WEBVTT - Lord Gordon-Gordon, the Robber of Robber-Barons 0:00:02.120 --> 0:00:06.479 Welcome to Criminalia, a production of Shondaland Audio in partnership 0:00:06.559 --> 0:00:17.479 with iHeartRadio between eighteen sixty nine and eighteen seventy four. 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:21.480 The man best known to the world as Lord Gordon 0:00:21.880 --> 0:00:25.759 took advantage of wealthy people in Scotland, England, the United 0:00:25.760 --> 0:00:30.080 States and Canada. He was a trustworthy man, he'd tell 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:34.239 you and could be trusted, specifically with your money. But 0:00:34.840 --> 0:00:37.000 as this is the story of a confidence man, we 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:41.360 all know you could not until he began pulling cons 0:00:41.400 --> 0:00:45.239 in the late nineteenth century. There isn't much information in 0:00:45.280 --> 0:00:48.440 the historical record about this guy, not what his real 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:51.879 name was, not where he was born, where he grew up, 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:55.960 anything about him. There's some suggestion that he at one 0:00:56.040 --> 0:01:00.200 time went by the name Hubert Hamilton, or perhaps the 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:04.040 Honorable Mister Hubert Hamilton, though there is no way of 0:01:04.120 --> 0:01:07.600 knowing if that was his real identity or another fake name. 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:12.800 His most famous alias and his final was Lord Gordon Gordon, 0:01:12.840 --> 0:01:15.680 and that's what we're going to call him too. Welcome 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:20.280 to Criminalia. I'm Maria Tramrqui and I'm Holly Fry. The 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:23.720 man best known as Gordon Gordon had endless charm and 0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:28.000 charisma that helped him swindle people around the world, including 0:01:28.160 --> 0:01:32.160 one of the richest and most ruthless tycoons in American history. 0:01:32.959 --> 0:01:34.840 We're going to get to that story in a minute, 0:01:34.880 --> 0:01:37.360 but let's start at the beginning, or at least the 0:01:37.400 --> 0:01:40.679 beginning as we know it. The first incident we know 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:44.440 of involving Lord Gordon Gordon was in eighteen sixty eight, 0:01:44.920 --> 0:01:48.520 although at the time he was using the alias Lord Glencairn. 0:01:49.360 --> 0:01:52.920 The fictional character of Lord Glencairn was a wealthy landowner 0:01:52.960 --> 0:01:56.400 and heir to a Scottish fortune, and he swindled London 0:01:56.480 --> 0:02:01.520 Jeweler's Marshall and Son for twenty five thousand pounds. He 0:02:01.600 --> 0:02:05.040 kept up appearances and kept a valet who, according to 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:09.639 a wa Crophet historian and editor of the Minneapolis Tribune 0:02:09.720 --> 0:02:15.720 during the eighteen seventies, that valet quote dressed in buckskin breeches, 0:02:15.880 --> 0:02:19.640 long boots, blue coat with gilt buttons, and an immense 0:02:19.720 --> 0:02:22.960 coacad upon his hat, which in Great Britain denotes that 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:28.079 his master holds a commission under the sovereign. As Lord Glencairn, 0:02:28.120 --> 0:02:31.440 Gordon Gordon quickly struck up a friendship with a wealthy 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:36.200 Scottish clergyman a mister Simpson. Through Simpson, he gained access 0:02:36.240 --> 0:02:39.200 to a wide network of wealthy targets, as well as 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:43.640 opportunities to establish credit with jewelers in both Edinburgh and London. 0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:47.720 Here's how his get your foot in the door technique worked. 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:51.200 He would make small requests of a person, such as 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:53.920 a small loan, to gain their trust, and then as 0:02:53.960 --> 0:02:57.720 that trust grew, so did the size of the loan requests. 0:02:58.200 --> 0:03:00.960 And he would then use his marks as references to 0:03:01.000 --> 0:03:03.959 gain the trust of their friends and family, and he 0:03:04.040 --> 0:03:07.440 would add those new contacts to his list of possible victims. 0:03:08.480 --> 0:03:11.919 Around eighteen seventy, though, Lord Glencairn must have run out 0:03:11.919 --> 0:03:15.760 of easy targets because he disappeared from Scotland and England, 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:19.640 abandoning behind him deaths estimated to be the equivalent of 0:03:19.720 --> 0:03:24.639 roughly one hundred thousand dollars. In early eighteen seventy one, 0:03:24.960 --> 0:03:30.680 Gordon resurfaced across the Pond in Minneapolis, Minnesota. No longer 0:03:30.880 --> 0:03:34.480 using the alias Lord Glencairn, he now called himself Lord 0:03:34.520 --> 0:03:39.520 Gordon Gordon. Historian Crophet described Gordon's appearance during his time 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:44.760 in Minneapolis as so quote, he was slender of build, 0:03:44.800 --> 0:03:47.880 about five feet ten inches in height, and dressed with 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:51.960 the greatest care, usually wearing gloves, patent leathers and a 0:03:52.000 --> 0:03:55.920 silk hat. His hands were frequently manicured, and his hair 0:03:56.080 --> 0:03:59.280 was brushed as smooth as curly hair could be. He 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:03.120 was clean david, except for two tufts of side whiskers. 0:04:03.160 --> 0:04:07.120 He was exceedingly self poised, calm and deliberate of speech, 0:04:07.320 --> 0:04:10.720 articulated with much precision, and posed with an amount of 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:15.440 ceremonies seldom seen on the American continent. And as reported 0:04:15.440 --> 0:04:18.640 by the Fergus Falls Daily Journal, shortly after his arrival, 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:24.159 Gordon traveled with quote a caravan of forty horses, twelve 0:04:24.200 --> 0:04:26.719 men to pitch tents, a French cook, and a number 0:04:26.760 --> 0:04:30.799 of waiters wearing white linen aprons and white silk gloves. 0:04:31.760 --> 0:04:35.000 But the man newly christened as Lord Gordon Gordon didn't 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:40.440 announce his presence in the city. He just arrived discreetly. 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:43.640 Through casual remarks, he let it be known among locals 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:46.080 he was the heir of the Great Earl of Gordon, 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:49.840 distant relative of Lord Byron, cousin of the Campbell clan, 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:52.719 and a descendant of Lochinvar and the ancient kings of 0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:57.080 the Scottish Highlands. Oh and that he had an income 0:04:57.160 --> 0:04:59.600 of more than a million dollars a year, although he 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:03.719 was regarding its source. So he wasn't just the new 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:07.200 guy in a town of twenty thousand people. He was 0:05:07.240 --> 0:05:12.080 the exciting new guy in town. And it's not like 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:15.640 anybody could google his story and check him out. To 0:05:15.680 --> 0:05:19.000 add to his credibility, he deposited the money he had 0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:23.640 left from his final overseas swindle, reportedly somewhere between twenty 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:26.960 thousand and forty thousand dollars into an account at the 0:05:27.080 --> 0:05:32.080 National Exchange Bank of Minneapolis. The clothes, the valet, the horses, 0:05:32.160 --> 0:05:35.560 the banking, these were all things that fed the rumors 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:39.479 about this wealthy foreigner. Gordon eventually made the acquaintance of 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:42.920 Colonel John S. Loomis, the land Commissioner of the Northern 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:47.440 Pacific Railroad, which was at that time advancing, albeit slowly, 0:05:47.600 --> 0:05:51.360 across the plains to the west coast, and upon their meeting, 0:05:51.400 --> 0:05:55.240 he informed the Colonel of two things. One his plans 0:05:55.320 --> 0:05:59.799 to relocate tenants from his Scottish estates onto Minnesota land, 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:03.880 and two his interest in buying hundreds of thousands of 0:06:03.960 --> 0:06:09.479 acres of railroad land in the state. Lord Gordon was 0:06:09.600 --> 0:06:12.680 clearly an opportunistic man because it was at this time 0:06:12.800 --> 0:06:16.480 that the Northern Pacific Railroad Company wanted to expand westward, 0:06:16.480 --> 0:06:20.160 but needed to raise significant capital to purchase the acreage. 0:06:20.839 --> 0:06:23.560 Railroad management was excited by the prospect of a Scottish 0:06:23.600 --> 0:06:26.719 aristocrat buying up huge tracts of land that could be 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:30.520 the financial backing they needed, and they spared no expense 0:06:30.680 --> 0:06:34.479 wooing Gordon Gordon. In fact, they put Colonel Loomis in 0:06:34.560 --> 0:06:37.480 charge of entertaining him. Gordon. Gordon was sent on an 0:06:37.480 --> 0:06:41.200 all expense paid, first class tour of railroad lands throughout 0:06:41.200 --> 0:06:44.520 Minnesota as well as the Dakotas, and was accompanied by 0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:50.799 state officials and railroad officers. Gordon had one request of them. 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:54.039 He wanted to be referred to as my Lord. We 0:06:54.120 --> 0:06:56.960 have no idea if anyone actually followed that request, but 0:06:57.560 --> 0:07:02.359 there it was. As they traveled, Gordon's periodically pointed to 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:05.159 sites where he planned to build future towns or schools, 0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:09.039 and he would brainstorm names for them. The National Pacific 0:07:09.120 --> 0:07:12.320 Railroad Company provided him with a personal secretary and an 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:16.760 attendant during this very expensive business trip, as well as 0:07:16.800 --> 0:07:21.119 money for his daily expenses. So in total, they spent 0:07:21.800 --> 0:07:24.880 reportedly more than forty five thousand dollars on the affair. 0:07:24.920 --> 0:07:28.320 And for some perspective on that, forty five thousand dollars 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:32.200 in eighteen seventy one is equivalent to about one million 0:07:32.240 --> 0:07:37.160 dollars today. In January of eighteen seventy two, Gordon, his 0:07:37.280 --> 0:07:41.320 tour complete, decided to leave Minnesota, telling his hosts, his 0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:44.800 new friends, and railroad officials that he needed to travel 0:07:44.880 --> 0:07:47.600 east to New York City to arrange for the transfer 0:07:47.600 --> 0:07:51.320 of money for his land purchases, implying that the business 0:07:51.360 --> 0:07:55.240 deal was on. Those he'd met in Minneapolis were happy 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:58.160 to provide him with letters of introduction to those influential 0:07:58.200 --> 0:08:01.320 in New York society. But what they didn't know was 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:06.040 that Gordon Gordon didn't plan on ever returning. We're going 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:08.360 to take a break here for a word from our sponsor, 0:08:08.920 --> 0:08:11.480 and when we return, we'll tell the story of Lord 0:08:11.280 --> 0:08:28.960 Gordon Gordon's trip to New York City. Welcome back to Criminalia. 0:08:29.280 --> 0:08:33.880 Let's talk about Lord Gordon, Railroad tycoon Jay Gould, and 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:37.480 what happens when a con artist cons a robber baron. 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:42.720 Upon arriving in New York City, Lord Gordon Gordon moved 0:08:42.760 --> 0:08:46.319 into a large suite at the luxurious Astor House on Broadway. 0:08:46.920 --> 0:08:50.479 This was the place to be if you were a celebrity, politician, 0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:54.480 or well healed traveler staying in the city. Gordon Gordon 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:58.040 received visitors there, including Horace Greeley, whose name you may 0:08:58.120 --> 0:09:01.120 recognize as the editor of the New York Tribune as 0:09:01.120 --> 0:09:04.160 well as originator of the slogan go West young Man 0:09:04.559 --> 0:09:10.800 concerning American manifest destiny. During their conversation, Gordon Gordon quickly 0:09:10.880 --> 0:09:14.600 honed in on a new swindle. Greeley mentioned to him 0:09:14.640 --> 0:09:18.400 that management of the Erie Railroad was currently fighting for 0:09:18.440 --> 0:09:23.600 who would control the company. That was potentially interesting information 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:26.320 for a con artist to have, and he set his 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:31.679 plan in motion right then and there. He discreetly, of course, 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:36.240 fibbed to Greeley that he secretly owned sixty thousand shares 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:39.840 of Erie Railroad stock, and that he also represented a 0:09:39.880 --> 0:09:43.800 small number of European investors whose combined stock gave him 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:48.000 a controlling interest in the company. He and his partners, 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:52.000 Gordon Gordon continued planned to replace the company's current board 0:09:52.000 --> 0:09:55.000 of directors with men who were more favorable to their 0:09:55.000 --> 0:09:59.319 own interests. Of course, none of what Gordon told Greeley 0:09:59.520 --> 0:10:04.120 was at all true, but that didn't matter. It was 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:08.320 clear that Greeley did not keep this conversation a secret. 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:12.520 Word of this groundbreaking news over an eerie railroad management 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:16.960 shakeup spread like wildfire throughout New York's business community, and 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:21.880 when word reached American railroad tycoon, financial speculator, and one 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:25.120 of the so called robber barons of the Gilded Age, 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:29.520 a man named Jay Gould, he visited Gordon Gordon personally 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:34.199 and directly, but was at first turned away. On March second, 0:10:34.440 --> 0:10:37.679 eighteen seventy two, though the two did meet, and Gould 0:10:37.760 --> 0:10:42.680 became Lord Gordon Gordon's most famous mark. Gould's problem here 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:45.400 was that if Gordon Gordon went forward with the plan 0:10:45.480 --> 0:10:48.760 as he'd told it to Greeley, it would foil Gould's 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:52.520 own plan to take over the railroad company himself. So 0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:56.600 he suggested the menstruke a deal. Gould would allow Gordon 0:10:56.640 --> 0:10:59.600 Gordon and his partners to select and install a new 0:10:59.640 --> 0:11:03.559 border directors, but Gould would have control over the company. 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:08.200 Gordon Gordon, though argued he couldn't trust Gould, he didn't 0:11:08.240 --> 0:11:11.520 know him, and he feigned reluctance in the whole matter. 0:11:12.080 --> 0:11:15.640 He did eventually, though, agree to the deal, but he 0:11:15.720 --> 0:11:19.360 had one condition that had to be met, and wait 0:11:19.360 --> 0:11:23.400 for it, Gould would have to give him one million 0:11:23.480 --> 0:11:27.680 dollars in cash and securities as a sign of good faith. 0:11:28.520 --> 0:11:30.960 Part of that condition, Gordon Gordon promised he and his 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:33.760 partners would not spend the payment and would return it 0:11:33.880 --> 0:11:37.880 in full when the plan was complete, and Gould agreed, 0:11:38.320 --> 0:11:42.400 and he transferred one million dollars into Gordon Gordon's control. 0:11:42.800 --> 0:11:46.600 The reported breakdown here of assets is as follows. Gould 0:11:46.640 --> 0:11:50.040 put up six hundred shares of ERIE, roughly nineteen hundred 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:54.440 shares of corporations affiliated with Erie, and four thousand, seven 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:57.720 twenty two shares of the Oil Creek in Allegheny Valley Railroad. 0:11:58.600 --> 0:12:02.120 The package included twenty one one thousand dollar bonds of 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:05.160 the Nayak and Northern Railroad, as well as one hundred 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:10.439 and sixty thousand dollars in cash. Because of his relationship 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:13.640 with Gould, Gordon Gordon is often referred to as the 0:12:13.760 --> 0:12:17.440 Robber of the Robber Baron. He could have just disappeared 0:12:17.440 --> 0:12:21.280 with the cash right then, but he didn't. He decided 0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:24.160 to stay in New York, and he also decided to 0:12:24.200 --> 0:12:28.080 sell some of those shares. His con had been going 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:31.400 so well, but here is where things take a wrong 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:35.440 turn for him. Gould saw what was happening with those 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:38.880 shares because he saw the trading activity on the exchange, 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:43.880 and he immediately informed brokers not to accept Gordon Gordon's trades, 0:12:44.880 --> 0:12:48.679 using Greeley as an intermediary. He then also informed Gordon 0:12:48.760 --> 0:12:52.239 Gordon that their deal was off and he demanded immediate 0:12:52.320 --> 0:12:56.880 repayment of the cash and securities. Gordon Gordon did return 0:12:57.080 --> 0:12:59.680 all of the cash to his credit, but he only 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:04.480 turned some of the shares. Quickly, Gould figured out that 0:13:04.520 --> 0:13:06.920 there were about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars worth 0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:11.079 of shares missing, not one to be played. Gould filed 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:14.280 suit against Gordon Gordon and had him arrested for obtaining 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:18.400 money under false pretenses. That arrest took place on April ninth, 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:24.240 eighteen seventy two. A handful of wealthy New Yorkers, including 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:28.240 Horace F. Clark, an American politician and railroad executive who 0:13:28.320 --> 0:13:32.760 served two terms as a US representative. Together, these men 0:13:32.880 --> 0:13:37.120 paid the forty thousand dollars bond on Gordon's behalf, which 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:41.680 one surprised the hell out of Jay Gould, but two 0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:44.760 allowed him to live freely while he waited for his 0:13:44.840 --> 0:13:51.559 trial to begin. During his trial, Gordon tried to calm 0:13:51.600 --> 0:13:54.480 the court into believing that he was an innocent man. 0:13:55.240 --> 0:13:58.720 Historian Crophet described him in the courtroom as such quote 0:13:58.960 --> 0:14:02.280 during three hours a vigorous examination, he sat with his 0:14:02.360 --> 0:14:06.760 legs crossed and his thumbs thrust carelessly into his waistcoat pockets, 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:10.679 as unconcerned and unruffled, as if conversing in a drawing room. 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:14.720 On the stand, Gordon Gordon testified the yes he had 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:19.560 Scottish ancestry, did he who knows for sure? And when 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:24.120 questioned by Gould's lead counsel, a person named David Dudley Field, 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:27.280 Gordon gave the court names of various Scottish and English 0:14:27.280 --> 0:14:31.200 nobility who he claimed where his sister, his stepfather, and 0:14:31.280 --> 0:14:35.240 an uncle, as well as friends and business partners. Some 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:39.800 believe he supplied this information to further his innocence plea, 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:42.680 but Jay Gould was not having any of it. That 0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:47.400 same night cables were sent to the American consulates in Paris, London, 0:14:47.480 --> 0:14:51.120 and Burne. In regard to each person that Gordon Gordon 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:55.480 had called out in testimony, not one of the named 0:14:55.520 --> 0:14:58.280 people had ever heard of him, and some of them, 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:02.680 it seemed, might not have even been real people. Gould 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:05.440 was prepared to present all of this information in court 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:09.320 the very next day, but Gordon Gordon, sensing which direction 0:15:09.360 --> 0:15:12.520 the wind was blowing after that testimony and that wind 0:15:12.600 --> 0:15:15.600 was not blown in his favor, fled on a night 0:15:15.600 --> 0:15:19.960 train to Montreal, Canada. We're going to take a break 0:15:19.960 --> 0:15:21.840 for a word from our sponsor right now, and when 0:15:21.840 --> 0:15:24.400 we're back, we will talk about how you can run, 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:41.920 but you apparently cannot hide from mister Jay Gould. Welcome 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:46.480 back to Criminalia. Let's talk about how the attempted kidnapping 0:15:46.560 --> 0:15:51.080 of Lord Gordon went very wrong and his final days. 0:15:52.200 --> 0:15:57.320 You can maybe imagine how Jay Gould felt about Gordon's escape. 0:15:57.920 --> 0:16:02.400 Insert a lot of expletives right here. He offered a 0:16:02.440 --> 0:16:06.000 reward of twenty five thousand dollars for Gordon Gordon's arrest, 0:16:06.080 --> 0:16:08.880 but he didn't stop there. He also sent detectives to 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:12.760 Europe to investigate Gordon Gordon's past, and with the help 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:16.120 of the proprietors in the Edinburgh and London jewelry stores 0:16:16.120 --> 0:16:20.440 who identified him in photographs, the detectives soon uncovered his 0:16:20.520 --> 0:16:26.280 previous alias, Lord Glencairn. Gould was the only person, it 0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:29.320 turns out, who ever bothered to look into who Lord 0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:34.760 Gordon really was. After he fled New York, Gordon Gordon's 0:16:34.760 --> 0:16:38.480 whereabouts were unknown for nearly a year. It wasn't until 0:16:38.480 --> 0:16:41.160 the summer of eighteen seventy three when word reached the 0:16:41.280 --> 0:16:44.840 United States and Jay Gould that the con artist was 0:16:44.920 --> 0:16:48.680 living in Fort Garry, Manitoba that's now Winnipeg, just fifty 0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:52.480 miles north of Minnesota's border with Canada. There's no record 0:16:52.560 --> 0:16:54.880 that he adopted a new alias at that time, but 0:16:55.000 --> 0:16:59.120 he did pose as a British gentleman looking for sporting expeditions. 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:03.440 Once this information was out, a party of Gould supporters 0:17:03.440 --> 0:17:07.680 who were also prominent citizens of Minneapolis, including Lauren Fletcher, 0:17:08.000 --> 0:17:11.840 John Gilfillan, and Eugene Wilson. Let's note all three of 0:17:11.840 --> 0:17:16.600 these people were later elected to Congress. They decided they 0:17:16.640 --> 0:17:20.600 would bring him to justice, so, accompanied by several Minneapolis 0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:24.159 police officers, the group crossed the border into Canada and 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:27.840 apprehended Gordon Gordon, who was sitting on his front porch 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:32.840 when they arrived. Some might say they apprehended him, while 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:38.240 others might say they kidnapped him. The group secured Gordon 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:40.520 in the back of a wagon and sped back to 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:43.879 the United States, but they ran into trouble when they 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:47.400 were stopped at the border by Canadian authorities. The men 0:17:47.560 --> 0:17:50.520 later claimed they were actually just a few yards into 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:54.400 US territory when this happened, but regardless, all of them 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:57.960 were jailed and Gordon Gordon was once again on the lamb. 0:17:58.840 --> 0:18:02.960 That night, Minneapolist Mayor George Brackett received a desperate telegram 0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:05.240 that read quote, We're in a hell of a fix, 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:09.880 come at once, a hell of a fix. Indeed, their 0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:15.600 attempted kidnapping nearly sparked an international incidents. Reporters published articles 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:19.040 in the Saint Paul Pioneer and other newspapers across Minnesota, 0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:22.320 insisting a militia should be raised to cross the border 0:18:22.359 --> 0:18:26.400 and rescue the jailed Americans. But no, it wouldn't be 0:18:26.440 --> 0:18:30.600 a militia that would fix this. Negotiations among high ranking 0:18:30.680 --> 0:18:35.400 government officials including Minnesota Governor Horace Austin, US President Ulysses 0:18:35.520 --> 0:18:39.080 s Grant, and Canadian Prime Minister Sir John McDonald. Is 0:18:39.119 --> 0:18:41.840 what secured their release, and the members of the kidnapping 0:18:41.840 --> 0:18:47.679 party were released on September fifteenth. Throughout this debacle, Gordon 0:18:47.760 --> 0:18:51.000 Gordon was believed to be in Canada but remained at large, 0:18:51.119 --> 0:18:55.879 and Jay Gould's reward offer remained valid. But now after 0:18:55.920 --> 0:18:58.800 the scene at the border, those who pursued him made 0:18:58.800 --> 0:19:02.160 sure to dot their eyes across their teas. There were 0:19:02.200 --> 0:19:06.040 proper legal channels to follow and extradition papers were obtained 0:19:06.080 --> 0:19:11.159 to secure his capture. So we have a warning for 0:19:11.280 --> 0:19:15.919 you here about the tragic ending. Lord Gordon takes his 0:19:15.960 --> 0:19:18.480 own life before he can be apprehended, and we're about 0:19:18.520 --> 0:19:21.480 to talk about that part of the story. If you 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:24.960 would like to skip this discussion, jump ahead and we'll 0:19:24.960 --> 0:19:32.600 meet you for some scam sauce. Gordon was tracked to Headinglee, Manitoba, 0:19:32.720 --> 0:19:36.720 and on August first, eighteen seventy four, Toronto Police officers 0:19:36.720 --> 0:19:38.960 were sent to arrest him at the cottage where he 0:19:39.040 --> 0:19:42.199 was staying. When they arrived, the story goes that they 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:46.080 found him asleep and when woken, Gordon allegedly asked if 0:19:46.119 --> 0:19:49.439 he could finish his nap that was not in the 0:19:49.480 --> 0:19:53.080 cards that day. He got dressed, told the officers he 0:19:53.119 --> 0:19:55.960 wanted to get his cap because it was cold outside, 0:19:56.320 --> 0:19:59.080 and then stepped into an adjoining room, where he then 0:19:59.119 --> 0:20:04.639 fatally shot himself in the head. At the coroner's inquest, 0:20:04.760 --> 0:20:08.560 and Alexander Monroe of the Toronto Police Department provided the 0:20:08.600 --> 0:20:13.000 following testimony about Gordon. Gordon's final moments quote. I told 0:20:13.040 --> 0:20:14.840 Gordon that I had come to arrest him and that 0:20:14.880 --> 0:20:17.239 I had a warrant. I showed him the warrant. He 0:20:17.240 --> 0:20:20.200 said it was all right, just glanced over it. Don't 0:20:20.200 --> 0:20:22.280 think he read it at all, and he said he 0:20:22.320 --> 0:20:25.040 was ready to go. Gave him a few minutes to 0:20:25.040 --> 0:20:27.639 put on warmer clothes. He wanted to know if I 0:20:27.680 --> 0:20:30.560 intended taking him through the States. I told him I 0:20:30.600 --> 0:20:33.239 did not. He got dressed and was ready to go, 0:20:33.359 --> 0:20:36.760 with the exception of a Scotch cap. He called for it. 0:20:36.880 --> 0:20:39.720 He made a sort of rush into the bedroom where 0:20:39.760 --> 0:20:42.199 he got the revolver. I do not know. I was 0:20:42.240 --> 0:20:44.919 standing in the door within four feet of him. The 0:20:45.040 --> 0:20:47.359 next thing I saw was his turning around with his 0:20:47.440 --> 0:20:49.879 back against the wall, with the revolver in his hand. 0:20:50.560 --> 0:20:52.920 I made a rush toward him to prevent his shooting. 0:20:53.119 --> 0:20:56.000 I expected it was meant for myself, and as I 0:20:56.040 --> 0:20:58.240 was about getting hold of him, the gun went off. 0:20:58.880 --> 0:21:01.840 He made some remoi while holding the revolver in his hand, 0:21:01.880 --> 0:21:04.680 but I did not catch the meaning. He sank down 0:21:04.720 --> 0:21:07.280 against the wall. Just as I got a hold of him. 0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:09.360 I saw the blood coming out of his left ear. 0:21:09.640 --> 0:21:12.840 That was the first I noticed. Afterward saw the wound 0:21:12.840 --> 0:21:16.040 in his right temple. I believe he was dying fast, 0:21:16.320 --> 0:21:20.119 and he was dead immediately. A tragic end to Gordon. 0:21:20.200 --> 0:21:23.960 Gordon's life. So let's toast to aid life boldly lived 0:21:24.240 --> 0:21:28.560 with our scam sauce. That's well put, because this is 0:21:28.600 --> 0:21:38.760 a bold drink. I wanted to think about an idea 0:21:38.840 --> 0:21:41.280 of a drink that someone who feigned to be a 0:21:41.280 --> 0:21:45.719 fancy man might drink, and I started thinking, obviously, Scotch 0:21:45.720 --> 0:21:48.399 whiskey is the obvious choice here, which means that's not 0:21:48.400 --> 0:21:50.399 what we're getting right, which means we're not going to 0:21:50.440 --> 0:21:53.159 do obvious. We'll try not to sometimes I do. But 0:21:53.240 --> 0:21:56.199 I started to think about something I love, and that 0:21:56.359 --> 0:22:00.960 is kognak. No way you love kognak, I never love. 0:22:01.040 --> 0:22:07.280 I love. But I started thinking about cognac cocktails and 0:22:07.520 --> 0:22:10.560 thought about, of course a sidecar. So if you've ever 0:22:10.600 --> 0:22:14.080 had a sidecar, it is cognac with triple sec and 0:22:14.560 --> 0:22:17.560 lemon juice and that's it. So I wanted to do 0:22:17.640 --> 0:22:21.200 something like that, but that was a little bit harsher. 0:22:21.359 --> 0:22:24.360 So obviously this is a spirit forward drink. So if 0:22:24.359 --> 0:22:27.080 you don't like spirit forward, this may not be for you. 0:22:27.119 --> 0:22:29.000 But I have a fix, so don't even worry about it. 0:22:29.000 --> 0:22:32.960 I never do like, oh my god, I always am ready. 0:22:33.920 --> 0:22:36.919 This is symbol as heck to put together. Though it 0:22:37.119 --> 0:22:41.560 is just an ounce of cognac, about a third of 0:22:41.600 --> 0:22:44.560 an ounce of lemon juice and a third of an 0:22:44.560 --> 0:22:49.880 ounce instead of triple sec of chilly liqueur. Really, so 0:22:50.240 --> 0:22:53.280 you shake that like the Dickens with ice, you get 0:22:53.320 --> 0:22:56.360 it really cold, and then you strain it into a 0:22:56.400 --> 0:22:59.280 pre chilled cocktail glass like I have a double walled 0:22:59.280 --> 0:23:01.879 Martini glass I like to use for these, So there's 0:23:01.880 --> 0:23:04.000 no ice in it other than maybe some chips that 0:23:04.040 --> 0:23:06.399 are left from your hard shake. But then it's just 0:23:06.480 --> 0:23:09.919 a small but very heavy hitting drink that you can 0:23:10.000 --> 0:23:16.160 drink now if you absolutely do not like kognak or 0:23:16.480 --> 0:23:19.879 this drink is too spirit forward for you. Guess what, 0:23:20.760 --> 0:23:23.879 anytime you get a drink, when that's the case, you 0:23:23.920 --> 0:23:26.359 can always put a little bit of ginger ale on 0:23:26.400 --> 0:23:28.960 top of it, a little bit of club soda, whatever 0:23:29.000 --> 0:23:33.520 you want to do. So this, obviously it is a 0:23:33.520 --> 0:23:35.720 little bit tricky to do as a mocktail, but I 0:23:35.760 --> 0:23:37.919 have a plas so come along with me, and I 0:23:38.160 --> 0:23:40.359 just call this drink the Gordon Gordon. I'm just naming 0:23:40.400 --> 0:23:42.760 it in his honor because he is a man who 0:23:42.800 --> 0:23:50.240 lived boldly with surprising, surprising flavor, kind of how we 0:23:50.920 --> 0:23:53.920 incorporated the chili there. So we have talked before about 0:23:53.960 --> 0:23:57.919 subbing out kognac and using something like an apricot juice 0:23:58.000 --> 0:24:00.920 or a peach or pear juice. I like to use 0:24:00.960 --> 0:24:02.879 that to brew a dark tea so you get a 0:24:02.960 --> 0:24:06.360 richer flavor, and I would suggest doing that here. You 0:24:06.400 --> 0:24:09.480 can do a chili syrup if you can't find a 0:24:09.560 --> 0:24:12.879 chili syrup. I found some in like my local grocery store, 0:24:13.480 --> 0:24:15.199 but I feel like it was a weird thing to 0:24:15.240 --> 0:24:17.520 find there because it wasn't like a regular syrup brand. 0:24:17.520 --> 0:24:19.680 That I would use, do the trick we've done many 0:24:19.720 --> 0:24:24.000 times before. Make your simple syrup, cut your chili up fine. 0:24:24.240 --> 0:24:27.719 I would go with whatever level of heat in your 0:24:27.800 --> 0:24:31.040 chili you are comfortable with. And if you don't want 0:24:31.040 --> 0:24:32.440 to do a chili syrup and you don't want to 0:24:32.440 --> 0:24:34.600 bother would make itself. You can use a halopeno syrup. 0:24:34.640 --> 0:24:36.919 Those are easier to come by, but it's not going 0:24:36.960 --> 0:24:39.000 to have quite the same flavor. It'll be usually a 0:24:39.040 --> 0:24:41.840 little brighter, but that's your your mocktail version, and you 0:24:41.840 --> 0:24:43.639 can top that with ginger ale two. If it's like 0:24:43.720 --> 0:24:47.480 too intense for you, that is the Gordon Gordon. It 0:24:47.600 --> 0:24:50.000 seems fancy, but it has a lot of bite, and 0:24:50.119 --> 0:24:54.040 that seems correct for him and the last him. Yes, 0:24:55.240 --> 0:24:57.399 we are so thankful that you spent this time with 0:24:57.480 --> 0:24:59.840 us this week, as we are every week, and we 0:25:00.000 --> 0:25:02.400 we'll be right back here again next week with more 0:25:02.480 --> 0:25:07.600 scam sauce, more tales of wild com stories, and who 0:25:07.640 --> 0:25:10.280 knows what else. There's always surprises, so we cannot wait 0:25:10.320 --> 0:25:22.560 to see you there. Criminalia is a production of Shondaland 0:25:22.560 --> 0:25:27.240 Audio in partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from Shondaland Audio, 0:25:27.560 --> 0:25:31.159 Please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you 0:25:31.200 --> 0:25:32.560 listen to your favorite shows.