The Muskogee Company, although a

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

company, was founded in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

on February 27, 1923. The company officers were brothers C. Jared Ingersoll,

industrialist A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

, as president, and John H. W. Ingersoll, attorney and industrialist, as vice president and treasurer. The Muskogee Company owned large interests in several railroads in and about northeastern Oklahoma. According to a historical summary written by the DeGolyer Library at

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

, which holds the archives of the Muskogee Company, the company history actually began in the 1890s, when a group of Philadelphia businessmen, headed by C. J. Ingersoll, built the Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad (CO&G), which ran from

Hartford, Arkansas Hartford is a city in Sebastian County, Arkansas, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 642 at the 2010 census. Clergyman James T. Draper, Jr., president of the Southern ...

McAlester, Oklahoma McAlester is the county seat of Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, Pittsburg County, Oklahoma. The population was 18,363 at the time of the 2010 census, a 3.4 percent increase from 17,783 at the 2000 census,Shuller, Thurman"McAlester" profile ''Encyclop ...

(then known as

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...

). These men intended the railroad to serve their coal mines in Arkansas, the most notable of which were:the Sebastian County Coal & Mining Co., American Smokeless Coal Co., Mazzrad Coal & Mining Co., and Garland Coal & Mining Co."Muskogee Company records (Part 1) A Guide to the Collection."
Accessed November 13, 2016. In 1902, Ingersoll's group sold the CO&G to a competitor and began the

Midland Valley Railroad The Midland Valley Railroad (MV) was a railroad company incorporated on June 4, 1903 for the purpose of building a line from Hope, Arkansas, through Muskogee and Tulsa, Oklahoma to Wichita, Kansas. It was backed by C. Jared Ingersoll, a Philadelph ...

, which would run from

Ft. Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith is the third-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County, Arkansas, Sebastian County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, the population was 89,142. It is the principal city of the Fort Smi ...

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

. The route was to go northwest from Ft. Smith through Muskogee,

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

and the

Osage Nation The Osage Nation ( ) ( Osage: 𐓁𐒻 𐓂𐒼𐒰𐓇𐒼𐒰͘ ('), "People of the Middle Waters") is a Midwestern Native American tribe of the Great Plains. The tribe developed in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys around 700 BC along ...

into

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

, where there were other coal interests. Coal shipments from company-owned mines to colder western regions of the United States via the Muskogee Company-owned Midland Valley was the original plan for profit.

Oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

discoveries in Oklahoma later produced lucrative revenues for the Muskogee Company railroads that were strategically located in high production areas of the state. The railroads that fell under the control and common management of the Muskogee Company were colloquially referred to as the

Muskogee Roads The Muskogee Roads was the colloquial name for a system of railroads under common management operationally headquartered in Muskogee, Oklahoma and controlled by the Muskogee Company of Philadelphia. The Muskogee Roads were the only Class I railroad ...

. The Muskogee Roads were made up of the

, the

Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway The Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway (KO&G) was formed on July 31, 1919 from the assets of the bankrupt Missouri, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway. The KO&G largely consisted of a single line from Baxter Springs, Kansas, to Denison, Texas, prior to i ...

, the

Oklahoma City-Ada-Atoka Railway Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...

, and indirectly, the Osage Railway. C. Jared Ingersoll was a majority owner of the Midland Valley since its beginning on February 1, 1903, but the Muskogee Company took ownership of the line after its 1923 formation. The Osage Railway, which was affiliated but independently owned and operated, was built during the early 1920s to accommodate traffic from the oil fields located in the Osage Nation. The Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf was in receivership when acquired by the Muskogee Company in 1926. Finally, the Oklahoma City-Ada-Atoka Railway was purchased by the Muskogee Company in 1929, at which point the Ingersoll interests owned and operated four different railways with a total of 756 miles of trackage. The Osage Railroad was abandoned in 1953. In 1963, the

Texas & Pacific The Texas and Pacific Railway Company (known as the T&P) was created by federal charter in 1871 with the purpose of building a southern transcontinental railroad between Marshall, Texas, and San Diego, California. History Under the influence of ...

, which was a subsidiary of the

Missouri Pacific Railroad The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad ...

, acquired the other three lines. The Oklahoma City-Ada-Atoka was sold to the

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and S ...

that same year, while the others were consolidated into the Texas & Pacific.

Citation

References

* Lloyd E. Stagner. 1996. ''Midland Valley: Rails For Coal, Cattle, & Crude. David City, Nebraska'', South Platte Press, * Weigley, Russell F., editor. 1982. ''Philadelphia: A 300-Year History'', W.W. Norton & Company, New York, New York, 1982 {{- Holding companies of the United States Coal companies of the United States United States railroad holding companies Companies based in Philadelphia Defunct companies based in Pennsylvania American companies established in 1923 Holding companies established in 1923 Transport companies established in 1923 American companies disestablished in 1964 Holding companies disestablished in 1964 1923 establishments in Pennsylvania 1964 disestablishments in Pennsylvania