Mountain View, Oklahoma - Kiowa County

In the early days of the west, the railroads were responsible for the pioneering, development, and settlement of towns. Each expansion of a main or branch line was followed by promotion and sale of townsites, to serve as centers for farming and ranching and in turn provide resources for the railroad.

Early in April, 1899, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad completed it's line 51 miles west from Chickasha, I.T., terminating in the northern part of the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation, which was scheduled to be opened for settlement in 1901.

Crowds followed the railroad. Businesses such as a newspaper and saloons began. Business was booming. On April 23, 1899, the first cattle shipped to rail's end arrived and were unloaded. There were 47 cars and 2,585 young cattle in good condition, with 5,000 more on the way from Texas, where 30,000 more waited to be shipped. All were turned loose on Kiowa land.

The El Reno Development Company, consisting of prominent citizens of El Reno, some were railroad officials, arrived on May 8, 1899 and began to lay out a townsite. The depot, 144 ft. long, was complete with platform, station house, water tanks and a very large turntable, where the engines could be turned around for their trip back east.

By June, the rows of business tents on main street were being replaced with frame buildings, some being built over the tents, without a loss of business. Schools were set up for the fall. The town flourished. On Indian paydays, Main Street was crowded with Indians' wagons and in the fall it was crowded with cotton wagons.

Two catastrophes hit the new town. July 12, 1901 a fire started in a grocery sore. Because  of high winds and a less than adequate fire department, it destroyed a block of businesses before it could be contained. They were soon rebuilt.

In May 1903, heavy rains, strong winds and hail began about 5:00 on a Saturday afternoon and continued till after midnight. Due to the dam-like construction of a railroad bridge over Rainy Mountain Creek, the creek water backed up until it met the muddy waters of the Washita River making an 8 miles wide stretch of flood waters. By morning, the business section was under from one to several feet of water. People were rescued by boat from tree tops and by horseback from the lower section of town.

In August, 1903, began the strangest experience a town could have, that of moving bodily one and one half miles from one county (Washita) across the river to another county (Kiowa). The Mountain View Townsite Company had negotiated and bought a townsite in Kiowa County. Thousands of flyers had gone out to many states and lots in te new town were sold in 3 days. The history of the moving of the town with the hustle and turmoil it caused would make a large book. But, everyone worked together without a hitch and the town was again located on new ground.

The next couple of years passed with gradual growth, then disaster struck again. A tornado twisted down form the clouds southwest of town and when it finished, $100,000.00 worth of property was destroyed, 7 people killed, including a baby boy that was born during the storm, and 18 were injured.

When World War I came along, Mountain view's young men marched off to war on foreign soil. Patriotism was everywhere. People bought liberty bonds, women knitted for the soldiers and causality lists were watched closely.

The next few years passed quickly. Mountain View had electric lights, a sewer system, the crowded schools demanded more classrooms and Main Street was paved.

Today Mountain View has excellent highways, North, South, East and West, a new modern lighting system, excellent schools, ample supply of pure deep well water, a very large productive trade territory. This year, May 8, 1999, Mountain will celebrate it's 100th birthday.

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To: Kiowa County