McCurtain County, Oklahoma

Not to be confused with McCurtain, Oklahoma.

McCurtain County
County
The McCurtain County Courthouse is located downtown in Idabel.
Location within the U.S. state of Oklahoma
Oklahoma's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 34°07′N94°46′W / 34.11°N 94.77°W / 34.11; -94.77
Country	United States
State	Oklahoma
Founded	1907
Named for	An influential Choctaw Indian family
Seat	Idabel
Largest city	Idabel
Area
• Total	1,902 sq mi (4,930 km2)
• Land	1,850 sq mi (4,800 km2)
• Water	52 sq mi (130 km2)  2.8%
Population  (2020)
• Total	30,814
• Estimate  (2022)	30,931
• Density	16.6/sq mi (6.4/km2)
Congressional district	2nd

McCurtain County is a county in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, its population was 30,814. ^[1] Its county seat is Idabel. ^[2] It was formed at statehood from part of the earlier Choctaw Nation in Indian Territory. ^[3] The name honors an influential Choctaw family who lived in the area. Jackson McCurtain and Edmund McCurtain served in the Confederate Army before their terms as chief, while Green McCurtain was the last chief when Oklahoma became a state in 1907. ^[4]

History

McCurtain County National Bank in Broken Bow, Oklahoma

The area now included in McCurtain County was part of the Choctaw Nation before Oklahoma became a state. The territory of the present-day county fell within the Apukshunnubbee District, one of three administrative superregions comprising the Choctaw Nation, and was divided among six of its counties: Bok Tuklo, Cedar, Eagle, Nashoba, Red River, and Towson. ^[5] In the 1820s, it was a major part of Miller County, Arkansas Territory.

The area was sparsely populated, with no roads or bridges and no towns. Post offices were established at small trading posts along the various trails. Towns began to form when the Arkansas and Choctaw Railway (later the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway) was built across the area in 1902. Between 1910 and 1921, the Choctaw Lumber Company laid tracks for the Texas, Oklahoma and Eastern Railroad from Valliant, Oklahoma, to DeQueen, Arkansas. These roads still served the area at the beginning of the 21st century. ^[3]

Initially, the county experienced difficulty functioning because of lack of funds. When the Choctaws accepted their land allotments, their homesteads were not taxable for 21 years. No roads were built until a decade after statehood. With no bridges, ferries carried people and vehicles across the major streams. ^[3]

Beavers Bend State Park was opened in 1937, establishing the region as a tourism destination due to the variety of recreational activities it offers.

On April 2, 1982, the county was struck by an F5 tornado. ^[6]

Death of Henry Lee Johnson

Main article: Death of Henry Lee Johnson

Henry Lee Johnson was a 15-year-old boy who was murdered in 1980 in Idabel after entering the parking lot of the Black Hat Club, a "whites-only club". His murder resulted in a riot in Idabel that left two more men dead. ^[7]

2023 audio recording scandal

Main article: 2023 McCurtain County, Oklahoma audio recording scandal

In April 2023, the McCurtain Gazette-News released audio recordings of discussions among local officials about hiring a hit man to murder the paper's publisher and a reporter, Chris Willingham, and lamenting that lynching Black people was no longer acceptable. Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt said that he was "both appalled and disheartened to hear of the horrid comments made by officials in McCurtain County". Stitt called for the local officials to resign, including "McCurtain County Sheriff Kevin Clardy, District 2 Commissioner Mark Jennings, Investigator Alicia Manning, and Jail Administrator Larry Hendrix." ^[8] Over 100 people gathered outside the county courthouse calling on the officials to resign. ^[9]

In response, the McCurtain County Sheriff's Office released a statement on Facebook reading:

There is and has been an ongoing investigation into multiple, significant violation of the Oklahoma Security of Communications Act ... which states that it is illegal to secretly record a conversation ... Many of these recordings, like the one published by media outlets on Friday, have yet to be duly authenticated or validated. Our preliminary information indicates that the media-released audio recording has, in fact, been altered.  ... In addition to being illegally obtained, the audio does not match the "transcription" of that audio, and is not precisely consistent with what has been put into print. Multiple agencies are assisting in this ongoing investigation. ... There will be continued press releases from this agency as the investigation comes to a close and findings are forwarded to the appropriate authorities for felony charges to be filed on those involved. ^[10]

Jennings resigned on April 19. ^[9] The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation is investigating the incident. ^[9] Willingham also filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Manning "told a third party during a teleconference that Chris Willingham exchanged marijuana for sexually explicit images of children from a man who had been arrested on child sex-abuse image charges". ^[9]

On June 18, 2024, Clardy lost his bid for reelection, placing third in the Republican primary with 18.26% of the vote. ^[11]

Geography

Map of McCurtain County, 1909

Spillway at Broken Bow Lake

McCurtain County's location in southeastern Oklahoma places it within a 10-county area designated for tourism purposes by the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation as Choctaw Country. ^[12] According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 1,902 square miles (4,930 km²), of which 52 square miles (130 km²) (2.8%) are covered by water. ^[13]

It is the third-largest county in Oklahoma by area. ^[3] The terrain of McCurtain County varies from the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains in the northern part of the county to the rich Red River bottoms of the southern part. Sections of the Mountain Fork and Little River drainages lie in McCurtain County. The Glover River originates in McCurtain County and flows 33.2 miles (53.4 km) to its confluence with the Little River southeast of Wright City. Broken Bow Lake was created in 1968 by damming the Mountain Fork River; the river is one of the state's two year-round trout fisheries. The lowest point in the state of Oklahoma is on the Little River in McCurtain County, where it flows out of Oklahoma and into Arkansas. ^[3] McCurtain County is the only documented part of Oklahoma, together with Choctaw County, within the natural range of the American alligator. ^[14]

The county also contains the McCurtain County Wilderness Area, a 14,087-acre tract created in 1918 and managed by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, and the Little River National Wildlife Refuge, which is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. ^[15]

The county contains the location (Smithville) with the highest annual average precipitation in the state, at 55.71 inches. ^[16]

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 70
• U.S. Highway 259
• State Highway 3
• State Highway 4
• State Highway 37
• State Highway 87
• State Highway 98

Adjacent counties

• Le Flore County (north)
• Polk County, Arkansas (northeast)
• Sevier County, Arkansas (east)
• Little River County, Arkansas (southeast)
• Bowie County, Texas (south)
• Red River County, Texas (southwest)
• Choctaw County (west)
• Pushmataha County (northwest)

National protected areas

• Little River National Wildlife Refuge
• Ouachita National Forest (part)

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1910	20,681		—
1920	37,905		83.3%
1930	34,759		−8.3%
1940	41,318		18.9%
1950	31,588		−23.5%
1960	25,851		−18.2%
1970	28,642		10.8%
1980	36,151		26.2%
1990	33,433		−7.5%
2000	34,402		2.9%
2010	33,151		−3.6%
2020	30,814		−7.0%
2021 (est.)	30,884	[17]	0.2%
U.S. Decennial Census [18] 1790–1960 [19] 1900–1990 [20] 1990–2000 [21] 2010–2019 [1]

At the 2000 census, 34,402 people, 13,216 households, and 9,541 families lived in the county. The population density was 7/km² (18/sq mi). The 15,427 housing units had an average density of 3/km² (7.8/sq mi). The racial makup of the county was 70.54% White, 13.57% Native American, 9.30% Black or African American, 0.22% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.34% from other races, and 5.02% from two or more races; 3.09% ^[22] were Hispanic or Latino of any race, while 28.6% were of American, 7.6% Irish, and 5.9% English ancestry. Of the inhabitants, 94.4% spoke English, 2.9% Spanish, and 2.6% Choctaw as their first language. By 2020, its population declined to 30,814. ^[1]

Of the 13,216 households, 34.0% had children under 18 living with them, 53.3% were married couples living together, 14.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.8% were not families. Of households, 25.4% were one person and 11.0% were one person 65 or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.06.

The age distribution was 28.2% under 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 26.2% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 14.0% 65 or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.10 males.

The median household income was $24,162 and the median family income was $29,933. Males had a median income of $26,528 versus $17,869 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,693. About 21.0% of families and 24.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32.4% of those under 18 and 21.2% of those 65 or over.

Politics

United States presidential election results for McCurtain County, Oklahoma ^[23]

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	9,485	83.87%	1,696	15.00%	128	1.13%
2020	9,485	82.72%	1,858	16.20%	124	1.08%
2016	8,656	80.70%	1,802	16.80%	268	2.50%
2012	7,635	75.78%	2,440	24.22%	0	0.00%
2008	7,745	73.49%	2,794	26.51%	0	0.00%
2004	7,472	66.98%	3,684	33.02%	0	0.00%
2000	6,601	62.97%	3,752	35.79%	129	1.23%
1996	3,892	39.82%	4,350	44.51%	1,532	15.67%
1992	3,519	30.62%	5,082	44.21%	2,893	25.17%
1988	4,920	49.64%	4,928	49.72%	63	0.64%
1984	6,381	61.26%	3,994	38.34%	41	0.39%
1980	5,189	45.63%	5,953	52.35%	230	2.02%
1976	3,423	30.89%	7,560	68.23%	97	0.88%
1972	6,441	70.20%	2,568	27.99%	166	1.81%
1968	2,795	32.43%	2,944	34.16%	2,880	33.41%
1964	2,981	33.26%	5,982	66.74%	0	0.00%
1960	3,562	45.88%	4,202	54.12%	0	0.00%
1956	2,707	36.25%	4,761	63.75%	0	0.00%
1952	2,748	32.17%	5,793	67.83%	0	0.00%
1948	1,091	14.92%	6,223	85.08%	0	0.00%
1944	1,419	21.02%	5,322	78.83%	10	0.15%
1940	2,225	24.06%	6,994	75.63%	29	0.31%
1936	1,119	17.99%	5,089	81.80%	13	0.21%
1932	587	9.07%	5,886	90.93%	0	0.00%
1928	1,915	39.79%	2,877	59.78%	21	0.44%
1924	1,669	32.19%	3,279	63.24%	237	4.57%
1920	1,966	40.23%	2,603	53.26%	318	6.51%
1916	795	24.75%	1,763	54.89%	654	20.36%
1912	704	27.07%	1,059	40.72%	838	32.22%
1908	482	40.33%	565	47.28%	148	12.38%

McCurtain County is home to a significant Native American population and had a Democratic registration advantage well into the 2010s, but has not voted for a Democratic presidential nominee in the 21st century. The rightward shift has continued to increase, with the vote shares of Republican presidential nominees increasing in every election since 2000, winning well over 70% of the vote during the Obama era and topping out with 83.8% for Donald Trump in 2024.

Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of January August 31, 2023 [24]
Party		Number of Voters	Percentage
	Republican	8,953	54.46%
	Democratic	5,491	33.40%
	Independent	1,913	11.64%
	Libertarian	83	0.50%
Total		16,440	100%

Economy

Agriculture and forestry have dominated the county's economy. The dense forests that originally covered the area were cleared and processed within two decades after statehood. The cleared lands then became subsistence farms. Cotton was the main money crop, until the cotton market collapsed during the Great Depression. Cattle raising, as well as production of swine and poultry, replaced cotton farming in importance. Cotton farms in the Red River Valley began raising grains and forage, instead. ^[3]

Natural reseeding and active reforestation projects, both public and private, have replenished much of the harvested forest area. This revitalized the timber industry, which is again important to the county economy. ^[3] Limestone, sand and gravel are extracted for extensive local use. ^[3]

Communities

Cities

• Broken Bow
• Idabel (county seat)

Towns

• Garvin
• Haworth
• Hochatown
• Millerton
• Smithville
• Valliant
• Wright City

Census-designated place

• Eagletown
• Golden

Other unincorporated communities

• Battiest
• Bethel
• Bokhoma
• Glover
• Pickens
• Ringold
• Rufe
• Sherwood
• Tom
• Watson

Notable people

• Harry Rossoll, creator of Smokey Bear and artist for the Forest Heritage Center diorama exhibits

See also

• List of U.S. counties named after prominent Confederate historical figures
• National Register of Historic Places listings in McCurtain County, Oklahoma

References

1. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
2. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
3. Coleman, Louis. "McCurtain County", Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Oklahoma Historical Society, 2009. Accessed April 4, 2015.
4. "Origin of County Names in Oklahoma". In: Chronicles of Oklahoma. Volume 2, Number 1. March, 1924. Archived August 14, 2017, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved February 14, 2014.
5. Morris, John W. Historical Atlas of Oklahoma (Norman: University of Oklahoma, 1986), plate 38.
6. "National Weather Service".
7. "Okla. Town Tense After Night of Rioting, Gunfire". The Washington Post . ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved May 2, 2021.
8. Smith, Jessie Christopher (April 17, 2023). "Gov. Stitt calls for McCurtain County officials to resign". The Oklahoman . Retrieved April 17, 2023.
9. Murphy, Sean (April 19, 2023). "Oklahoma official who discussed killing reporters resigns". Associated Press News .
10. Camper, Nick (April 18, 2023). "Calls for resignation after McCurtain County officials are allegedly caught on recording making disturbing comments". KFOR. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
11. "McCurtain County Sheriff Kevin Clardy defeated in Republican primary; two lead candidates will have runoff election in August | Texarkana Gazette". www.texarkanagazette.com. June 18, 2024. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
12. "Counties & Regions". Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department (Travel Promotion Division). Retrieved February 5, 2019.
13. "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
14. "A Look at Oklahoma: A Student's Guide" (PDF). State of Oklahoma. 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 30, 2006. Retrieved August 14, 2007.
15. "McCurtain County Wilderness Area." McCurtain County Tourism Authority. 2008. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
16. "Oklahoma Annual Rainfall and Climate Data". CoolWeather.net. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
17. "County Population Totals: 2010-2019" . Retrieved February 8, 2021.
18. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
19. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
20. Forstall, Richard L., ed. (March 27, 1995). "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
21. "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.
22. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved January 31, 2008.
23. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
24. "Month End Registration Statistics by County" (PDF). September 1, 2023.

External links

• McCurtain County Tourism Authority
• McCurtain County OSU Extension Center
• Beavers Bend Cabins near Broken Bow Lake and Beavers Bend State Park
• Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory