Toll Bridge at the Red River

There once was another bridge over the Red River north of Denison, a little downstream from Katy's bridge.

The first crossing at the site of the bridges was a ferry operated by Ben Colbert, who as I recall was a Chickasaw. Fording was unwise--quicksand. Katy built the first bridge. When the Frisco built down from Sapulpa, it made arrangements to use the Katy bridge instead of building its own. (I have a dim recollection that, in the 19th century, Congress passed a law compelling railroads to share--for a fee, of course--their bridges with other railroads built through the same locality.)

Next, a corporation formed for the purpose, built a wagon bridge east of the Katy railroad bridge and operated it as a toll bridge until the free bridge just west of the Katy's was opened in 1931.

The toll bridge stayed in use as a free bridge until it was declared unsafe and closed. I can recall having crossed it at least once when I was a child. Even after it was closed, the old bridge stood in place for many, many years. I don't know when it was torn down.

The toll bridge figured in a bit of state history, and the story (and embellishments) tend to vary somewhat, depending on whether the teller is a Texan or an Okie.

While the toll bridge was open as such, the High Mucky Mucks decided that all crossings of the Red should be free and set about purchasing all the toll bridges. Well sir, the owners of the Denison bridge refused to sell, whereupon the High Mucky Mucks built a free bridge.

When the new bridge was ready to be opened in 1931, the Texas government took sides with the toll bridge owners and blocked the free bridge. A small group of Texas Rangers, joined by the local sheriff and a few deputies, were dispatched to enforce the blockage of the free bridge.

Not to be outdone by his native state, Oklahoma Governor "Alfalfa Bill" Murray sent a contingent of Oklahoma National Guard to open the bridge. The Texans, armed with revolvers, and the Okies, armed with rifles and, I believe, one small cannon, postured at either end of the bridges.

The Okies went so far as to plow up the road leading to the north end of the toll bridge. Finally, cool heads prevailed, and the free bridge was opened without a shot having been fired in anger in what has been called "The Last War Between the States."

A new, flat, concrete bridge was built between the 1931 bridge and the Katy bridge in recent years. Now, the steel arch 1931 bridge is gone and another flat concrete bridge is open where it stood. This clears a bottleneck in the four-lane, divided US69/US75.

Incidentally, the bridge area is a good place for trainwatching, with both UP and BNSF traffic going by. The Oklahoma welcome center offers restrooms and snacks, but is some distance away. The Texas welcome center, on the other hand, offers restrooms, snacks, and a view of the tracks.

If you wander off the road on foot, watch out for snakes. And if you wade into tall grass, the chiggers will keep you remembering that walk for several painful days.

Editor's Note: Harry Brown is a member of the Tower 55 Society. He says, "John Smith showed me a copy of UP CROSSROADS the day I signed up as a member several weeks ago. My pal Joe Pike took me the day I joined.

"As you no doubt have noted, I'm a native of Denison. Three generations of my family worked for the Katy Railroad there. I would have, too, but when I completed military service, Wm. N. Dehornus, III had engine service employees with 15 years seniority laid off, hence no Katy career for me."