The WPA Guide to 1930s Oklahoma:
"Known for a time during the trail drives as Red Fork Ranch, Dover was a stage station where freighters on the Chilsholm Trail changed teams. It was then no more than a stockade inside of which lived a stock tender named Chapin. Among those who stopped here was General Philip H. Sheridan on his way to Fort Supply.
Freighters hauling supplies to Indian Territory forts over the Chisholm Trail route were compelled so often to detour to avoid the herds being driven north that a separate freight trail was beaten out which branches southwest at Red Fork Ranch for some miles, then turned south to forts Reno, Cobb,and Sill.
The entry also covers a serious train wreck which occurred in Dover, at the Cimarron River crossing, and the fact that the notorious Dalton brothers lived near Dover. See Waymarks WM13E39 and WM13KHF for further information.
There are several Red Fork Ranch historical markers in town, including one at the actual site at 200 E. Red Fork Drive (WM14J0B). The town was a stage coach stop, and a watering stop for the Chisholm Trail herds which were driven from the Rio Grande in Texas through Oklahoma to the Kansas border. The town is located on Highway 81 which is roughly the route of the Chisholm Trail. Over the years, the town maintained a population of about 400-500, supported by ranching and farming, and at one point, oil drilling. Today, the town has 365 people with virtually no commerce. About half of the residents commute to work in Hennessey and Kingfisher. There are three of four brick buildings at the corner of Highway 81 and Red Fork Drive, built in the 1930's, which are all vacant. The coordinates shown above are at the Post Office located on Highway 81.