Hell on Rails: Oklahoma Towns at War with the Rock Island Railroad

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Although the “railroad war” was officially over, the symbol of victory was slow in coming. It took until the end of 1894 for the Rock Island and the county seat towns to negotiate the price and location of the depots and actually build them. Even then, the railroad reserved one last indignity for the county seat of Pond Creek. It refused to recognize their incorporated name and hung a sign on their new depot that read, “Round Pond.” The railroad argued that “Pond Creek” had always been the name of the station north of the river and should remain so.

This embarrassment lingered until late 1896 when the north town of Pond Creek Station decided to rename its little village “Jefferson” and relocate it a half-mile up the tracks. This move finally freed up the name “Pond Creek” for the south town’s depot, thus ending one of the most peculiar events in Oklahoma’s history.

Through the years, the people of Pond Creek and Enid have maintained that their fight was with the railroad, not neighboring towns. Clearly, had the Rock Island established depots from the beginning, the destruction of its property and loss of business could have been avoided.

The Rock Island Railway has long since disappeared into bankruptcy, but for many years after the railroad war there was an era of goodwill during which the Rock Island became a lifeline for the people and their wheat-producing economy in towns all along its tracks in that portion of Oklahoma.

Jim Fulbright, of Goodlettsville, Tenn., is the author of W.D. “Bill” Fossett: Pioneer and Peace Officer and Trails to Old Pond Creek: The Early Days of Trade and Travel in Northwestern Oklahoma. An earlier version of this article appeared in the Winter 2005 WOLA Journal. Also suggested for further reading: Iron Road to Empire, by William Edward Hayes; and West of Hell’s Fringe, by Glenn Shirley.

This article was written by Jim Fullbright and originally published in the December 2007 issue of Wild West Magazine. For more great articles, subscribe to Wild West magazine today!

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