Jackson 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 being admitted as a state. The county formed part of the Nation's Pushmataha District, or Third District, one of three administrative super-regions.

History

The county was named for Jacob Jackson, a prominent Choctaw. It was organized from portions of Blue County, Jack's Fork County and

Kiamitia County Kiamitia County, also known as Kiamichi County, was a political subdivision of the Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory. The county formed part of the nation's Pushmataha District, or Third District, one of three administrative super-regions. Kiamiti ...

by an Act of the General Council on October 21, 1886. Jackson County's boundaries were established and designated according to easily recognizable natural landmarks, as were the boundaries of all Choctaw Nation counties. Island Bayou, Muddy Boggy Creek, the Blue River, and the Red River, all of which were regionally significant waterways, formed its boundaries. Jackson County was bordered on its east by

and on its west by Blue County. Its county seat was Pigeon Roost, south of present-day Boswell. The county also hosted Mayhew, the capital of the Pushmataha District. Mayhew was located north of present-day Boswell. 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 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. Jackson County was divided principally into the proposed Blue County, Tom Needles County, and Hitchcock County.

Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, who ...

would have been county seat of Blue; Durant the county seat of Tom Needles; and Hugo the county seat of Hitchcock.Amos Maxwell, ''Sequoyah Constitutional Convention''. Although the map carried in Wikipedia’s article on the State of Sequoyah speaks to the matter of borders, Maxwell's book offers further insight. Much of this proposition was borrowed two years later by Oklahoma's framers, who adopted certain of these concepts for the future Bryan County and Choctaw County in Oklahoma. The territory formerly comprising Jackson County, Choctaw Nation now falls primarily within these two counties, with a small portion in Atoka County. Jackson County ceased to exist upon

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 ...

’s statehood on November 16, 1907.

References

1886 establishments in Indian Territory Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Indian Territory 1907 disestablishments