Kiowa County, Colorado

Not to be confused with Kiowa, Colorado.

Kiowa County
County
Kiowa County Courthouse
Location within the U.S. state of Colorado
Colorado's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 38°26′N102°44′W / 38.43°N 102.74°W / 38.43; -102.74
Country	United States
State	Colorado
Founded	April 11, 1889
Named for	Kiowa Nation
Seat	Eads
Largest town	Eads
Area
• Total	1,786 sq mi (4,630 km2)
• Land	1,768 sq mi (4,580 km2)
• Water	18 sq mi (50 km2)  1.0%
Population  (2020)
• Total	1,446
• Density	0.8/sq mi (0.3/km2)
Time zone	UTC−7 (Mountain)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−6 (MDT)
Congressional district	4th
Website	www.kiowacounty-colorado.com

Kiowa County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,446, ^[1] making it the fifth-least populous county in Colorado. The county seat is Eads. ^[2] The county was named for the Kiowa Nation of Native Americans. ^[3]

History

Sand Creek massacre

Main article: Sand Creek massacre

On November 29, 1864, more than a decade before Colorado became a state and long before Kiowa County was formed, a massacre of Native Americans—a group of old men, women, and children—occurred on Sand Creek that initially was greeted as a victory in the Colorado War against hostile Indians; within months, Congressional inquiries revealed a different picture, and a national scandal erupted. It happened in what is now Kiowa County and is known as the Sand Creek Massacre.

Territorial Governor John Evans eventually lost his job for his part in setting up the incident, and Colonel John Chivington, commander of the U.S. forces, was castigated by the United States Congress, and the scandal followed him for the rest of his life. Evans would go on to make significant important contributions to the early Denver community, and while Chivington also made some, his reputation remained tainted, while Evans is still honored today.

The location was not positively identified until 1999, and in 2005, the National Park Service established the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. Currently, the facilities include a small visitor center, two walking trails, signage, and monuments overlooking the massacre site. ^[4] The massacre site itself is off-limits to visitors.

Railroad and agriculture in the 1880s

In the late 1880s, eastern Colorado attracted a lot of attention by farming interests that did not yet know that long-term agriculture was unsustainable in this arid landscape, and the railroads were snaking west across the plains towards the gold fields of the Rocky Mountains during the Colorado Gold Rush. The Missouri Pacific Railroad crossed into what would soon become Kiowa County, Colorado, from Kansas in 1887.

Kiowa County, 1898

Several small camps for railroad workers were established just over the border from Kansas, and beginning after the town of Sheridan Lake, new towns and camps were sequentially named, alphabetically, starting with "A" and proceeding westward along the railroad line.

Arden, Brandon, Chivington, Diston, Eads, Fergus, Galatea, Haswell, Inman, Joliet, and Kilburn appeared one after another, some developing into towns, others being only a pipe dream in the eyes of developers. Chivington was intended as a major watering stop for the railroad (a 60-room, $10,000 "crown jewel" hotel was initially built there), but the water was too alkaline to use and the trains instead stopped in Kansas to tank up. The hotel was soon torn down, its materials shipped to other Colorado locations to use in constructing other facilities—a common occurrence in late 19th century Colorado, as boom towns went bust.

Kiowa County was established in 1889, taking its name from the Kiowa Indians who lived in eastern Colorado before the Europeans arrived. Sheridan Lake was the county seat of Kiowa County and was not at first a stop on the railroad line; only after local citizens built a railroad depot and turned it over to the Missouri Pacific did the railroad build a telegraph station and make Sheridan Lake a stop. The county seat moved to rival Eads in 1902.

Kiowa County today

Agriculture in eastern Colorado collapsed in the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s; today mostly dry-land farms and some ranching interests survive. Colorado's Front Range cities and agriculture interests upstream have acquired most of the water rights, and the groundwater aquifers are drying up. Kiowa County faces ever-decreasing water supplies and further economic decline.

It is conceivable that much of the county will eventually revert to its original sparse grassland and prairie conditions of the pre-1880s.

Today Eads, along the old railroad line, is the largest town in the county. It is the Kiowa county seat, serves the surviving farming and ranching interests, and hosts the county's largest high school. Sheridan Lake does have a combined junior-and-senior high, and still surviving in some form are the towns of Towner, Arlington, Brandon, Chivington, and Haswell.

Eads is also the location of the county's chief hospital, Weisbrod Memorial County Hospital. ^[5]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,786 square miles (4,630 km²), of which 1,768 square miles (4,580 km²) is land and 18 square miles (47 km²) (1.0%) is water. ^[6]

Significant drainage basins in the county are Adobe Creek and Mustang Creek which drain the county's western part, Rush Creek and Big Sandy Creek in the central part and Wildhorse, Buffalo, and White Woman creeks in the eastern part. The draws tend to be intermittent, however Adobe, Rush and Big Sandy creeks have small continuous flows during wetter years. Each of these creeks ultimately drains to the Arkansas River. ^[7]

The Great Plains Reservoirs south of Eads and along both sides U.S. Highway 287 are a group of four larger reservoirs and several smaller ones that supply irrigation water to local farms and offer hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing in the Queens State Wildlife Area. ^[8]

Adjacent counties

• Cheyenne County - north
• Greeley County, Kansas - east
• Bent County - south
• Prowers County - south
• Otero County - southwest
• Crowley County - west
• Lincoln County - northwest

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 287
• U.S. Highway 385
• State Highway 96

National protected area

• Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site

Bicycle route

• TransAmerica Trail Bicycle Route

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1890	1,243		—
1900	701		−43.6%
1910	2,899		313.6%
1920	3,755		29.5%
1930	3,786		0.8%
1940	2,793		−26.2%
1950	3,003		7.5%
1960	2,425		−19.2%
1970	2,029		−16.3%
1980	1,936		−4.6%
1990	1,688		−12.8%
2000	1,622		−3.9%
2010	1,398		−13.8%
2020	1,446		3.4%
2023 (est.)	1,384	[9]	−4.3%
U.S. Decennial Census [10] 1790-1960 [11] 1900-1990 [12] 1990-2000 [13] 2010-2020 [1]

As of the census ^[14] of 2000, there were 1,622 people, 665 households, and 452 families residing in the county. The population density was 1 people per square mile (0.39 people/km²). There were 817 housing units at an average density of 0.457 units per square mile (0.176 units/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 96.12% White, 0.49% Black or African American, 1.11% Native American, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 1.42% from other races, and 0.80% from two or more races. 3.14% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 665 households, out of which 28.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.60% were married couples living together, 6.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.00% were non-families. 29.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.90% under the age of 18, 7.30% from 18 to 24, 24.70% from 25 to 44, 24.60% from 45 to 64, and 17.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $30,494, and the median income for a family was $35,536. Males had a median income of $26,136 versus $18,897 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,382. About 9.60% of families and 12.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.50% of those under age 18 and 13.80% of those age 65 or over.

Over six percent of the population were Quakers–one of the highest percentages in the country. ^[15]

Politics

Kiowa is, like all of the High Plains, an overwhelmingly Republican county. The last Democrat to carry it was Lyndon Johnson in 1964, and since 1980, only Michael Dukakis in 1988 –during a major farm crisis brought upon by drought– has topped 30% of the county's vote for the Democratic Party. The past six Democratic candidates for president have not surpassed 22% of the county's vote, and both Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden barely reached ten percent.

United States presidential election results for Kiowa County, Colorado ^[16]

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	795	88.04%	98	10.85%	10	1.11%
2016	728	85.15%	91	10.64%	36	4.21%
2012	677	82.46%	118	14.37%	26	3.17%
2008	650	76.29%	178	20.89%	24	2.82%
2004	712	79.82%	172	19.28%	8	0.90%
2000	728	75.21%	211	21.80%	29	3.00%
1996	549	61.96%	246	27.77%	91	10.27%
1992	472	45.83%	290	28.16%	268	26.02%
1988	645	61.25%	398	37.80%	10	0.95%
1984	850	75.22%	265	23.45%	15	1.33%
1980	754	65.06%	331	28.56%	74	6.38%
1976	598	52.59%	529	46.53%	10	0.88%
1972	849	67.92%	372	29.76%	29	2.32%
1968	689	56.29%	423	34.56%	112	9.15%
1964	579	45.23%	701	54.77%	0	0.00%
1960	865	63.42%	498	36.51%	1	0.07%
1956	810	64.64%	443	35.36%	0	0.00%
1952	1,047	70.84%	412	27.88%	19	1.29%
1948	758	52.97%	659	46.05%	14	0.98%
1944	970	64.75%	522	34.85%	6	0.40%
1940	986	61.86%	598	37.52%	10	0.63%
1936	772	44.57%	918	53.00%	42	2.42%
1932	769	39.08%	1,113	56.55%	86	4.37%
1928	1,024	67.59%	458	30.23%	33	2.18%
1924	805	47.49%	431	25.43%	459	27.08%
1920	864	59.63%	521	35.96%	64	4.42%
1916	723	39.57%	936	51.23%	168	9.20%
1912	273	18.32%	638	42.82%	579	38.86%
1908	474	51.97%	406	44.52%	32	3.51%
1904	180	56.60%	124	38.99%	14	4.40%
1900	151	50.84%	144	48.48%	2	0.67%
1896	133	45.86%	155	53.45%	2	0.69%
1892	151	53.55%	0	0.00%	131	46.45%

Communities

Towns

• Eads
• Haswell
• Sheridan Lake

Census-designated places

• Brandon
• Towner

Other unincorporated places

• Arlington
• Chivington

See also

• Government portal
• History portal
• United States portal
• Colorado portal

• Bibliography of Colorado
• Geography of Colorado
• History of Colorado
  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Kiowa County, Colorado
• Index of Colorado-related articles
• List of Colorado-related lists
  • List of counties in Colorado
• Outline of Colorado

References

1. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
2. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
3. Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. pp.  176.
4. Sand Creek Massacre Site Pamphlet. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 2017.
5. "Weisbrod Memorial County Hospital". Colorado Hospital Association. 2024. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
6. "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
7. Kiowa County Fact Book. http://www.kcedfonline.org/KCEDFKiowaCntyFactBook.pdf
8. "Queens State Wildlife Area" (PDF). Colorado Parks and Wildlife. August 28, 2023. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
9. "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
10. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
11. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
12. "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
13. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 27, 2010. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
14. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved May 14, 2011.
15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on November 22, 2005. Retrieved January 1, 2006.
16. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved May 26, 2017.

External links

• Kiowa County Government
• Kiowa County information
• Kiowa County history
• Colorado County Evolution by Don Stanwyck
• Colorado Historical Society

38°26′N102°44′W / 38.43°N 102.74°W / 38.43; -102.74