Latimer County
| Latimer County, Oklahoma | |
|---|---|
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 Location in the U.S. state of Oklahoma |
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 Oklahoma's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | 1907 |
| Named for | James L. Latimer |
| Seat | Wilburton |
| Largest city | Wilburton |
| Area | |
| • Total | 729 sq mi (1,888 km2) |
| • Land | 722 sq mi (1,870 km2) |
| • Water | 7.0 sq mi (18 km2), 0.95% |
| Population (est.) | |
| • (2013) | 10,775 |
| • Density | 15/sq mi (6/km²) |
| Congressional district | 2nd |
| Time zone | Central: UTC-6/-5 |
Latimer County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its county seat is Wilburton. As of the 2010 census, the population was 11,154. The county was created at statehood in 1907 and named for James L. Latimer, a delegate from Wilburton to the 1906 state Constitutional Convention. Prior to statehood, it had been for several decades part of Gaines County, Choctaw Nation.
This area was occupied for at least 3500 years by cultures of indigenous peoples. The most recent of the prehistoric peoples established complex earthworks during the Mississippian culture. Archeological excavations have revealed artifacts from Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian cultures. Living in what is now southeastern Oklahoma, these peoples were direct ancestors of the Caddo Nation, a historic confederacy of tribes that flourished in east Texas, Arkansas and northern Louisiana before removal to another area of Indian Territory.
In the 1970s excavations at the McCutchan-McLaughlin site revealed many details about the lives and deaths of the Fourche Maline culture people, who lived in this area in the Woodland Period, about 300 BCE to 800 CE. These hunter-gatherers were physically healthier than later descendants in more complex cultures who depended on maize agriculture, but they were also often beset by warfare. Numerous remains were found in mass graves, killed by arrows or spears. This archeological site continues to be studied and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1831, the area now known as Latimer County was organized as part of Gaines County in the Choctaw Nation in the Indian Territory after the Choctaw were removed by the federal government from their traditional territory in the American Southeast. They designated the county seat as Gaines Courthouse. In 1858, the Butterfield Overland Mail established a route through the territory, which included stage stops at Edwards's Station (near present Hughes), Holloway's Station (near Red Oak), Riddle's Station (near Lutie) and Pusley's Station near Higgins.
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