The railroad may be said to have originated at a public meeting among Fayetteville boosters on September 25, 1888, which was called to discuss building more tracks into Fayetteville to connect to the recently arrived Frisco. Toward this goal the North Arkansas & Western Railway Company was officially incorporated in Arkansas on November 29, 1899. The initial intent was to run west from Fayetteville into the
Illinois River valley, to service the timber and fruit-growing areas there. On April 19, 1901, the new owners changed the name to the Ozark and Cherokee Central Railway Company. The task was delegated to the separate Muskogee City Bridge Company, which was incorporated by Act of Congress on June 15, 1901. That company built a railroad bridge across the Arkansas at
Muskogee, Oklahoma during the 1901–1903 timeframe. The assets of both of those entities were officially acquired by the O&CC on March 16, 1903. Equipment consisted of three
4-4-0 locomotives, one coach, one coach/baggage combination, and a variety of freight equipment. In January of 1902, the Frisco had been granted an option to purchase all the outstanding O&CC stock, and the Frisco executed that option in November of 1902. However, the O&CC continued to exist under Frisco ownership until July 15, 1907, when its assets were formally deeded to the Frisco, where it became the Muskogee Subdivision of the Red River Division. In subsequent history, most of the line east of Fort Gibson was abandoned by the Frisco in July 1942. The bridge across the Arkansas was removed by 1968 as part of the
McClellan–Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System. The rest of the line disappeared between 1979 and 1983. ==References==