Swanson County, Oklahoma

Last updated
Swanson County
County of Oklahoma
1910–1911
Swanson Co OK map.png
Swanson County on the map from circa 1912.
Capital Mountain Park (1910-1911)
History
History 
• Established
August 13, 1910
• Disestablished
June 27, 1911
Contained within
 •  Country Flag of the United States (1908-1912).svg United States
 •  State Flag of Oklahoma (1911-1925).svg Oklahoma
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Blank.png Kiowa County
Blank.png Comanche County
Kiowa County Blank.png
Comanche County Blank.png
Today part ofFlag of the United States.svg  United States

Swanson County is a defunct county in Oklahoma. It was created from southern Kiowa County and western Comanche County on August 13, 1910, after a special election, but dissolved after a decision by the Oklahoma Supreme Court overturned the election in 1911. The county was named for Claude A. Swanson, Governor of Virginia and a friend of Oklahoma Governor Charles N. Haskell. [1]

Contents

History

On May 10, 1910, a special election was held in southern Kiowa County and western Comanche County to approve the formation of a new county that could more effectively serve residents of that area. Although more than 60 percent of the overall residents approved the measure, a majority of Comanche County Residents voted against it. [2] Governor Charles N. Haskell officially proclaimed Swanson County's formation on August 13, 1910 and designated Mountain Park, Oklahoma as the temporary county seat. [1] In January 1911, the state House of Representatives seated James V. McClintic as the representative from Swanson County. [1] [2]

The location of the county seat in Mountain Park was hotly contested by a group of residents who favored Snyder as the seat. They claimed that Mountain Park lacked a public water system, fire protection and suitable office space for county government. A rainstorm that soaked official county documents seemed to prove their point. Legal action was brought to resolve the dispute. On September 5, 1910, a group from Snyder simply removed the records to their town. A group of Mountain Park supporters retaliated by invading the homes of county officials and arresting these men at gunpoint. During this action, an employee of one of the county commissioners was killed. On March 7, 1911, the Supreme Court restored Mountain Park as the county seat and ordered that the county records be moved to Hobart, the seat of Kiowa County. [2]

Meanwhile, officials of Comanche County challenged the Governor's proclamation in the District Court, arguing that the new county had not been approved by residents in their county. That court ruled in for dissolution, but the case was appealed to the state Supreme Court ( Armstrong v. State ex rel. Fain co. Atty ). On June 27, 1911, the Oklahoma Supreme Court dissolved the county. [1] [3]

Following the extinction of Swanson County, Cotton County was created from southern Comanche County in 1912. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

Tillman County, Oklahoma U.S. county in Oklahoma

Tillman County is a county located in the southwestern part of Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 7,992. The county seat is Frederick.

Kiowa County, Oklahoma U.S. county in Oklahoma

Kiowa County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 9,446. Its county seat is Hobart. The county was created in 1901 as part of Oklahoma Territory. It was named for the Kiowa people.

Greer County, Oklahoma U.S. county in Oklahoma

Greer County is a county located along the southwest border of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 6,239. Its county seat is Mangum. From 1860 to 1896, the state of Texas claimed an area known as Greer County, Texas, which included present-day Greer County along with neighboring areas. In 1896 it was designated as a county in Oklahoma Territory under a ruling by the US Supreme Court. The rural Greer County is home to Quartz Mountain Nature Park, near the community of Lone Wolf, Oklahoma. It is also home to the Oklahoma State Reformatory, located in Granite. Its population has declined since 1930 due to changes in agriculture and migration to cities for work.

Grady County, Oklahoma U.S. county in Oklahoma

Grady County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 52,431. Its county seat is Chickasha. It was named for Henry W. Grady, an editor of the Atlanta Constitution and southern orator.

Cotton County, Oklahoma U.S. county in Oklahoma

Cotton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 6,193. Its county seat is Walters. When Oklahoma achieved statehood in 1907, the area which is now Cotton County fell within the boundaries of Comanche County. It was split off in 1912, becoming the last county created in Oklahoma; it was named for the county's primary crop.

Comanche County, Oklahoma U.S. county in Oklahoma

Comanche County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 124,098, making it the fifth-most populous county in Oklahoma. Its county seat is Lawton. The county was created in 1901 as part of Oklahoma Territory. It was named for the Comanche tribal nation.

Caddo County, Oklahoma U.S. county in Oklahoma

Caddo County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 29,600. Its county seat is Anadarko. Created in 1901 as part of Oklahoma Territory, the county is named for the Caddo tribe who were settled here on a reservation in the 1870s. Caddo County is immediately west of the seven-county Greater Oklahoma City metro area, and although is not officially in the metro area, it has many economic ties in this region.

Lawton, Oklahoma City in Oklahoma

Lawton is a city in, and the county seat of, Comanche County, in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Located in southwestern Oklahoma, approximately 87 mi (140 km) southwest of Oklahoma City, it is the principal city of the Lawton, Oklahoma, metropolitan statistical area. According to the 2010 census, Lawton's population was 96,867, making it the fifth-largest city in the state, and the largest in Western Oklahoma.

Walters, Oklahoma City in Oklahoma, United States

Walters is a town in Cotton County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,551 at the 2010 census. The city, nestled between twin creeks, is the county seat of Cotton County. The city's motto is "Small town; Big heart."

Mountain Park, Oklahoma Town in Oklahoma, United States

Mountain Park is a town in Kiowa County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 409 at the 2010 census, a 4.9 percent increase from 390 in 2000.

Mountain View, Oklahoma Town in Oklahoma, United States

Mountain View is a town in Kiowa County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 795 at the 2010 census, a decline of 9.7 percent from 880 in 2000.

Snyder, Oklahoma City in Oklahoma, United States

Snyder is a city in Kiowa County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,394 at the 2010 census. This figure represented a decline of 7.6 percent from 1,509 persons in 2000.

Quanah Parker Native American Indian leader

Quanah Parker was a war leader of the Kwahadi ("Antelope") band of the Comanche Nation. He was likely born into the Nokoni ("Wanderers") band of Tabby-nocca and grown up among the Kwahadis, the son of Kwahadi Comanche chief Peta Nocona and Cynthia Ann Parker, an Anglo-American who had been kidnapped as a child and assimilated into the Nokoni tribe. Following the apprehension of several Kiowa chiefs in 1871, Quanah Parker emerged as a dominant figure in the Red River War, clashing repeatedly with Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie. With European-Americans hunting American bison, the Comanches' primary sustenance, into near extinction, Quanah Parker eventually surrendered and peaceably led the Kwahadi to the reservation at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

Oklahoma Territory Organized incorporated territory of the United States from 1890 to 1907

The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as the state of Oklahoma.

Claude A. Swanson American lawyer and politician

Claude Augustus Swanson was an American lawyer and Democratic politician from Virginia. He served as U.S. Representative (1893-1906), Governor of Virginia (1906-1910), and U.S. Senator from Virginia (1910-1933), before becoming U.S. Secretary of the Navy under President Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 until his death. Swanson and fellow U.S. Senator Thomas Staples Martin led a Democratic political machine in Virginia for decades in the late 19th and early 20th century, which later became known as the Byrd Organization for Swanson's successor as U.S. Senator, Harry Flood Byrd.

Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals One of the two highest judicial bodies in the U.S. state of Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals is one of the two highest judicial bodies in the U.S. state of Oklahoma and is part of the Oklahoma Court System, the judicial branch of the Oklahoma state government.

Southwestern Oklahoma

Southwest Oklahoma is a geographical name for the southwest portion of the state of Oklahoma, typically considered to be south of the Canadian River, extending eastward from the Texas border to a line roughly from Weatherford, to Anadarko, to Duncan. Geologically, the region is defined by a failed continental rift known as the Southern Oklahoma Aulacogen. The austere nature of the prairie landscape with intermittent island ranges has made it a favorable place for artists and photographers alike. For tourism purposes, the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department has designated Southwestern Oklahoma as Great Plains Country, and defined it to consist of 14 counties including Roger Mills, Custer, Beckham, Washita, Caddo, Kiowa, Greer, Harmon, Jackson, Comanche, Tillman, Cotton, Stephens, and Jefferson counties.

James V. McClintic

James Vernon McClintic was an American politician and a U.S. Representative from Oklahoma.

Richard Darby is an American lawyer and the Chief Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. On April 5, 2018, Governor Mary Fallin appointed Darby to the Oklahoma Supreme Court to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Joseph M. Watt.

Ketch Ranch House (Oklahoma)

Ketch Ranch House or Ketch Ranch was private property located in the Wichita Mountains of Southwestern Oklahoma. The ranch was established as a working ranch and vacation home for Ada May Ketch and Frank Levant Ketch during the early 1920s. The Wichita Mountain ranch offered a guest house, barn, smokehouse, springhouse, and root cellar while providing outdoor experiences with horseback riding, boating, and fishing at Ketch Lake which was close proximity of 1 mile (1.6 km) from the Ketch Ranch House.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Smith, Emily B. "Swanson County," Chronicles of Oklahoma 9:4 (December 1931) (accessed August 29, 2006).
  2. 1 2 3 4 Linda D. Wilson, "Swanson County." Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Accessed October 4, 2012.
  3. ↑ Armstrong v. State ex rel. Fain Co. Atty. 1911 OK 225, 29 Okla. 161, 116 P. 770. (accessed August 29, 2006)

Coordinates: 34°42′N98°54′W / 34.7°N 98.9°W / 34.7; -98.9

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.