretary and a valet—and covered all his expenses during the lavish, three-month tour, at a cost estimated at $15,000.

He is the richest landlord in Europe, a beaming Loomis told Northern Pacific directors. He will invest $500,000,000 with us.

William A. Croffut, who was editor of the Minneapolis Tribune in the early 1870s, later described the tour in Putnam’s Magazine:

The details of Lord Gordon-Gordon’s early life and his real identity remain unclear. Two things are certain: he was neither a Scotsman nor an heir to the earls of Gordon.

His Lordship saw the State thoroughly, and inspected and selected vast areas of arable land that would rejoice the soul of a Highlander. He also incidentally located and named several cities, explaining that it would be necessary to have churches and schools well organized before his colonists would flock thither in large numbers. Then he said he was satisfied and the excursion could now halt while he went to New York for money to pay for his purchase. While up at Oak Lake, he had borrowed a little change from Col. Loomis—it is not known exactly how much. Then the excursion retired to Minneapolis, freighted with great expectations. Lord Gordon deftly lifted his $40,000 out of [the National Exchange Bank], partook of a banquet au revoir and vanished from the sight of his dear Minnesota friends—carrying with him incidentally a letter of warm introduction from Colonel Loomis to Horace Greeley.

Gordon-Gordon next materialized in New York in January 1872. He rented a suite at the luxurious Metropolitan Hotel, where he was visited by the city’s social and economic elite, including Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune. In this new circle of friends, Gordon-Gordon was now suggesting he had an annual income of $3 million and, through his European connections, controlled $30 million in Erie Railway stock. Word of his interest in Erie soon reached Jay Gould, the wealthy speculator who was struggling to maintain command of the railroad. The two agreed to join forces, and Gould gave Gordon-Gordon the $500,000 in cash and stock needed to secure control of the Erie board.

The deception was soon revealed, and all of the money and most of the stock were recovered. On April 9, Gould had Gordon-Gordon arrested on charges of felonious sale of the remaining stock. Several wealthy New Yorkers put up $37,000 in bail money, allowing him to remain free until trial. But before the case reached court, his lordship disappeared. On April 16, the Minneapolis Tribune, for the first time, hinted that Gordon-Gordon might not be what he seemed:

Horace Greeley. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Jay Gould. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Lord Gordon, who was arrested in New York the other day at the instance of Jay Gould, and who gave bail to answer the charges made, is reported to have absconded. From all accounts, he appears to have played a most successful confidence game, deceiving completely such men as Jay Gould, Thomas A. Scott, Horace Greeley and others equally well known. He is reported to have made from $200,000 to $300,000 by his operations. The beautiful and accomplished lady who, as his wife, occupied his costly residence on Staten Island, is also among the missing.

Gordon-Gordon turned up in Minnesota on April 30, trying to reclaim a span of valuable horses he had left in St. Paul and put to blush those who have believed the recent rumors that he was an adventurer. He didn’t stay long. On May 17, he was back in New York, taking the stand to answer questions in the case of Gould v. Gordon. Gould’s lead attorney pressed him on his family background, and Gordon-Gordon provided what turned out to be fictitious names and addresses of a purported stepfather, sister, brother-in-law and uncle. Overnight, Gould’s representatives checked on the information and found it to be false. Gordon-Gordon checked out of the Metropolitan on May 22, leaving no forwarding address, and failed to appear at his next court date that week.

He resurfaced a month later. In the suit of Gould against Lord Gordon, the Minneapolis Tribune reported on June 21, his lordship unexpectedly appeared as a witness. His lawyer assured the New York court that Gordon-Gordon would never have been absent if the conditions of his attendance had been rightly understood. Gordon-Gordon apologized for the misunderstanding and then quietly answered the questions of counsel, giving what turned out to be a fictional account of the source of his Erie stock. He was released on his bond of $1,000 and retired, via a two dollar hack, to his hotel. He returned to court the next day, testifying at length about his dealings with Gould. The case was adjourned until September 3. But by then Gordon-Gordon, sensing the end of his good fortune in the United States, was long gone, his whereabouts unknown.

In the summer of 1873, two Minnesotans spotted the bogus nobleman in Fort Garry, Manitoba, and alerted Minneapolis mayor George Brackett, a friend of one of the bail bondsmen with a financial interest in returning Gordon-Gordon to New York. The mayor dispatched two policemen to accompany a representative of the bondsman on a mission to capture Gordon-Gordon and bring him to justice.

Things did not go as planned. The Minneapolis Tribune of July 8 reported the particulars of the thoroughly botched affair:

THE TAKERS TOOK.

CAPTURE AND RELEASE OF LORD GORDON-GORDON

MIKE HOY AND OWEN KEEGAN IN FELONS’ CELLS.

HON. FLETCHER CARRIED TO FORT GARRY IN IRONS.

HE APPEALS PATHETICALLY FOR IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE.

GEO. N. MERRIAM IN DANGER—J.C. BURBANK MAKES TRACKS.

MAYOR BRACKETT AND MAJOR LOCHREN ALLEGED ACCESSORIES.

BE IT EVER SO HUMBLE, THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME.

Something over a year ago, Gordon Gordon—otherwise known as Lord Gordon—had a financial difficulty with the notorious Jay Gould, which resulted in My Lord being held to bail in the sum of $37,500. The late Horace F. Clark, the well known railroad manager and speculator in stocks, took stock in Gordon, and, with other friends, became his surety. Gordon, it is generally conceded, could have worsted Gould in a stand-up fight, but acting on the principle that he who fights and runs away, may live to fight another day, he suddenly concluded New York had no charms for him, and left his bondsmen in the lurch. They called him pet names, and names which do not come under that head, but it availed nothing—he didn’t wish to return. He made his way to Manitoba and made a homestead near the dismal looking walls of Fort Garry, where he has since remained.

A few weeks ago Mr. Clark died, and his heirs concluded that they would not lose the half of $37,500 if they could help it. Ascertaining his supposed whereabouts they procured what is known as a bail-piece, and appointed an agent to bring Lord Gordon into their presence. Lawyers assert that a bail-piece is a document that will hold water every time—that the principle that a bail may surrender his principal and take him wherever he can be found is one of common law, and has been repeatedly affirmed, not only in English courts, but in our own, and that the decisions are all one way on this question.

Be that as it may, the agent in question (he may as well be called Smith—John Smith—the name having slipped the name of the reporter) came hither, and secured the services of Michael Hoy (the policeman who was so missed in the East Division on the Fourth) to aid him in making the arrest. Smith and Hoy, with instructions how to proceed, left Minneapolis nearly two weeks ago, and have not yet returned. Neither has Owen Keegan, Hoy’s left bower.

Sheriff Johnson [of Minneapolis] made preparations on Saturday to accommodate a distinguished guest [Gordon], but the distinguished guest cometh not—whether he will, remains to be seen. The reasons for his not putting in an appearance will, by reference to the following, more fully and at large appear.

Hoy was instructed to arrest Gordon, and with the aid of a Mr. Bentley (Smith remaining at Pembina), did so at an early hour Thursday morning, and gave him a hurried ride towards Pembina. Two miles more, and the party would have been on American soil, but they have yet to travel those two additional miles, for just about that time a squad of men dressed in the uniform of Manitoba infantry, and acting as body guard to the police, arrested the redoubtable Hoy and released the prisoner he had journeyed so far to capture. But they stopped not here. Having heard of Mike’s fighting qualities—how he was considered almost equal to a whole regiment—they loaded him down with a blacksmith shop [in other words, put him in manacles] and marched him back (to wagon) to the Fort.

Did the blood-thirsty red-coats stop there? Not they. Loren Fletcher, one of our distinguished representatives to the Legislature, happened to be in that neighborhood, and was telegraphed to remain until Maj. Brackett arrived [Hoy went in his place] and did so. After the arrest of Hoy and Bentley, Mr. Fletcher and Geo. N. Merriam were arrested as accessories, J.C. Burbank making remarkably quick time across the line. What became of Keegan, report saith not; perhaps Bentley is the same individual.

Whatever fault may lie at the door of our neighbors beyond the disputed boundary line, no one can charge them with partiality. Having loaded Hoy as aforesaid, they manacled the others to match. Whether the Minnesota Legislature will declare war for the indignity thus offered to one of its members, it is too early to decide. Probably not. But facts are stubborn things, and the facts stand out prominently that the Hon. Loren Fletcher was carried to Fort Garry in irons; that he was accompanied by the other gentlemen referred to; and that at the latest accounts they were languishing in a British Bastile, with no George Francis Train to make their keepers tremble. ’Tis true, ’tis pity, and pity ’tis ’tis true.

Mr. Fletcher was not accustomed to such treatment, and it made him nervous. As soon as he could get a chance he telegraphed to friends here: In jail. For --’s sake come to our rescue. St. Paul is no comparison. If you can’t come send us some cigars. This dispatch was received Saturday afternoon, and Mayor Geo. A. Brackett, ex-Mayor Eugene M. Wilson, Hon. Wm. Lochren and others arranged to rescue him or perish in the attempt. They left here in a special train, consisting of engine, tender and one car, and reached Moorhead at ten o’clock the next morning, the fastest time on record over this route—thirty miles an hour. A telegram from Mr. Lochren announces the arrival of the party at Pembina [in present-day North Dakota, two miles south of the border] at four o’clock yesterday afternoon, and that they will reach for Garry early this morning, when the fun will commence.

J.W. Taylor, U.S. Consul, telegraphed to Lochren, McNair & Gilfillan, attorneys for the parties who desire to interview Gordon[,] that the Attorney General of Manitoba expressed a doubt as to the rights of Hoy’s army to take Gordon out of Canada, owing to the provisions of the Ashburton treaty, to which the reply was sent that the treaty had been examined and that in the opinion of the attorneys