Kiowa County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the southwestern part of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 ...

. As of the 2020 census, its population was 8,509. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

. The county was created in 1901 as part of

Oklahoma Territory The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as ...

. It was named for the

Kiowa people Kiowa ( ) or Cáuigú () people are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe and an Indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colora ...

History

In 1892, the Jerome Commission began enrolling the Kiowas, Comanches, and Apaches to prepare for the opening of their reservation to settlement by Whites. Dennis Flynn, the territorial representative to the U. S. Congress, proposed holding a lottery for opening the reservation. He argued successfully that the lottery would be safer and more orderly than land runs used earlier. Individuals could register at offices in Lawton or El Reno; 165,000 individuals registered for 13,000 160-acre claims. The drawing was held August 6, 1901. After the opening, the area was designated as Kiowa County in Oklahoma Territory. The town of Hobart, named for Vice President Garrett A. Hobart, was designated as county seat.Cole, Burna
"Kiowa County,"
''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', Oklahoma Historical Society, 2009. Accessed April 4, 2015. By 1908, residents of the southern part of the county were already agitating for a new county to be formed. In 1910, Governor Charles N. Haskell proclaimed that parts of Kiowa and Comanche Counties would become the new Swanson County. The new county became defunct in 1911, after the Oklahoma Supreme Court voided the change. Ownerships of land parcels from 1913 are to be found in plat books.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has a total area of , of which (1.5%) are covered by water. The county is largely composed of flatlands, although the southern border is covered by the Washita Mountains. The North Fork of the Red River serves as the southern and western boundaries with Jackson County. Water bodies include Lake Altus-Lugert, which impounds the North Fork of the Red River, and Tom Steed Reservoir on Otter Creek. Other water bodies in the county include the

Washita River The Washita River () is a river in the U.S. states of Texas and Oklahoma. The river is long and terminates at its confluence with the Red River of the South, Red River, which is now part of Lake Texoma () on the TexasOklahoma border. Geogra ...

and Elk Creek.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 62 * U.S. Highway 183 * State Highway 9 * State Highway 19 * State Highway 44

Adjacent counties

* Washita County (north) * Caddo County (east) * Comanche County (southeast) * Tillman County (south) * Jackson County (southwest) * Greer County (west)

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, 10,227 people, 4,208 households, and 2,815 families resided in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . The 5,304 housing units had an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 83.54% White, 4.67% Black or African American, 6.31% Native American, 0.31% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 2.68% from other races, and 2.42% from two or more races. About 6.74% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race. Of the 4,208 households, 27.9% had children under 18 living with them, 52.0% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.1% were not families. About 30.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.3% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.92. In the county, the age distribution was 24.2% under 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 20.3% who were 65 or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.70 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 90.7 males. The median income for a household in the county was $26,053, and for a family was $34,654. Males had a median income of $25,552 versus $19,497 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $14,231. About 15.0% of families and 19.3% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 23.3% of those under 18 and 15.7% of those 65 or over.

Politics

Political culture

Communities

Cities

(county seat) * Snyder

Towns

* Cooperton * Gotebo * Lone Wolf * Mountain Park * Mountain View * Roosevelt

Unincorporated communities

* Babbs * Cambridge * Lugert * Saddle Mountain

Notable people

Tommy Franks Tommy Ray Franks (born 17 June 1945) is a retired United States Army General (United States), general. His last army post was as the Commander of the United States Central Command, overseeing United States Armed Forces, United States military op ...

(1945- ), U. S. Army general (retired) and commander of U. S. Central Command during the Iraq War; lives in Roosevelt, Oklahoma, since his army retirement. * Dale Meinert (1933-2004), an All-Pro linebacker for the St. Louis Cardinals, was born at Lone Wolf. *

N. Scott Momaday Navarre Scotte Momaday (February 27, 1934–January 24, 2024) was a Kiowa and American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. His novel ''House Made of Dawn'' was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1969 in literature, 1969, and ...

(1934-2024), 1969 Pulitzer Prize winner for ''House Made of Dawn'', is from Mountain View. * Angela R. Riley, chief justice of

Citizen Potawatomi Nation Citizen Potawatomi Nation is a federally recognized tribe of Potawatomi people located in Oklahoma. The Potawatomi are traditionally an Algonquian languages, Algonquian-speaking Eastern Woodlands tribes, Eastern Woodlands tribe. They have 29,155 e ...

(2010–present) * Col. Jack Treadwell (1919-1977) of Snyder, who served in the 180th Infantry, Forty-fifth Infantry Division, during World War II, received the Congressional Medal of Honor. * Lt. Gen.

La Vern E. Weber La Vern E. Weber (September 3, 1923 – December 30, 1999) was a United States Army officer who served as 10th Adjutant General of Oklahoma, Director of the Army National Guard and Chief of the National Guard Bureau (NGB). He was the first NGB ...

(1923-2004), born at Lone Wolf, served as chief of the National Guard Bureau.

References

{{coord, 34.92, -98.98, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-OK_source:UScensus1990 Oklahoma counties 1901 establishments in Oklahoma Territory Populated places established in 1901