Hoofs and Wheels: Other Transportation - Virtual Exhibit

• Donald C. & Elizabeth M. Dickinson Research Center
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Untitled [McGuire Special railroad car] Mounted gelatin silver print Photographer unknown, Payne County, OT, ca. 1905 2000.005.17.0031	This decorated railroad car is a great example of Oklahoma Territory boosterism. A Payne County group, including a Stillwater real estate company and someone named McGuire, has decorated this Pullman passenger car with banners, bunting, flags, and corn stalks to promote Payne County as the “Corn County” and “Banner Agricultural County of the Territory.” Although the Pullman Company was justly famous for its sleeping cars, the company also made dining cars, parlor cars, and chair cars with row seating. The railroad car in the photograph appears to be a chair car.

This is the Eastern Oklahoma Railway Company station at Mehan, Oklahoma Territory. In 1900, U. C. Guss and W. H. Coyle, who had contracted with the Eastern Oklahoma Railway Company to provide a right of way through Logan, Lincoln, Payne, and Pawnee Counties, paid $300 toward building the Mehan station in fulfillment of their contract with both the railroad and the town site owner John Mehan. If the station reached a certain level of financial success, the railroad was to refund the $300. The transaction highlights the importance of reliable rail transportation to the economic well being of territorial communities. In this case the investment did not pay off—Mehan lost its post office in 1943 and is now an unincorporated community.	Untitled [Mehan, Oklahoma Territory railroad station] Photographic postcard Photographer unknown, Payne County, OT, ca. 1905 2000.005.17.0199

Untitled [Union Station, Denver, Colorado] Mounted albumen print Photographer unknown, Denver, CO, ca. 1914 2001.087.10	Photograph showing the rear of Union Station in Denver and railroad sidings with passenger and baggage cars. The baggage and mail cars nearest the station are being loaded, while the passenger cars in the foreground are not in use. As Western cities like Denver grew in the late 19th century and early 20th century, railroads became an increasingly important factor in their growth.

This is a photograph of what was called a main street bicycle race, which was held on city or town streets. The two participants seem to be wearing cycling uniforms or outfits with matching jerseys, hats, and knickers; the men may be members of a cycling club. They are riding what was called a “safety bicycle” with pneumatic tires. Safety bicycles had two wheels of the same size as compared to earlier designs with a large front wheel and a small rear wheel with solid, as opposed to pneumatic, tires.	9th & Main, Stillwater [Bicycle race] Mounted albumen print Photographer unknown, Stillwater, OT, ca. 1900 2000.005.17.0026

Untitled [Tom Mix on the set at lunch] Stereograph Photographer unknown, ca. 1925 2004.035.1	This lunch truck on a Tom Mix movie set is an updated version of the chuck wagon. Charles Goodnight’s original concept of placing drawers and cubbyholes in the rear of the vehicle secured by a board that folds down to become a work table is still used. The Tom Mix name and logo can be seen on the truck, and Tom himself is sitting at the head of the table in his trademark large cowboy hat.