In the spring of 1871, the Missouri-Kansas & Texas Railroad (the Katy) won the right to cross Indian Territory by being the first rail line to reach the border with the Cherokee Nation. The railroad’s managers believed they could cross quickly through the Indian nations to reach the cattle lands of Texas.
But they underestimated the difficulties of crossing what was still a sparsely populated land. First, the railroad workers were hampered by early spring rains that turned the prairie to mud. Then, mosquitoes nearly drove them crazy as they worked through swampy bottomlands. By June 1871, they had reached Pryor Creek, just 50 miles from the Kansas border with another 50 miles to go before reaching Fort Gibson.
Another hindrance was the open hostility many Cherokees felt toward the railroad. Individual Indians fenced off the best timberlands, forcing the railroad to negotiate with dozens of Cherokees for railroad ties instead of buying them through the Cherokee national council. So frustrating was the lack of cooperation by the Cherokees, the Katy managers decided to change the course of the railroad. Instead of following the Texas Road into Fort Gibson, the rail line would follow the road’s western fork so that it would enter the Creek Nation as soon as possible.
By the end of July, the line had advanced only 10 miles to Chouteau’s Creek, and it was late August before it passed Flat Rock Creek in present-day Wagoner County. When the workers arrived at the Verdigris River, the railroad established a depot that gained the name Gibson Station because a supply road was built from it to Fort Gibson. Passenger service from Gibson Station began in September 1871.
When the rail line reached the Three Forks area, two river bridges had to be built — first over the Verdigris and then three and a half miles further south over the Arkansas. The railroad supervisor expected to have the bridge over the Verdigris completed by Sept. 15 and over the Arkansas by Oct. 1. Again, these deadlines proved unreachable.
Because the ironwork had to be shipped in from the American Bridge Company in Chicago, the three spans of the Verdigris bridge were not in place until Oct. 1. On that fateful day, the center span collapsed, killing several workers and injuring many more. A new span would have to be shipped in from Chicago. But on Oct. 8, the Great Chicago Fire broke out and the American Bridge Company had to delay all its shipments.
Work resumed after this delay, and the Verdigris bridge was completed by the end of October. The tracklayers, who normally could lay a mile of track a day, took 11 days to cross the three and half miles to the Arkansas. They were delayed this time by heavy rains and a jungle of river cane. Then, on Nov. 17, a heavy rainfall flooded the Arkansas and washed out the framework for its bridge. The workers had to start over once again.
By Dec. 7, the bridge was completed and ready for track to be laid across it to the site of old Fort Davis. This was the original site chosen for a large depot, but the terrain proved too uneven. So the tracklayers slogged through more rain, mud and cane to a site three miles further south. Here the depot would be built and named Muscogee Station in honor of the Creek tribe.
In a ceremony to celebrate finally reaching this milestone, the first steam engine crossed the Katy’s Arkansas River bridge on Christmas Day 1871. This steam locomotive was called a "General Grant," and the trial run across the bridge must have been a great satisfaction to the weary workers who had toiled for many months to finally reach the heart of Indian Territory.
Reach Jonita Mullins at jonita@netscape.com.
