Red River Bridge War
1931 CE.
Shown on the map at 33.818°, -96.523°.
The Red River Bridge War was a boundary conflict between the U.S. states of Oklahoma and Texas over an existing toll bridge and a new free bridge crossing the Red River. The Red River Bridge Company, a private firm owned by Benjamin Colbert, had been operating a toll bridge that carried U.S. Route 69 and U.S. Route 75 between Colbert, Oklahoma, and Denison, Texas. In 1931, Texas and Oklahoma jointly built a new, free span northwest of the existing toll bridge. On July 10, 1931, the Red River Bridge Company obtained an injunction against the Texas Highway Commission (which oversaw the Texas Highway Department, now Texas Department of Transportation), keeping it from opening the new bridge. The company said that the highway commission had promised in July 1930 to buy the old toll bridge for $60,000 (equal to $1,156,375 today). In reaction to the injunction, Texas Governor Ross S. Sterling ordered that the new free bridge be barricaded at the Texas end. On July 17, Oklahoma Governor William "Alfalfa Bill" Murray ordered the new bridge open by executive order.
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