If you read this column faithfully, you may recall "The Saga of Ben Blanchard," which occupied this space for several weeks three years ago.

Blanchard was the 19th century Terre Haute realtor who became one of the most imaginative -- as well as charming con men -- in America. Between 1885 and 1906, he:

Platted and developed the communities of South Hutchinson, Kan., Blanchard, Ariz., and Monarch, Nev.

To impress and attract wealthy capitalists to his ventures, he acquired elegant, custom-made Pullman cars to transport and entertain them from Terre Haute, and other cities including New York City, to his latest real estate venture.

Mesmerized the most sophisticated citizens with charm wherever he roamed.

Founded mining companies, banks, businesses and churches in several states.

Circumvented a host of criminal charges and avoided court process through unique chicanery.

Significantly, discovered the largest pure rock salt strata in the world.

In September 1906, "Get-Rich-Quick" Blanchard disappeared from newly platted Monarch, Nev., allegedly taking with him an estimated $45,000 from the sale of 2,400 lots.

Acting as general manager of Benoni Cooper Co., Blanchard had announced the discovery of "rich deposits of copper, gold and silver" in the nearby desert and founded a town, in the middle of a desert 40 miles from Tonopah, Nev., where miners would reside.

Disgruntled investors, journalists and at least one historian speculated that Ben "fled to England, purchased a bank and, probably died there."

As this column disclosed in 2000, on March 24, 1942, 84-year-old Ben Blanchard died at 82912 N. 14th St. in Terre Haute and is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery with his first wife and two of his children.

Though the complete story of Blanchard's adventures may never be told, some additional chapters to his saga have been secured from his descendants.

According to his passport, Blanchard departed for England in April 1910, five months before his son, Ralph, a graduate of Terre Haute High School and Rose Polytechnic Institute, married Marjorie Bowers at the Carlton Hotel in New York City.

For four years, Blanchard resided at the lavishly decorated 800-room Hotel Cecil on the Thames River, the largest hotel in London. It is probable that he was involved in banking. Ralph Blanchard was the European representative for the Old York Investment Co.

Ultimately, Blanchard became general manager of the British International Bank, 3 Lombard St., London. By April 1914, Ben and his wife -- the former Avis Insley of Terre Haute -- resided at St. James Court, Buckingham Gate.

According to grandson Howard B. Blanchard, Ben was "J. Pierpont Morgan's financial adviser." For a period of time, Ben and Avis were housed at Buckingham Palace. Mementoes from that experience, including a silver tea set and handmade fine lace collar, are family heirlooms, "gifts from the King and Queen."

Blanchard's passport, scrutinized by the London Metropolitan Police on Cannon Row, suggests he departed Liverpool for New York City Jan. 17, 1920. Son Ralph returned to New York soon thereafter and became a mining geologist for the Canadian Pacific Railroad.

Avis Blanchard died in January 1926. According to Howard Blanchard, Ben was working on Wall Street in 1927 and helped secure a Bronx apartment for his youngest son, Clyde, and his family, consisting of wife Garnet and three boys.

The 1929 market crash brought severe financial woes.

Within a few years, Ben became a hermit, residing in a one-room shack near the Chesapeake Bay without flooring, water, electricity, doors or windows. He cared for a herd of goats.

Ben's abdomen was speckled with "black spots," where he used deer gut as thread to close herniated protrusions.

Howard Blanchard recalls his grandfather "resembling Santa Claus, with long white hair and a beard. He was quite jovial." Ben was "5-feet-4 1/2 inches" tall, according to the passport.

On several occasions, Clyde trekked from New York to Maryland to put his father on a train destined for Terre Haute, where he visited his sister, Alma Lee, and his oldest daughter Nelle. On Ben's final visit, he was seriously ill. Clyde accompanied him. That was in late 1941 or early 1942.

South Hutchinson, Kan., founded by Blanchard in 1886 and once touted as "the fastest growing town in the West," celebrated its centennial by reflecting on its inception in a history written by Janice Brown, which begins:

"A strange appearing creature in female garb rode the Sante Fe into Hutchinson, Kansas, and was assisted off the train by a detective. The detective was seeking Ben Blanchard. After the detective departed, Blanchard stepped out of the petticoats which had so effectively disguised him from the officer and emerged as his true self, a real estate promoter from Terre Haute, Indiana."

Blanchard Street still is South Hutchinson's main east-west thoroughfare, but Ben's first name is not conspicuous. That will change in 2004, when the new Reno County Underground Salt Museum opens near the salt strata Blanchard unearthed Sept. 27, 1887. A plaque will recognize Ben's discovery of the "world's largest strata of pure rock salt."

Morton Salt Co. now owns the mining interests of the many companies, including Carey Salt and Barton Salt, which flocked to Reno County during the "Great 1888 Salt Boom."

Neither Blanchard, Ariz., nor Monarch, Nev. -- Ben's two other creations -- survive. Both are now ghost towns, though the settlement at Blanchard existed for several years after being renamed "Iron King."

Mike McCormick is the Vigo County historian. His column appears each Sunday.