Hansford County Railroads
Source: The Handbook of Texas Online
ENID, OCHILTREE AND
WESTERN RAILROAD
The Enid, Ochiltree and Western Railroad represents an
unsuccessful attempt by the people of Ochiltree County to secure
a railroad through the town of Ochiltree, then the county seat.
Although three major lines crossed the Panhandle by 1908, none
ran directly west from Oklahoma across the counties north of the
Canadian River. The lack of rail service necessitated long trips
by area farmers and ranchers to the nearest rail towns to market
their produce.
Lynch Dodson, a farmer who lived near Ochiltree, met with state
railroad commissioner O. B. Colquitt at Austin in February 1908.
Dodson then contacted A. E. Wiest, the chief promoter of the
American Engineering Company of Indianapolis, Indiana, who agreed
to come and inspect the terrain. Meanwhile, Dodson secured the
backing of several influential local residents, including James
H. Whippo, J. B. (Pop) Cartwright, and county judge George M.
Perry.
Wiest arrived on April 21, and for two
months he and the Ochiltree County citizens worked to promote the
railroad, secure stock certificates, and enlist potential
subscribers. The Enid, Ochiltree and Western Railroad Company
held its first meeting on June 11, with Judge Perry as president,
Cartwright as secretary, W. B. Slaughter as treasurer, and Wiest
as vice president and general manager. Hamlin Palmer, a freight
agent for the Santa Fe line, was later recruited as assistant
secretary. The citizens of Dalhart also agreed to help finance
the project.
By the spring of 1909 the proposed route had been surveyed for
113 miles from Dalhart to Ochiltree, rights-of-way secured, and
work begun on the roadbed. Proposed townsites such as Wilcoe,
Orofino, Victor, and Jarvis were platted. On August 14 a building
contract was signed with the Panhandle Construction Company.
On September 23 W. D. Wagner, the mayor
of Dalhart, drove the first spike during a gala celebration held
at Dalhart. Soon, plans were made and permission secured to
extend the proposed route via Enid to Oklahoma City. As
construction progressed a small locomotive, piloted by J. M.
(Johnny) McChord and dubbed Old Steamboat, was purchased from the
Southern Iron and Equipment Company of Atlanta, Georgia.
When the EO&W failed to make its monthly payments to the
Panhandle Construction Company in the summer of 1910, however,
the Railway Audit and Inspection Company was brought in to
inspect the books. Federal judgments were rendered against the
EO&W properties for $9,000 and $14,000. Several factors
contributed to the company's failure. Not all of the firm's
$500,000 capital stock had been subscribed. Wiest had violated
state law as well as the EO&W's own rules by signing over,
endorsing, and selling promissory notes. And a prolonged drought
in 1910-11 kept many well-intentioned farmers and small
businessmen from fulfilling their subscriptions.
Consequently, on December 22, 1910, the EO&W went into the
hands of Judge H. G. Hendricks, who had been designated receiver
by the Eighth Judicial District Court at Dalhart. Wiest
surrendered his power of attorney on February 11, 1911, and
disappeared from the scene. Construction stopped with only the
grade to Dumas completed and less than fourteen miles of track
laid out of Dalhart.
On June 11, 1912, C. A. Vawter and O.
J. McKnight of Dalhart purchased the EO&W properties for
$33,000; Old Steamboat was shipped back to Atlanta. Several
lawsuits were filed against the EO&W, and in the fall of 1917
its properties were sold. The failure of the EO&W led to the
eventual abandonment of the Ochiltree and Hansford townsites
after Perryton and Spearman were founded on the North Texas and
Santa Fe line in 1919. Dumas was left without a railroad
connection until 1931. Remnants of the unfinished railroad may
still be seen between Dumas and Dalhart.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Carrie Whippo Correll and Spencer P. Whippo,
"Enid, Ochiltree and Western Railroad,"
Panhandle-Plains Historical Review 33 (1960). Wheatheart of the
Plains: An Early History of Ochiltree County (Perryton, Texas:
Ochiltree County Historical Survey Committee, 1969).
H. Allen Anderson