Cimarron County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its county seat is Boise City. As of the 2010 census, its population was 2,475, making it the least-populous county in Oklahoma; and indeed, throughout most of its history, it has had both the smallest population and the lowest population density of any county in Oklahoma. Located in the Oklahoma Panhandle, Cimarron County contains the only community in the state (Kenton) that observes the Mountain Time Zone. Black Mesa, the highest point in the state, is in the northwest corner of the county. The Cimarron County community of Regnier has the distinction of being the driest spot in Oklahoma ranked by lowest annual average precipitation, at just 15.62 inches; but at the same time, Boise City is the snowiest location in Oklahoma ranked by highest annual average snowfall, at 31.6 inches.
Morton County is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 2,701. The largest city and county seat is Elkhart.
Elkhart is a city in and the county seat of Morton County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,888. The south edge of the city is the Kansas-Oklahoma state border, and the city is 8.5 miles (13.7 km) from the Kansas-Colorado border.
Boise City is a city in and the county seat of Cimarron County, in the Panhandle of Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,266 at the 2010 census, a decline of 14.6 percent from 1,483 in 2000.
Keyes is a town in Cimarron County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 324 at the 2010 census.
The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, the trail served as a vital commercial highway until 1880, when the railroad arrived in Santa Fe. Santa Fe was near the end of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, which carried trade from Mexico City.
U.S. Route 56 is an east–west United States highway that runs for approximately 640 miles (1,030 km) in the Midwestern United States. US 56's western terminus is at Interstate 25 Business, US 412 and New Mexico State Road 21 in Springer, New Mexico and the highway's eastern terminus is at US 71 in Kansas City, Missouri. Much of it follows the Santa Fe Trail.
The Oklahoma Panhandle is the extreme northwestern region of the U.S. state of Oklahoma, consisting of Cimarron County, Texas County and Beaver County, from west to east. As with other salients in the United States, its name comes from the similarity of its shape to the handle of a pan.
The Cimarron River extends 698 miles (1,123 km) across New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Kansas. The headwaters flow from Johnson Mesa west of Folsom in northeastern New Mexico. Much of the river's length lies in Oklahoma, where it either borders or passes through eleven counties. There are no major cities along its route. The river enters the Oklahoma Panhandle near Kenton, Oklahoma, crosses the southeastern corner of Colorado into Kansas, reenters the Oklahoma Panhandle, reenters Kansas, and finally returns to Oklahoma where it joins the Arkansas River at Keystone Reservoir west of Tulsa, Oklahoma, its only impoundment. The Cimarron drains a basin that encompasses about 18,927 square miles (49,020 km2).
Felt is a small unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Cimarron County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 93. It was named for C.F.W. Felt of the Santa Fe Railroad. Nearby is the Cedar Breaks Archeological District, included on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Cimarron County, Oklahoma. The community is served by a post office and a school.
Wheeless is an unincorporated community in Cimarron County, Oklahoma, United States. The post office was established February 12, 1907, and discontinued September 27, 1963. Nearby are the ruins of Camp Nichols, a military encampment on the Santa Fe Trail, which is a National Historic Landmark.
Kenton is a census designated place (CDP) in Cimarron County, Oklahoma, United States. Kenton is the westernmost town in Oklahoma. From Kenton, it is approximately 155 miles (249 km) south to Amarillo, Texas, 237 miles (381 km) northwest to Colorado Springs, Colorado, 306 miles (492 km) northwest to Denver, Colorado, 314 miles (505 km) southwest to Albuquerque, New Mexico, 340 miles (550 km) northeast to Wichita, Kansas, and 361 miles (581 km) southeast to Oklahoma City, the nearest major population centers.
The Oklahoma City – Ada – Atoka Railway (OCAA) was formed from trackage from Oklahoma City to Atoka via Shawnee, Ada, and Coalgate, Oklahoma. Atoka to Coalgate had been built between 1882 and 1886 as feeder to the old Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad (Katy) main line, and Coalgate-Shawnee-Oklahoma City had been constructed by Katy affiliates, and specifically the first 40 miles northwest out of Coalgate having been built by the Texas and Oklahoma Railroad in 1902, and the remaining 78 miles into Oklahoma City having been built in the 1903-1904 timeframe by that line’s successor, the Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad Company. However, these properties were not included in the 1923 reorganization of the Katy, and were put in the OCAA instead. The OCAA ended up being sold to the Muskogee Company in 1929, becoming one of the Muskogee Roads.
The Cimarron Valley Railroad was built c. 1912 and purchased from Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad in February 1996. It runs over former C.V. and Manter Subdivisions of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad tracks in Oklahoma, Colorado and Kansas. One line runs from Dodge City, KS to Boise City, OK, the other from Satanta, KS to Springfield, CO. It runs a total of 254 miles of track primarily hauling agricultural commodities, along with sand, cement, poles, pipe, and fertilizers. CVR was one of several short-line railroads operated by The Western Group of Ogden, Utah.
K-27 is an approximately 226-mile-long (364 km) north–south state highway that parallels Kansas' western border with Colorado. It is the westernmost north–south state highway in the state. It begins at U.S. Route 56 (US-56) in Elkhart near the Oklahoma state line and travels through the seven counties that border Colorado until reaching its northern terminus north of St. Francis, where it ends at the Nebraska state line. Along the way, it intersects several major highways, including US-160 in Johnson City, US-50 and US-400 in Syracuse, US-40 in Sharon Springs, Interstate 70 (I-70) and US-24 in Goodland, and US-36 in Wheeler. The section from US-40 north to Nebraska, is designated as the Land and Sky Scenic Byway. K-27 changes time zones twice, during its trek through Kansas, the only highway in the state to do so.
Blanton is an unincorporated community in Garfield County, Oklahoma, United States. It was a rail stop for two rail lines, one of which used to transport grain until the mid-1990s. It was named after Denver, Enid and Gulf Railroad (DE&G) executive W. B. Blanton.
The Southern Transcon is a main line of BNSF Railway comprising 11 subdivisions between Southern California and Chicago, Illinois. Completed in its current alignment in 1908 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, when it opened the Belen Cutoff in New Mexico and bypassed the steep grades of Raton Pass, it now serves as a mostly double-tracked intermodal corridor.
K-23 is a 199.117-mile-long (320.448 km) south–north state highway in the U.S. State of Kansas. It starts as a continuation of Oklahoma State Highway 23 (SH-23) and it runs northward to U.S. Route 83 (US-83) and K-383 near Selden. Along the way it intersects several major east–west highways, including US-54 and US-160 in Meade, US-50 and US-400 in Cimarron, US-56 near Montezuma, K-4 near Healy, and Interstate 70 (I-70) and US-40 south of Grainfield. All but about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of K-23's alignment is maintained by the Kansas Department of Transportation. The entire section within Cimarron is maintained by the city and a section in Hoxie from Utah Street to Queen Street is maintained by the city.
K-25 is a 238.259-mile-long (383.441 km) south–north state highway in the U.S. State of Kansas. K-25 runs from Oklahoma State Highway 136 (SH-136) at the Oklahoma State Line to Nebraska Highway 25 (N-25) at the Nebraska border, running through Leoti, Colby, and Atwood plus many more towns along the way.
The Clinton and Oklahoma Western Railroad was a railway in southwestern Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle, with a mainline eventually running from Clinton, Oklahoma to Pampa, Texas, about 139 miles. The predecessor company was incorporated in 1908, and the railroad was merged out of existence in 1948.
