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When the American railroads were built westward after the Civil War, every village and community quickly realized that their success and even their existence depended on the railroad. With it they would thrive and grow, without it they would wither and perish. This led communities unaffected by the transcontinental construction to fanatically seek north-south connections or at least shorter branch lines. This opened the door for often completely unscrupulous promoters to step in and offer goods that were worth little or nothing.

In the late 1880s, Arnold, near the western edge of Custer County, missed its chance at three railroads, as the Union Pacific missed them far to the south, the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad passed through Broken Bow to the east, and the Kearney & Black Hills Railroad was not built. Arnold was ripe for a scam.

S. G. Durant was one such promoter. Even his name may have been invented to confuse him with Thomas C. Durant, head of the Union Pacific, and there is no information on what the initials refer to. It is also difficult to determine exactly where he came from. Some sources say Illinois or Ohio, but most agree that he came to Nebraska from Dubuque or possibly Dyersville, Iowa. Durant seemed a full-fledged person, smoking long black cigars, dressing to the nines, and driving the latest automobile, sometimes a Franklin, sometimes a Stanley Steamer. Arnold may have been one of his first targets, although at one unspecified date he promoted an electric interurban railroad to connect to Dallas “if the citizens of Knoxville, Iowa, donated $15,000.” He was also listed as president of the Iowa Northern Railway, which was to operate an interurban railroad in Clayton County, Iowa.

We know that SG Durant arrived in Arnold, Nebraska, on February 7, 1911, along with the equally untraceable Eli Smith, described as a banker from Gandy, a village about 18 miles west in Logan County. Arnold immediately became agitated over a meeting Durant had called for later that day. Durant asked citizens to subscribe for $100,000 in stock and deeds for all needed rights of way on a straight line from Broken Bow to North Platte in an arc, with Arnold in the center. The line would connect the Union Pacific with the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad. Arnold, which then had a population of only 231, nevertheless managed to promise $50,000 in stock purchases. Durant, after careful consideration, agreed to accept $75,000.

Probably just to provoke, Durant hinted that if he couldn’t raise the $75,000, he would bypass Arnold entirely and simply build the railroad in a straight line from Broken Bow to North Platte. He then backed up his quiet threat by hiring a surveying crew to lay a highly visible line well south of Arnold. Meanwhile, the Union Pacific announced that it might build a line from Broken Bow to Arnold that would then run directly northwest and miss Gandy entirely.

One account, which may seem apocryphal, shows Arnold and Gandy contacting Durant, who allegedly agreed to contact the Union Pacific on their behalf to guarantee connections between Arnold and Gandy, a plan that would have been of no benefit to Durant. It is a documented fact that the Union Pacific acquired the Kearney & Black Hills Railroad and somehow obtained Durant’s rights of way and the proceeds from the stock sale, although the how and why is another mystery. The result was a Union Pacific line to Arnold, which opened in March 1912, and a branch line that, while still missing Gandy by three miles, ran to Stapleton.

Durant was also active in Iowa in September and October 1911, promoting an interurban line from Luxembourg, which would raise $35,000, to Colesburg, which would raise $40,000. This, Durant promised, was “not a promotional piece, not a plan to make money by exploiting Wall Street.” In early 1912, Durant announced that his Midland Railroad would build between Rockford and Kankakee. In fact, several miles of track were laid and a rented locomotive was briefly in service before Durant simply disappeared.

On November 18, 1912, SG Durant was arrested for failing to pay “a large bond for endorsing allegedly worthless stock (through his) American Redemption Company.” At the same time, federal authorities charged him with using the letters for fraudulent purposes.

During his court appearances, it became difficult to determine whether SG Durant was his real name, as so many aliases were used. Amazingly, Arnold’s people still had faith in Durant and credited him with at least some of the responsibility for building the Union Pacific line.