Research Catalog

The Red River Bridge War : a Texas-Oklahoma border battle

Title: The Red River Bridge War : a Texas-Oklahoma border battle / Rusty Williams.
Author: Williams, Rusty, 1948-
Publication: College Station : Texas A & M University Press, [2016]

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	Text	Use in library	F391 .W695 2016	Off-site

Details

Description

275 pages : illustrations, maps; 25 cm.

Summary

"At the beginning of America's Great Depression, Texas and Oklahoma armed up and went to war over a 75-cent toll bridge that connected their states across the Red River. It was a two-week affair marked by the presence of National Guardsmen with field artillery, Texas Rangers with itchy trigger fingers, angry mobs, Model T blockade runners, and even a costumed Native American peace delegation. Traffic backed up for miles, cutting off travel between the states. This conflict entertained newspaper readers nationwide during the summer of 1931, but the Red River Bridge War was a deadly serious affair for many rural Americans at a time when free bridges and passable roads could mean the difference between survival and starvation. The confrontation had national consequences, too: it marked an end to public acceptance of the privately owned ferries, toll bridges, and turnpikes that threatened to strangle American transportation in the automobile age. The Red River Bridge War: A Texas-Oklahoma Border Battle documents the day-to-day skirmishes of this unlikely conflict between two sovereign states, each struggling to help citizens get goods to market at a time of reduced tax revenue and little federal assistance. It also serves as a cautionary tale, providing historical context to the current trend of re-privatizing our nation's highway infrastructure"--Publisher's website.

Series Statement

Red River Valley books ; number four

Uniform Title

Red River Valley books ; no. 4.

Subject

Genre/Form

Military history.

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 223-270) and index.

Contents

Introduction: Coarse-looking men -- Great sagacity and tact -- Mud to the axles -- An honest oilman -- The first casualty -- Cheese and sody crackers -- So much legal gobbledygook -- A layer of anger -- Midnight bulldozers -- Very much disturbed -- Ready to go killing -- Hold the fort -- If it takes all summer -- Cross another creek -- Put away the soldiers -- Epilogue: Historical markers.

ISBN

9781623494056
1623494052
9781623494063 (canceled/invalid)

LCCN

2016004932

OCLC

ocn933438543
933438543
SCSB-1855680

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library