The expansion of the Rock Island Railroad into Oklahoma Indian Territory in 1887 had opened up large sections of land to eager settlers and speculators, not the least of which was the railroad itself. As small towns sprang up along the tracks, the Rock Island perpetrated a scheme whereby it only constructed depots in towns where it had controlling interest. They roared through the independent towns without even slowing down, and without realizing that the citizens of those towns had begun bringing crowbars to their angry meetings in the saloons at night.