LeFlore County, Oklahoma

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Le Flore County
County
LeFlore County Courthouse.jpg
LeFlore County Courthouse in Poteau
Map of Oklahoma highlighting Le Flore County.svg
Location within the U.S. state of Oklahoma
Oklahoma in United States.svg
Oklahoma's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 34°54′N94°42′W / 34.90°N 94.70°W / 34.90; -94.70 Coordinates: 34°54′N94°42′W / 34.90°N 94.70°W / 34.90; -94.70
CountryFlag of the United States.svg United States
StateFlag of Oklahoma.svg  Oklahoma
Founded1907
Named for An influential Choctaw Indian family
Seat Poteau
Largest cityPoteau
Area
 • Total1,609 sq mi (4,170 km2)
 • Land1,589 sq mi (4,120 km2)
 • Water19 sq mi (50 km2)  1.2%%
Population
 (2020)
 • Total48,129
 • Density30/sq mi (12/km2)
Time zone UTC−6 (Central)
 • Summer (DST) UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district 2nd

Le Flore County is a county along the eastern border of the U.S state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 48,129. [1] Its county seat is Poteau. [2] The county is part of the Fort Smith metropolitan area and the name honors a Choctaw family named LeFlore. [3] The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma is the federal district court with jurisdiction in LeFlore County.

Contents

History

The Choctaw Nation signed the Treaty of Doak's Stand in 1820, ceding part of their ancestral home in the Southeastern U. S. and receiving a large tract in Indian Territory. They signed the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830, which ceded the remainder of their original homeland. Most of the remainder of the Choctaw were removed to Indian Territory, escorted by federal military troops, in several waves. [3]

In 1832, the Federal Government constructed the Choctaw Agency in Indian Territory about 15 miles (24 km) west of Fort Smith, Arkansas. The town of Skullyville developed around the agency. It was designated as county seat of Skullyville County, the capital of the Moshulatubbee District of which Skullyville County was a part, and the national capital of the Choctaw Nation.

The US Indian agents lived in the town. In the late 1850s, it was designated as a stage stop (Walker's Station) for the Butterfield Overland Mail route.

In 1834, the U. S. Army built Fort Coffee a few miles north of Skullyville, but reassigned the garrison after four years. The Methodist Church took over the facility, converting it for use as the Fort Coffee Academy for Boys, a missionary school. That church also established the New Hope Seminary for Girls in 1845, just east of town. In 1847, the Choctaw Agency burned and its functions were transferred to Fort Washita. [3]

During the Civil War, the Choctaw allied with the Confederacy and many of their men served in its army. The Battle of Devil's Backbone was fought near the present town of Pocola on September 1, 1863. Union Major General James G. Blunt defeated Confederate Brigadier General William Cabell. Union troops burned the Fort Coffee Academy in 1863, because it was being used to house Confederate troops. [3]

In 1866, the Choctaw government reopened New Hope Seminary, but never rebuilt a boys academy. New Hope Seminary operated until it burned in 1896. The first school for Choctaw freedmen opened at Boggy Depot. In 1892, the Tushkalusa (black warriors) Freedmen Boarding school opened three miles southeast of Talihina. [3]

From 1886, development of coal mining and timber production attracted considerable railroad construction: the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad built tracks from Wister west to McAlester. In 1898, the company extended the line east from Wister to Howe, continuing the line to Arkansas in 1899. (This line was leased to the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway in 1904).

In 1896 the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad (acquired by the Kansas City Southern Railway in 1900) built tracks through the region from north to south, exiting into Arkansas near the Page community in southern LeFlore County. In 1900-01 the Poteau Valley Railroad built a line from Shady Point to Sutter (later known as Calhoun, which they abandoned in 1926. Also in 1900-01 the Arkansas Western Railroad constructed tracks from Heavener east to Arkansas. In 1901 the Fort Smith and Western Railroad connected Coal Creek west to McCurtain in Haskell County. In 1903-04 the Midland Valley Railroad laid tracks from Arkansas west through Bokoshe to Muskogee. The Oklahoma and Rich Mountain Railroad, owned by the Dierks Lumber and Coal Company, constructed the county's last railroad, from Page to the lumber town of Pine Valley in 1925–26. [3]

Prior to statehood, the area that became LeFlore County was part of Moshulatubbee and the Apukshunnubbee districts. Its present-day territory fell primarily within Nashoba, Skullyville, Sugar Loaf, and Wade counties, with small portions falling within Cedar and San Bois counties, in the Choctaw Nation. [3]

Robert S. Kerr, former Governor of Oklahoma and U.S. Senator, established a ranch outside Poteau in the 1950s. In 1978 the family donated this residence to the state. It was adapted and opened for use as the Kerr Conference Center and Museum. The Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture and the Overstreet-Kerr Historical Farm are also in the county. [3]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,609 square miles (4,170 km2), of which 1,589 square miles (4,120 km2) is land and 19 square miles (49 km2) (1.2%) is water. [4]

The Arkansas River forms the northern boundary of the county, while its tributaries, the Poteau and James Fork rivers drain much of the county into the Arkansas. The Kiamichi, Little and Mountain Fork rivers drain the rest of the county into the Red River of the South. The Ouachita Mountains extend into the southern part of the county, along with associated ranges: the Winding Stair Mountains and the Kiamichi Mountains. Cavanal Hill is partly in the northern part of the county. [3]

Natural attractions

Lake Wister, a flood control reservoir, is in the central part of the county, formed behind . [5] The Ouachita National Forest, in the county's southern half, and Heavener Runestone State Park are tourist attractions. [3]

Additionally, Winding Stair Mountain National Recreation Area is located in the county. It is one of two National Recreation Areas located in the state of Oklahoma, the other being Chickasaw.

Major highways

Adjacent counties

National protected areas

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
1910 29,127—
1920 42,76546.8%
1930 42,8960.3%
1940 45,8666.9%
1950 35,276−23.1%
1960 29,106−17.5%
1970 32,13710.4%
1980 40,69826.6%
1990 43,2706.3%
2000 48,10911.2%
2010 50,3844.7%
2020 48,129−4.5%
U.S. Decennial Census [6]
1790-1960 [7] 1900-1990 [8]
1990-2000 [9] 2010-2019 [10]

As of the census [11] of 2000, there were 48,109 people, 17,861 households, and 13,199 families residing in the county. The population density was 30 inhabitants per square mile (12/km2). There were 20,142 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile (5/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 80.35% White, 2.21% Black or African American, 10.72% Native American, 0.21% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.44% from other races, and 5.03% from two or more races. 3.84% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 22.7 were of American, 10.1% Irish, 9.6% German and 7.7% English ancestry.

There were 17,861 households, out of which 33.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.50% were married couples living together, 11.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.10% were non-families. 23.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 26.10% under the age of 18, 9.70% from 18 to 24, 27.00% from 25 to 44, 23.30% from 45 to 64, and 13.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $27,278, and the median income for a family was $32,603. Males had a median income of $26,214 versus $19,792 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,737. About 15.40% of families and 19.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.10% of those under age 18 and 16.50% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of January 15, 2019 [12]
PartyNumber of VotersPercentage
Democratic 13,69350.32%
Republican 9,21733.87%
Libertarian 149>1%
Unaffiliated4,30115.81%
Total26,199100%
United States presidential election results for LeFlore County, Oklahoma [13]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No. %No. %No. %
2020 15,21380.90%3,29917.54%2931.56%
2016 13,36277.59%3,25018.87%6093.54%
2012 11,17770.57%4,66229.43%00.00%
2008 11,60569.32%5,13630.68%00.00%
2004 10,68361.31%6,74138.69%00.00%
2000 8,21554.82%6,53643.62%2341.56%
1996 5,68939.74%6,83147.72%1,79612.55%
1992 5,85034.90%7,84346.79%3,07018.31%
1988 6,96451.05%6,59448.34%830.61%
1984 8,60458.54%5,99040.75%1040.71%
1980 6,80749.47%6,66848.46%2842.06%
1976 4,90737.50%8,03361.39%1451.11%
1972 7,93267.45%3,43329.19%3943.35%
1968 3,60032.83%4,02036.66%3,34530.51%
1964 3,90435.46%7,10564.54%00.00%
1960 5,30252.26%4,84447.74%00.00%
1956 4,31044.96%5,27655.04%00.00%
1952 4,63142.18%6,34957.82%00.00%
1948 2,82129.36%6,78670.64%00.00%
1944 3,66739.22%5,66060.54%220.24%
1940 4,66435.64%8,37964.03%440.34%
1936 3,89432.53%8,06167.35%140.12%
1932 2,36321.40%8,68078.60%00.00%
1928 5,16852.48%4,62246.94%570.58%
1924 3,32640.33%4,06949.34%85210.33%
1920 4,93454.32%3,76441.44%3864.25%
1916 1,94437.56%2,57649.77%65612.67%
1912 1,53837.68%2,01949.46%52512.86%

Communities

Cities

Towns

Census-designated places

Other unincorporated communities

NRHP sites

The following sites in LeFlore County are listed on the National Register of Historic Places:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Latimer County, Oklahoma</span> County in Oklahoma, United States

Latimer County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its county seat is Wilburton. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,444. The county was created at statehood in 1907 and named for James L. Latimer, a delegate from Wilburton to the 1906 state Constitutional Convention. Prior to statehood, it had been for several decades part of Gaines County, Sugar Loaf County, and Wade County in the Choctaw Nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bokoshe, Oklahoma</span> Town in Oklahoma, United States

Bokoshe is a town in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma metropolitan statistical area. Bokoshe is a Choctaw word meaning "little creek". The population was 396 at the 2020 census, a 22.3% decrease over the figure of 510 recorded in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Coffee, Oklahoma</span> Town in Oklahoma, United States

Fort Coffee is a town in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. Originally constructed as a U. S. Army fort in 1834, it was named for U. S. General John Coffee, a veteran of the Seminole Wars. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 424 at the 2010 census, a gain of 2.9 percent over the figure of 412 in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heavener, Oklahoma</span> City in Oklahoma, United States

Heavener is a city in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,414 at the 2010 census, an increase of 6.7 percent from 3,201 at the 2000 census. Heavener is notable for the Heavener Runestone just outside the city limits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pocola, Oklahoma</span> Town in Oklahoma, United States

Pocola is a town in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma metropolitan area. The population was 4,056 in 2010, a gain of 1.6 percent over the figure of 3,994 recorded in 2000. Pocola is a Choctaw word meaning "ten", the approximate distance in miles from Fort Smith, Arkansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poteau, Oklahoma</span> City in Oklahoma, United States

Poteau is a city in, and county seat of, Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 8,520 as of the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rock Island, Oklahoma</span> Town in Oklahoma, United States

Rock Island is a town in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 646 at the 2010 census, a decline of 8.9 percent from the figure of 709 recorded in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shady Point, Oklahoma</span> Town in Oklahoma, United States

Shady Point, sometimes referred to as Shadypoint, is a town in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,026 at the 2010 census, a 21.0 percent increase over the figure of 848 recorded in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spiro, Oklahoma</span> Town in Oklahoma, United States

Spiro is a town in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,164 at the 2010 census, a 2.8 percent decline from the figure of 2,227 recorded in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Talihina, Oklahoma</span> Town in Oklahoma, United States

Talihina is a town in LeFlore County, Oklahoma, United States, its name originating from two Choctaw words, tully and hena, meaning iron road. Iron road is reference to the railroad that the town was built around. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas–Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,114 at the 2010 census, a loss of 8.0 percent from 1,211 at the 2000 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wister, Oklahoma</span> Town in Oklahoma, United States

Wister is a town in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith metropolitan area. The population was 1,102 at the 2010 census. Wister is named for Gutman G. Wister, an official with the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Route 271</span>

U.S. Route 271 is a north–south United States highway. Never a long highway, it went from bi-state route to a tri-state route. Its southern terminus is in Tyler, Texas, at an intersection with State Highway 31 and SH 155. The highway's northern terminus is in Fort Smith, Arkansas, at an intersection with Business U.S. Route 71 and Highway 255. It enters Arkansas from Oklahoma as a controlled-access highway, but the highway continues as Interstate 540 when US 271 exits toward downtown after one-half mile (800 m) in Arkansas.

Skullyville is an unincorporated rural community in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. It is approximately one mile east of Spiro and 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Fort Smith, Arkansas. The community is within the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Smith metropolitan area</span>

The Fort Smith Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is a five-county area including three Arkansas counties and two Oklahoma counties, and anchored by the city of Fort Smith, Arkansas. The total MSA population in 2000 was 273,170 people, estimated by the Bureau to have grown to 289,693 people by 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poteau River</span> River in Oklahoma, United States

The Poteau River is a 141-mile (227 km) long river located in the U.S. states of Arkansas and Oklahoma. It is the only river in Oklahoma that flows north and is the seventh largest river in the state. It is a tributary of the Arkansas River, which itself is a tributary of the Mississippi River. During the Indian Territory period prior to Oklahoma's statehood (1838-1906), the stream served as the boundary between Skullyville County and Sugar Loaf County, two of the counties making up the Moshulatubbee District of the Choctaw Nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choctaw Country</span>

Choctaw Country is the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation's official tourism designation for Southeastern Oklahoma. The name was previously Kiamichi Country until changed in honor of the Choctaw Nation headquartered there. The current definition of Choctaw Country includes ten counties, being Coal, Atoka, Bryan, Choctaw, McCurtain, Pushmataha, Le Flore, Latimer, Haskell, and Pittsburg counties. The department created the term as one of six designated travel regions within the state. However, other definitions of Southeastern Oklahoma may include additional counties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Wister</span> Reservoir in Oklahoma, United States

Lake Wister is a reservoir in Le Flore County, in southeast Oklahoma. The lake is created by the Poteau River and the Fourche Maline creek. Wister Lake was authorized for flood control and conservation by the Flood Control Act of 1938. The project was designed and built by the Tulsa District Corps of Engineers. Construction began in April 1946, and the project was placed in full flood control operation in December 1949.

The Winding Stair Mountains is a mountain ridge located within the state of Oklahoma in Le Flore County, north of Talihina, Choctaw Nation.

Skullyville County was a political subdivision of the Choctaw Nation of Indian Territory, prior to Oklahoma being admitted as a state. The county formed part of the Nation's Moshulatubbee District, or First District, one of three administrative super-regions.

Sugar Loaf County was a political subdivision of the Choctaw Nation of Indian Territory, prior to Oklahoma being admitted as a state. The county formed part of the Nation's Moshulatubbee District, or First District, one of three administrative super-regions.

References

  1. ↑ "Le Flore County, Oklahoma". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved May 13, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Larry O"Dell, "LeFlore County," Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.
  4. ↑ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
  5. ↑ Harold Crain, "Wister." Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.
  6. ↑ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
  8. ↑ Forstall, Richard L., ed. (March 27, 1995). "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. April 2, 2001. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
  10. ↑ "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
  11. ↑ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  12. ↑ "Oklahoma Registration Statistics by County" (PDF). OK.gov. January 15, 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 17, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
  13. ↑ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
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