Sans Bois County was a political subdivision of the
Choctaw Nation
The Choctaw Nation (Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Native American territory covering about , occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. The Choctaw Nation is the third-largest federally recognized tribe in the United St ...
of
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign ...
, prior to Oklahoma being admitted as a state. The county formed part of the Nation's
Moshulatubbee District
Moshulatubbee District was one of three administrative super-regions comprising the former Choctaw Nation in the Indian Territory. Also called the First District, it encompassed the northern one-third of the nation. In some historic records it is ...
, or First District, one of three administrative super-regions.
History
The county was also called ''Sambai Kaunti'', from the French phrase ''sans bois'', which means “without wood.” The county took its name from an important area waterway, Sans Bois Creek, which had been named by French traders or trappers in the 1700s. The Choctaws pronounced the French phrase "Sambai".
Sans Bois County did not include any towns of size. Its principal geographic features were the stream by the same name and the mountains from which it flowed, which are still known as the Sans Bois Mountains. Settlement was confined mostly to the valleys and lowlands, with farming being the major activity. Mining later became prevalent throughout the mountains, principally in the late 1800s and early 1900s.“San Bois Mountains.” ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.
Sans Bois County was one of the original 19 counties created by the General Council of the Choctaw Nation in 1850. The county's boundaries were established and designated according to easily recognizable natural landmarks, as were the boundaries of all Choctaw Nation counties. The county began at the mouth of Cashier Creek on the
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...
, up the river to the mouth of the
Canadian River
The Canadian River is the longest tributary of the Arkansas River in the United States. It is about long, starting in Colorado and traveling through New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle, and Oklahoma. The drainage area is about .Sugar Loaf County boundary line.
The county served as an election district for members of the National Council, and as a unit of local administration. Constitutional officers, all of whom served for two-year terms and were elected by the voters, included the county judge, sheriff, and a ranger. The judge's duties included oversight of overall county administration. The sheriff collected taxes, monitored unlawful intrusion by intruders (usually white Americans from the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
), and conducted the census. The county ranger advertised and sold strayed livestock.Angie Debo, ''The Rise and Fall of the Choctaw Republic'', p. 15; “Organization of Counties in the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations,” ''Chronicles of Oklahoma'', Vol. 8, No. 3, September 1930, p. 323, 332.
Statehood
As Oklahoma's statehood approached, its leading citizens, who were gathered for the
Oklahoma Constitutional Convention
The Constitution of the State of Oklahoma is the governing document of the U.S. State of Oklahoma. Adopted in 1907, Oklahoma ratified the United States Constitution on November 16, 1907, as the 46th U.S. state. At its ratification, the Oklahom ...
, realized in laying out the future state's counties that, while logically designed, the Choctaw Nation's counties could not exist as economically viable political subdivisions. In most the county seat existed generally for holding county court and not as a population center. This was certainly true of sparsely populated San Bois County.
This conundrum was also recognized by the framers of the proposed State of Sequoyah, who met in 1905 to propose statehood for the Indian Territory. The
Sequoyah Constitutional Convention The Sequoyah Constitutional Convention was an American Indian-led attempt to secure statehood for Indian Territory as an Indian-controlled jurisdiction, separate from the Oklahoma Territory. The proposed state was to be called the State of Sequoya ...
also proposed a county structure that abolished the Choctaw counties. Sans Bois County was divided principally into the proposed Sans Bois County and Thomas County.
Stigler Stigler is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Franz Stigler (1915–2008), Luftwaffe pilot who escorted an American bomber back to safety in 1943
* George Stigler (1911–1991), Nobel Prize–winning U.S. economist, associated w ...
and
Bokoshe
Bokoshe ( ) is a town in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma metropolitan statistical area. ''Bokoshe'' is a Choctaw word meaning "little creek". The population was 512 at the 2010 census, a 13. ...
would have been Thomas County's principal towns. Quinton would have been the largest town in Sans Bois County.
Almost none of this proposition was borrowed two years later by Oklahoma's framers, who adopted a very different county structure for the region. The territory formerly comprising Sans Bois County, Choctaw Nation now falls primarily within Haskell County, with small parts now within Pittsburg, Latimer and Le Flore counties. Sans Bois County ceased to exist upon Oklahoma's statehood on November 16, 1907.