The BM&E started as an effort by the citizens of Beaver, Oklahoma to ensure survival of their town by getting it connected to the railroad grid. It was initiated at a town meeting on December 28, 1911, after the
Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railway (WF&NW), a subsidiary of the
Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (MKT), declined to build to their locale. However, the minimum goal was to run north to
Forgan, Oklahoma, to at least connect with the WF&NW, which had run a line into Forgan from
Altus, Oklahoma. Having little capitalization of its own, unable to talk other railways into financing the effort, and prevented from issuing railroad bonds by Oklahoma law, the town took unorthodox paths to get it built. The town passed bonds for a light and water plant, and simply used the proceeds to help fund the railroad. Approval to run the 39.2 miles from Forgan to
Hooker—a town on the CRI&P line—was granted January 29, 1924, but obstruction by another railroad and other factors prevented placing the line in full service until December 31, 1927. The BM&E reached
Mouser in the summer of 1928,
Hough the following summer,
Eva before the end of 1930, and Keyes on June 25, 1931, giving the railroad approximately 105 miles of total track. At this point both the CRI&P and the MKT became interested in buying the line, and following jockeying between the two, the BM&E became a wholly owned subsidiary of the MKT on July 1, 1931. The BM&E continued to exist in this manner until the whole line was abandoned on August 30, 1972. ==Legacy==