Grayson County TXGenWeb

Denison Herald
July 25, 1972

RED RIVER CITY LOST OUT IN RACE WITH DENISON
Red River is a name that brings visions to mind of the raw pioneer days that accompanied Denison’s founding 100 years ago, and romantic legends – not all of them true- have grown up about the wild, lawless community formed
just south of the Red River before the Katy Railroad came.
Just where Red River City was located exactly has been lost through the years, but it was on the east side of the railroad tracks, south of Red River.
No photograph of Red River City has ever come to light here to show exactly what the collection of tents and shacks looked like. One turned up during the Herald’s search for old pictures for this edition, but a magnifying glass revealed a Chickasha, Okla. sign under one of the business awnings. Two-story buildings shown in the picture had already cast doubt on its being Red River City as that frontier village was so temporary in nature that five years after its founding, nothing was left but one log cabin.
The 1939 “Denison Guide”, published by the Chamber of Commerce states: Wagon trains bearing freight to the interior also crossed the river on Colbert’s Ferry, near which a settlement came in to existence, the haunt of freighters, cowboys, and buffalo hunters on the plains. This ragged little town of tents and shacks, located four miles north of the present town of Denison, was called “Red River City”.
Cattle drives after the Civil War made use of the rock bluffs west of Colbert’s Ferry for crossing the Red River and contributed to the growth of Red River City.
“The little town traded in buffalo hides, acted as a supply point and afforded gaudy entertainment. Such was the turbulence of its citizenship that ex-Confederate soldiers were organized into a police force to preserve the peace. The claim was made, at that time, "That a man had been killed on every 25 feet of the business blocks,” the Guide continued.
When the Katy Railroad approached from the north, and the Texas Central from the south, Red River City seemed sure to bloom.
George Cutler moved his printing equipment in and started publication of the Red River Journal, turning out the first edition in red ink.
However, when Denison was announced, Cutler quickly loaded his press on a wagon and set up shop in the new city, switching his masthead to Denison Journal. He was apparently a man who believed in moving with the times, because a few years later, sometime before 1876, Cutler had carted his printing equipment off to Dallas and was publishing the Dallas Commercial apparently having seen some promise in that small town’s future.
But in the summer of 1872, O.B. Gunn, chief engineer of the Katy Railroad, made a personal inspection of the country for a hundred miles in each direction and decided upon the location of the new city which would become the Katy railhead in Texas. Land was purchased and the location kept secret until the deals were closed. In September, the town was laid out and named Denison after George Denison, a Katy vice president. The Denison Town Company
was established and held its first auction of lots Sept. 23, 1872.
Meantime, the residents of Red River City, realizing that the boom would be in Denison rather than their rough community, started moving en mass to the new town. For many it was easy, just pitch their tent in a new location a few miles south. And others just rolled up their blankets, while newspaper accounts of the day report that some had only to rise from the ground and shake themselves in the morning before starting their day.
But rivalry between the Katy and Texas Central was to extend the life of Red River City.
While the first Katy train rolled into Denison Dec. 25, 1872, during the evening, the Texas Central was still building northward some distance away.
The Denison Daily News recorded arrival of the first Texas Central train at the foot of Main street March 10, 1873 at 7 o’clock.
But the Texas Central and Katy weren’t getting along, so the rails were built on past Denison to Red River City. Cars coming from the south to be transferred to the Katy were taken on to Red River City where the Katy picked them up. Cars coming from the north for transfer to the Texas Central were brought into Denison, then back down the hill to Red River City where the Texas Central located its terminus.
This revitalized the community, and it was reported at one point that the railroad was starting construction of a two-story hotel. However, a later report revealed that after the foundation was down, the Texas Central looked for a private developer and found nobody willing to sink money into such an uncertain project, so it lapsed.
And the switching of cars up and down the hill didn’t last long. After three or four months of this, the Texas Central gave over and started stopping in Denison.
In 1876 the Denison Daily News recorded the demise of Red River City with a report that only one log cabin remained of the shack and tent town, and that the railroad tracks laid by the Texas Central north of Denison were being taken up.
Stories about Denison developing from Red River City are found in print, but actually Denison was established as a new city, and residents of Red River City who had intended to move to the boom area sure to result from the first railroad into Texas from the North, immediately transferred their loyalty, just as Cutler shifted his newspaper , declaring in print that he knew about Denison all along and just moved to Red River City so he could be nearby when the secret was told.
Today not even the one log cabin remains, and Red River City is just one of the colorful chapters in the history of the Denison area.