Editing Dover, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
The area around Dover was ideal for cattle grazing, By 1884, all the land had been leased to cattlemen. The Red Fork Traders' Ranch had been established near the [[Chisholm Trail]]. The land was opened for settlement by the Land Run of 1889, and the trading post was well-placed to benefit from the farmers that settled nearby.<ref name="EOHC-Dover"/>

The  [[Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad|Rock Island]] built a track through the Traders' Ranch and constructed abridge across the Cimarron River in October 1889. A settlement called Red Wing grew up around the ranch. In 1890, a post office designated "Dover" was established, and the community took that name. By 1893, the community had an estimated 150 residents, growing to about 500 by 1910.<ref name="EOHC-Dover"/>

Dover was the site on April 3, 1895, where the outlaw gang known as the [[Wild Bunch]] held up a Rock Island train.  The gang was unable to open the safe containing $50,000 in army payroll, so they robbed the passengers instead.  A posse surprised and scattered the gang around noon. Thus Dover has the distinction of being the place of the last robbery by the Wild Bunch as a gang, although its individual members kept up the robberies and killings until their own demises.<ref name="WildBunch">{{cite web|url= https://www.thewildwest.org/cowboys/wildwestoutlawsandlawmen/194-thewildbunch
| title= Wild West Outlaws and Lawmen--The Wild Bunch | publisher= TheWildWest.org| accessdate=February 24, 2020}}</ref>

On September 18, 1906, a bridge across the [[Cimarron River (Arkansas River)|Cimarron River]] near Dover collapsed beneath a [[Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad|Rock Island]] train bound for [[Fort Worth, Texas]] from [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]]. The bridge was a temporary structure unable to withstand the pressure of debris and high water.  Replacement with a permanent structure had been delayed by the railroad for financial reasons. Several sources report that over 100 persons were killed,<ref name="EOHC-Dover"/><ref>{{cite web|author=Kite, Steven |url=http://www.library.okstate.edu/scua/exhibit/oaa/20sep00.htm |title=Corporate Greed Leads to Death in Oklahoma Territory |work=Oklahoma Audio Almanac |publisher=Oklahoma State University Library |date=September 20, 2000 |accessdate=May 18, 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100604162425/http://www.library.okstate.edu/scua/exhibit/oaa/20sep00.htm |archivedate=June 4, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Goins| first1=Charles Robert| last2=Goble |first2=Danney| title=Historical Atlas of Oklahoma |page=119 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=0-8061-3482-8|year=2006}}</ref> although this figure is disputed. The true number may be as low as 4.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.doversociety.org/DofD-Oklahoma.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100921112956/http://doversociety.org/DofD-Oklahoma.html |archivedate=September 21, 2010| url-status=dead| last=Sencicle | first=Lorraine | title=Dover Oklahoma | date=January 2008 | work=The Daughters of Dover: Dover around the world|location=Dover, England| publisher=The Dover Society | accessdate=May 22, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gendisasters.com/oklahoma/13081/dover-ok-train-wreck-sept-1906 |title=Gendisasters Dover Oklahoma Sept 1906 |access-date=June 3, 2020 |archive-date=June 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603220044/http://www.gendisasters.com/oklahoma/13081/dover-ok-train-wreck-sept-1906 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

A tornado in [[1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak|May 1999]] destroyed about one-third of the town, killing one.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://newsok.com/towns-pummeled-by-twisters/article/313760|title =Towns Pummeled By Twisters |publisher = NewsOK/The Oklahoman|date=May 4, 1999|accessdate= March 6, 2012}}</ref>