The
Midland Valley Railroad (
MV) was incorporated on June 4, 1903 for the purpose of building a line from
Hope, Arkansas, through
Muskogee and
Tulsa, Oklahoma to
Wichita, Kansas. It was backed by C. Jared Ingersoll, a Philadelphia industrialist who owned coal mining properties in Indian Territory (now part of the state of Oklahoma). The railroad took its name from
Midland, Arkansas, a coal mining town in western Arkansas, which was served by the railroad. The Midland Valley gained access to
Fort Smith, Arkansas via trackage rights over the
Frisco from
Rock Island, Oklahoma.