McIntosh County Seat War

McIntosh County Seat War

A map of the McIntosh County area from 1905.
Date	1907–1909
Location	McIntosh County, Oklahoma, USA
Outcome	Eufaula becomes the permanent county seat.
Deaths	2

The McIntosh County Seat War was a dispute in Oklahoma over the location of the McIntosh County seat that took place between 1907 and 1909. Following a pair of elections that resulted in the town of Checotah being designated as the new county seat, the people of Eufaula refused to hand over the county records. As a result, a group of heavily armed men from Chectotah attempted to seize the records, but were forced to surrender during the gunbattle that ensued. One year later, after another close election, Eufaula became the permanent county seat.

During the settling of the Western United States, conflicts frequently arose between neighboring towns when they were competing for the county seat. Most of Oklahoma's "county seat wars", as they were called, were concluded without bloodshed, and involved little more than heated words and close elections. The situation in McIntosh County, however, ended up being much more serious. McIntosh County was established at statehood in 1907, when the population was 17,975. Before then, the area had been part of the Eufaula District of the Creek Nation.

On the afternoon of January 9, 1907, the territorial government in Guthrie, sent a telegram to Checotah stating that the legislative committee had selected the town as the temporary seat of McIntosh County, until an election could be held to decide new a permanent location. The people of Checotah were very happy with the surprising news, since being selected as the temporary county seat meant having a better chance of becoming the permanent one in the upcoming election. The whole town celebrated; citizens danced in the streets, church bells rang, and shopkeepers passed out cigars.

Their good fortune soon turned into disappointment, however, when a Eufaula attorney and delegate to the constitutional convention named William C. Liedtke heard of the news. Liedtke delivered a "rousing" speech in support of Eufaula to the general assembly on January 17, and called for a vote to decide the matter. The subsequent tally recorded that Eufaula had received forty-two votes, and Checotah forty-one. As a result, and in spite of the telegram and the celebration in Checotah a few days before, Eufaula was designated as the new temporary county seat. A two-story building on the northeast corner of Main Street and Riley Avenue was then rented for use as a courthouse, and the county records were moved there.