Greer County, a
county created by the
Texas legislature on February 8, 1860 (and was named for
John Alexander Greer,
Lieutenant Governor of Texas), was land claimed by both
Texas and the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. The region of Greer County is now in present-day Oklahoma.
Origin of the dispute
The dispute arose from a
map submitted with the
Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819. The
treaty stated that the
boundary between the
French claims on the north and the
Spanish claims on the south was Rio Roxo de Natchitoches (
Red River) until it reached the
100th meridian west as noted on
John Melish's map published in 1818. The problem was that the 100th meridian on the Melish map was some east of the true 100th meridian and the Red River forked about east of the 100th meridian. Texas claimed the land south of the
North Fork (red on the map) and the United States claimed the land north of the South Fork (blue on the map, later called the
Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River).
''United States vs. State of Texas''
The dispute resulted in a
lawsuit, which was heard by the
Supreme Court under its
original jurisdiction. The Court's opinion, in ''United States v. State of Texas'' , issued on March 16, held that the land of some belonged to the United States. Following that ruling, on May 4, 1896, the land was officially assigned by
Congress to
Oklahoma Territory. The Greer County Homestead Law, passed just afterwards, gave the Texas settlers the they were living on and the option to purchase an additional 160 acres for .
Legacy
When
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 ...
became the 46th
U.S. state on November 16, 1907, old "Greer County" was divided into
Greer,
Jackson, and southwest
Beckham counties.
Harmon County was created May 22, 1909 by a vote of the people from a portion of Greer County.
See also
*
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 ...
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Greer County, Oklahoma
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Harmon County, Oklahoma
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Jackson County, Oklahoma
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Beckham County, Oklahoma
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Texas Panhandle
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Childress County, Texas
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Collingsworth County, Texas
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Hardeman County, Texas
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List of extinct United States counties
References
*Estill-Harbour, Emma, Ph.D.
Greer County, ''Chronicles of Oklahoma'' 12:2 (June 1934) 145-162 (retrieved August 16, 2006).
External links
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{{Authority control
Former counties of Texas
Oklahoma Territory
Texas border disputes
Red River of the South
1896 disestablishments in Texas
Internal territorial disputes of the United States