Ghost Towns 4. Bridgeport (Caddo County)
This important crossing on the mile-wide Canadian River gave access to the rich farming territory on the south bank, but floods alternating with quicksand at low water were an effective barrier. Since the 1890s, at least five high-water and a dozen low-water highway bridges have crossed the Canadian near Bridgeport. In 1898 a railroad bridge was built across the river. In 1907 a train carrying livestock and household goods fell off this bridge into the quicksand and is still there. The bridge's replacement was washed away in a 1914 flood. A 900-foot suspension bridge was opened in 1921 as a toll bridge and a link in the old Postal Highway, a forerunner of Route 66. Bridgeport thrived briefly when Caddo and Wichita lands were opened for settlement in 1901, with over 3,000 people living here, mostly in tents. That year a bitter town feud developed when it was discovered that the water supply on the west side of town was much better than on the betterestablished east side, which included the post office. The westsiders stole the post office, moved a hotel, and put up a new bank, so embittering the east-siders that many of them moved away. Despite its troubles, Bridgeport by 1904 had 76 business establishments, including two banks, a flour mill producing 100 barrels a day, and a waterworks. By 1909, however the population was down to 1,000. In 1932 the state highway department built a new bridge down stream and rerouted US-66 around Bridgeport. The decline continued as railroad tracks were abandoned and the opening of 1-40 further isolated the town. Located east of Hydro off 1-40.
5. Cayuga (Delaware County)
Cayuga was founded by Matbias Splitlog, born in Ohio of French Canadian-Cayuga ancestry and adopted by the Seneca Indians. He made a fortune in Kansas City, then moved to the Delaware District of the Cherokee Nation in the 1870s. The site he selected for Cayuga Springs, as it was first called, was in the valley of the Cowskin River and had a large spring. He built a factory to make wagons, buggies, hacks, and coffins, plus a flour mill, a general store, and a blacksmith shop. The factory was run by steam power and the mill by water power, with running water also piped underground to some houses. He also operated a ferry across the Cowskin. Finally, in the 1890s he had a limestone Gothic church with a 1,600 pound bell erected as a Roman Catholic shrine. His funeral was the first service held in the church. The village burned in 1913, but the refurbished church stands today. Located northeast of Grove off SH-10.
6. Cloud Chief (Washira County)
Originally known as Tacola, Cloud Chief sprang to life in 1892 with the land run that opened the Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation to white settlement. The town had been designated a territorial county seat, and in a few weeks there were 3,000 people living in tents and about 50 businesses. Soon the town had some unique buildings, notably the Iron Hotel. The hotel Was made of sheets of galvanized iron, visitors said they couldn't sleep when rain was rattling on the building, and they complained of the heat retained by the metal in the summer. The courthouse was a one room building made ofbadly warped cottonwood lumber. The sheriff, county judge, county clerk, and county superintendent of schools each had his own desk and chair, but no partitions; somehow, two jail cells were squeezed in. By 1898 the population had stabilized at about 700. Cloud Chief's location in the southeastern part of Washira County sparked an effort to move the county seat to centrally located Cordell. After several court battles, the county attorney filed an injunction to stop a vote, but his son failed to deliver the papers to the federal court on time, and was soon tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail; his father fled and never came back. The election favored Cordell, but more court battles ensued, and in 1904 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the county seat could not be moved under current law. Then Congress passed a bill, signed by President Theodore Roosevelt, to authorize the move, Cloud Chief began shrinking. Today only a few people live in the area. Located southeast of Cordell.
7. Cooperton (Kiowa County)
When the Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache Reservation was opened for settlement in 1901, both farmland and town lots in Cooperton were distributed by the same lottery. Certain blocks in town were designated for schools, parks, and municipal buildings. In 1904 some of the citizens decided to clear the western half of the townsite by burning off the grass; the resulting fire did so very effectively, along with a few buildings, some livestock, and almost 5 square miles of prairie. Cooperton rebounded and the town's best years were 1915-1925. A small dam created a nearby reservoir and recreation area. Several school districts consolidated in 1925 to maintain a high school in Cooperton, and this helped the population reach its peak in the late 1930s. After that, as population decreased, the school district made a practice of hiring teachers with large families and enticing other large families to move in. But by 1965 the high school was closed; the elementary school followed in 1971. Today only a few buildings stand. Located southeast of Hobart.
