The Bet

Ruel C. Gridley (1829-1871), Civil War humanitarian and a member of 8 Masonic Lodges in 2 states, was born in Hannibal, Missouri, and was a boyhood friend of Mark Twain.  During the Civil War, Brother Gridley bet a friend a sack of flour on the outcome of a political race. The loser was to carry the sack 1½ miles from  Clifton to Austin, Nevada.  Gridley lost and carried the load, followed by a brass band playing "John Brown's Body." At the end of the march Brother Gridley auctioned off the sack with proceeds going to the Sanitary Commission, a charitable organization benefiting sick and wounded soldiers. The buyer made the donation but didn't want the flour.  So Brother Gridley shouldered his "sanitary sack of flour" and carried it throughout Nevada and California auctioning it over and over again.  Ultimately he raised over $275,000 ($3.9 million in today's dollars) for his organization, which eventually became the primary forerunner to a much more well-known charity — the Red Cross.