Red Fork Ranch - Dover, OK - Oklahoma Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

This is a granite monument which stands by the driveway of a house. The front side of the monument has an engraving of the original ranch house - a pencil drawing made by a surveyor in 1876. The front reads: "RED FORK RANCH / 1877 - 1889 / Erected by the Citizens and Friends of Dover / 1999"

The back side of the monument reads:

The trading post known as the Red Fork
Ranch once stood on this site. The origi-
nal ranch building was constructed in
1872 by the Lee and Reynolds Company (W.
M.D. Lee and A.E. Reynolds). Later ranch
operators were Dan W. Jones (1875); H.A.
Todd (1879); Sam Swayer (1879); Blair - Hood
(1880); John A. Blair and John W. Hood); Willi-
iams Brothers (1881, Fred H. Williams, Ralph
A. Collins, Alva C. Wilkins); Bugbee Thorn-
ton and Company (1883); C. W. Word, Thomas
S. Bugbee, L.K. Thornton, W. H. Thornton,
D. Thornton); and John G. Chapin (1884). Cha-
pin came to the ranch about 1882 as a cook
but later took over the operation of the
ranch. He was operating the ranch when
the Unassigned Lands were opened on April
22, 1889 and he homesteaded the quarter
section of land which included the ranch
buildings. The present town of Dover was
first platted by Chapin in 1892. Chapin's
struggle with the United State Govern-
ment and many local parties over his
homestead took nearly seven years until
he was issued a patent for the land. John
Chapin could well be characterized as
the Father of Dover.

County: Kingfisher County Record Address:: 200 E. Red Fork Drive Dover, OK US 73734 Rate the Site: Date Erected: 1999 Sponsor (Who put it there): Ctizens and Friends of Dover Web site if available: Not listed

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Date Logged Log   12/11/2021 The Snowdog visited it