The Southwestern Arkansas and Indian Territory Railroad was begun in the mid-1880s. The three-foot line opened a 10-mile extension between Smithton and Hebron (in Arksansas' Cleveland County) in July 1887. The line adopted standard gauge in 1891.

The line was sold at foreclosure March 13, 1900, after receivership was begun in March 1896, and reorganized April 28, 1900, as the Arkansas Southwestern Railway Co.