The Muskogee Roads were a system of railroads under common management headquartered in Muskogee, Oklahoma

Muskogee, Oklahoma

Muskogee is a city in Muskogee County, Oklahoma, United States. It is the county seat of Muskogee County, and home to Bacone College. The population was 38,310 at the 2000 census, making it the eleventh-largest city in Oklahoma....

 and controlled by the Muskogee Company

Muskogee Company

The Muskogee Company, although a Philadelphia company, was founded in Delaware on February 27, 1923. The company officers were brothers C. Jared Ingersoll, industrialist, as president, and John H. W. Ingersoll, attorney and industrialist, as vice president and treasurer...

 of Philadelphia. The Muskogee Roads were the only Class I railroad

Class I railroad

A Class I railroad in the United States and Mexico, or a Class I rail carrier in Canada, is a large freight railroad company, as classified based on operating revenue.Smaller railroads are classified as Class II and Class III...

s to be headquartered in Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

 and had a major impact on the development and livelihood of the region.

The Muskogee Roads were the Midland Valley Railroad

Midland Valley Railroad

The Midland Valley Railroad was incorporated in 1903 for the purpose of building a line from Hoye, Arkansas, through Muskogee and Tulsa, Oklahoma to Wichita, Kansas. The railroad took its name from Midland, Arkansas, a coal mining town in western Arkansas which was served by the railroad...

, Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway

Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway

The Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway 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 its purchase by Missouri Pacific's Texas and Pacific Railway...

, and the Oklahoma City-Ada-Atoka Railway

Oklahoma City-Ada-Atoka Railway

The Oklahoma City – Ada – Atoka Railway was formed from trackage from Oklahoma City to Atoka via Shawnee and Ada, Oklahoma, that was not included in the 1923 reorganization of the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad....

. The Muskogee Company also controlled the Osage Railway.

The Midland Valley was a 325 mile railroad connecting Wichita, Kansas

Wichita, Kansas

Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...

 and Fort Smith, Arkansas

Fort Smith, Arkansas

Fort Smith is the second-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. With a population of 86,209 in 2010, it is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region of 298,592 residents which encompasses the Arkansas...

 founded in 1903 and majority owned by C. Jared Ingersoll, one of the founders of the Muskogee Company. Upon the creation of the Muskogee Company in 1923, the Midland Valley became part of the Muskogee Roads.

The Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf was born as a successor to the bankrupt Missouri, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway. Baxter Springs, Kansas

Baxter Springs, Kansas

Baxter Springs is a town situated along the Spring River in the extreme southeastern part of Cherokee County, located in southeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,238...

 served as the most northern point on the railroad with Denison, Texas

Denison, Texas

Denison is a city in Grayson County, Texas, United States. The population was 22,773 at the 2000 census; it is estimated to have grown to 24,127 in 2009. Denison is one of two principal cities in the Sherman-Denison Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

 to the south and 308 miles between. The Muskogee Company acquired ninety-five percent of KO&G stock. Bridge traffic

Bridge line

A bridge line or bridge route is a rail carrier tasked primarily with moving traffic from one major carrier to another . Bridge lines often were located between two major cities, connecting rail carriers that served those cities and interchanging their cars...

 from the Missouri Pacific Railroad

Missouri Pacific Railroad

The Missouri Pacific Railroad , also known as the 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, including the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway , Texas and Pacific...

handled by the Kansas, Oklahoma, and Gulf route was a major source of revenue for the Muskogee Roads.