Sans Bois 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 ...
of
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 ''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
Choctaw
The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...
s 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
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 ...
. 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.
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 Colorado, specifically ...
, 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 (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 ...
), 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 Oklahoma ...
, 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
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. Sans Bois County was divided principally into the proposed Sans Bois County and Thomas County. Stigler and Bokoshe 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
Pittsburg may refer to:
Places United States
Cities, towns, townships and counties
*Pittsburg, California
* Pittsburg, Florida
*Pittsburg, Kansas, Crawford County
*Pittsburg, New Hampshire
* Pittsburg, Oklahoma
*Pittsburg, Texas
*Pittsburg Coun ...
, Latimer and Le Flore counties. Sans Bois County ceased to exist upon Oklahoma's statehood on November 16, 1907.