Gaines County was a political subdivision of the

Choctaw Nation The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Native American reservation occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. At roughly , it is the second-largest reservation in area after the Navajo, exceeding t ...

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

, prior to

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

being admitted as a state. The county formed part of the Nation's

Moshulatubbee District Moshulatubbee District was one of three provinces, or districts, 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 spel ...

, or First District, one of three administrative super-regions.

History

The county was also called Gaines Creek County or ''Kenis Kaunti'' (''Kenis'' rhymes with “they”), a translation from the Choctaw word for Gaines Creek. The county was named for Gaines Creek, which formed one of its borders. The creek, originally known as the South Fork 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 .George S. Gaines, a licensed trader among the Choctaws prior to their removal from the southeastern United States. Col. Gaines accompanied a Choctaw exploration party to the Indian Territory in 1830, where they met with a similar party of Chickasaw Indians on the banks of what is now Gaines Creek. Their trip was shortly after the signing of the

Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was a treaty which was signed on September 27, 1830, and proclaimed on February 24, 1831, between the Choctaw American Indian tribe and the United States government. This treaty was the first removal treaty wh ...

. Gaines County did not include any towns of size. Its principal geographic features were Gaines Creek, Longtown Creek, the

Sans Bois Mountains The Sans Bois Mountains are a small mountain range in southeastern Oklahoma and part of the larger Ouachita Mountains. The range is a frontal belt of the Ouachita Mountains and is located in Haskell and Latimer counties. is a French term meani ...

, and other area mountains. Settlement was confined mostly to the valleys and lowlands, with farming and mining being the major activities. Mining occurred primarily in the southern end of the county along the Choctaw Coal and Railway, an east-west railroad linking the mines at Haileyville and Hartshorne, which were located in Gaines County, with those in McAlester in Tobucksy County and

Wilburton Wilburton is a small village of just over 1,000 inhabitants, situated in Cambridgeshire, England. It is 6 miles south west of Ely. While nominally an agricultural village, many residents work in Cambridge, Ely or London. History Wilburton i ...

in San Bois County. The

Butterfield Stage Route Butterfield may refer to: * Butterfield (surname) * Butterfield Market Places * Butterfield, Dublin, a suburb and List of townlands of County Dublin, townland of Dublin, Ireland * Butterfield Green, Luton, England United States * Butterfield, M ...

passed through the county and included stops at Gaines Court House, Riddle’s Station, Pusley’s Station, Buffalo Station, Blackburn’s Station, and Colbert’s Stage Stand. None of these were population centers, including Gaines Court House, which was busy only during sessions of the county court. Gaines 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. According to the enabling legislation enacted by the Choctaw General Council which established the county, its boundaries were Longtown Creek, up the Canadian River to the mouth of Gaines Creek, then up Gaines Creek to the mouth of Brushy Creek, then up Brushy Creek to the dividing ridge separating the watersheds 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 .Red River, and on to the boundary line of Sugar Loaf County. The dividing ridge also served as boundary between the

and

Apukshunnubbee District Apukshunnubbee District was one of three provinces, or districts, comprising the former Choctaw Nation in Indian Territory. Also called the Second District, it encompassed the southeastern one-third of the nation. The Apukshunnubbee District was ...

. 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), and conducted the census. The county ranger advertised and sold strayed livestock.

Statehood

As Oklahoma's statehood approached, its leading citizens, who were gathered for the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention, 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 Gaines County.Amos Maxwell, ''Sequoyah Constitutional Convention''. Meador Publishing Col., 1953. This conundrum was also recognized by the framers of the proposed

State of Sequoyah The State of Sequoyah was a proposed U.S. state, state to be established from the Indian Territory in Eastern Oklahoma, eastern present-day Oklahoma. In 1905, with the end of tribal governments looming, Five Civilized Tribes, Native Americans (th ...

, 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 Sequo ...

also proposed a county structure that abolished the Choctaw counties. Gaines County was divided principally into the proposed Eufaula and San Bois counties, with a small southern area assigned to the proposed Hailey 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 Gaines County, Choctaw Nation now falls primarily within Pittsburg County and Haskell County. Gaines County ceased to exist upon Oklahoma's statehood on November 16, 1907.

References

{{coord missing, Oklahoma Regions of Oklahoma Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma