Beckham County, Oklahoma
| Beckham County, Oklahoma | |
|---|---|
|
|
 Location in the U.S. state of Oklahoma |
|
 Oklahoma's location in the U.S. |
|
| Founded | November 16, 1907 |
| Named for | J. C. W. Beckham |
| Seat | Sayre |
| Largest city | Elk City |
| Area | |
| • Total | 904 sq mi (2,341 km2) |
| • Land | 902 sq mi (2,336 km2) |
| • Water | 2.1 sq mi (5 km2), 0.2% |
| Population (est.) | |
| • (2013) | 23,637 |
| • Density | 25/sq mi (10/km²) |
| Congressional district | 3rd |
| Time zone | Central: UTC-6/-5 |
| Website | beckham |
Beckham County is a county located on the western border of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 22,119. Its county seat is Sayre. Founded upon statehood in 1907, Beckham County was named for J. C. W. Beckham, who was Governor of Kentucky and the first popularly elected member of the United States Senate from Kentucky. Beckham County comprises the Elk City, OK Micropolitan Statistical Area.
(Beckham County, Kentucky was organized and named on February 9, 1904, but was dissolved April 29, 1904, by the Kentucky Court of Appeals because it was not created in conformance with state law).
In 1855, the U.S. government leased the western part of the formerly reserved Choctaw and Chickasaw Nation lands, which became known as the Leased District. After the Civil War, the two nations were forced to cede the land to the US government under terms of new treaties required because they had been allies of the Confederacy. Under the treaties they were also required to emancipate their slaves and provide them with citizenship in their nations.
In 1869, the former Leased District was designated by the President as the Cheyenne Arapaho Reservation, following their removal from further west. During the 1880s, Texas cattlemen leased grazing land from the Cheyenne and Arapaho.
Under the Dawes Act of 1891, the government split up such communal lands, allocating plots to individual households of various tribes. After distribution was made, the government declared any additional lands on the reservation to be "surplus". In 1892, the government opened such surplus land to settlement by non-Indians, attracting numerous European-American settlers and immigrants.
...
Wikipedia