Custer County, Oklahoma
| Custer County, Oklahoma | |
|---|---|
 Location in the U.S. state of Oklahoma |
|
 Oklahoma's location in the U.S. |
|
| Founded | 1891 |
| Named for | General George A. Custer |
| Seat | Arapaho |
| Largest city | Weatherford |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1,002 sq mi (2,595 km2) |
| • Land | 989 sq mi (2,561 km2) |
| • Water | 13 sq mi (34 km2), 1.3% |
| Population (est.) | |
| • (2015) | 29,744 |
| • Density | 28/sq mi (11/km²) |
| Congressional district | 3rd |
| Time zone | Central: UTC-6/-5 |
| Website | custer |
Custer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 27,469. Its county seat is Arapaho. The county was named in honor of General George Armstrong Custer.
Custer County comprises the Weatherford, Oklahoma, Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Custer County was formed on 1891 as an original county from Cheyenne land, and called G County. On November 6, 1896 it was renamed Custer County after General George Armstrong Custer, who had massacred the Southern Cheyenne Indians at the Battle of the Washita 20 miles west in Roger Mills County, and was killed at the Battle of Little Bighorn. The county was settled by white settlers during the third official land run of April 19, 1892. On this day the first newspaper of the county appeared, the Arapaho Arrow.
Before Custer County became a county two major expeditions were conducted through the area. The first was the Whipple Railroad Expedition surveyed during the year 1853 and was then followed by the construction of the Beale Wagon Road in 1858. Both of these expedition were federally funded. The Beale Wagon Road went from Fort Smith, Arkansas to Los Angeles, California at a cost of $210,000. While Lt. Beale was moving through the future county his crew built 7 wooden bridges across major creeks to make it easier for travelers to move over the hilly country. This road became the first federally funded interstate highway to be constructed in the American Southwest. It is the Grandmother of federal roads, with Route 66 being one of its children. The best source for this information is found in the report written by Lt. Edward Fitzgerald Beale in 1860 and entitled "Wagon Road Fort Smith To The Colorado River" published by Congress. Part of this report can be read in an article written in the Chronicles Of Oklahoma in 1934 with the same title.
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