I hope that only bidder sold it back to the Olivers for what he paid for it. That was how farmers in my mother's home town got around the banks calling loans back in the Depression. Her uncles had money, but that quickly would have been depleted by what the banks' said the farmers owed, so one of them would be the sole bidder for an amount he knew the farmer could pay or market value.. He'd take possession of the farm and then sell it back to the farmer for what he paid. Market value wasn't usually very high for these ND farms, so sometimes the farmer might have to make a year's worth of low-interest payments to the uncles, but it was much more reasonable terms than the banks. They saved about two dozen farms that way and later became rich men because they had incredible community support for just about any venture they wanted to launch.