Red River Station

RED RIVER STATION, TEXAS . Red River Station was a small rural community in north central Montague County two miles south of the Red River on Salt Creek. The settlement was established in 1860 after earlier attempts failed due to hostile Indians in the area. With the onset of the Civil War , Confederate troops were stationed at the site. These troops, part of the Frontier Regiment , patrolled the Texas-Indian Territory border area during the war. After the war the community served as a crossing for cattle drives on the Chisholm Trail . By the mid-1870s the population was between 250 and 300, and a ferry boat crossed the Red River at the site. In 1873 a post office began operating under the name Salt Creek. In 1884 its name was changed to Red River Station; the post office under the new name served residents until 1887. In the 1880s a tornado destroyed much of Red River Station; a few buildings were reconstructed, but the community never recovered. In 1887 the Missouri, Kansas and Texas bypassed the community in favor of nearby Nocona. The establishment of Belcherville, another area rail town, and the development of the Western Trail for cattle drives also contributed to Red River Station's demise. By the late 1880s Red River Station apparently had ceased to exist as an organized community.