A 1931 interstate boundary dispute over a free bridge on the Red River that briefly escalated to martial law and drew international attention.
Key Facts
- Injunction date
- July 10, 1931
- Toll bridge purchase price promised
- $60,000 (approx. $1,156,375 today)
- Martial law declared
- July 24, 1931 by Oklahoma Governor Murray
- Martial law rescinded
- August 6, 1931
- Free bridge opened
- September 7, 1931 (Labor Day)
- Free bridge replaced
- 1995
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Texas and Oklahoma jointly constructed a free bridge over the Red River in 1931 to replace a private toll bridge operated by the Red River Bridge Company. The company, having been promised $60,000 by the Texas Highway Commission for the old bridge, obtained a court injunction blocking the new span from opening, and Texas Governor Sterling ordered barricades erected at the Texas end.
Oklahoma Governor William Murray declared the new bridge open by executive order on July 17, 1931, citing Oklahoma's territorial claim under the Adams–Onís Treaty. Oklahoma crews demolished the toll bridge approach to force traffic onto the free span, while Murray subsequently declared martial law and personally appeared at the site armed with a revolver; Oklahoma National Guardsmen held both bridge approaches against the injunction.
The injunction was dissolved and martial law rescinded on August 6, 1931, and the free bridge opened officially on Labor Day, September 7. The dispute attracted national and international headlines, with Adolf Hitler reportedly interpreting it as evidence of division among American states. A portion of the original free bridge was preserved and relocated to a park in Colbert, Oklahoma, after its replacement in 1995.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
William 'Alfalfa Bill' Murray.
Side B
1 belligerent
Ross S. Sterling, Adjutant General William Warren Sterling.