Located in west-central Oklahoma,
Blaine
County is
bordered by Major County
on the north,
Kingfisher and
Canadian counties on the
east,
Caddo County on
the
south, and Custer
and Dewey
counties on the west. Named for
Speaker of
the
U.S.
House
of
Representative
James
G. Blaine,
the county encompasses
938.88
acres of
land and
water. The North
Canadian River bisects
Blaine
County from the
northwest to the
southeast. The Cimarron
River crosses the
northeastern edge of
the county, while
the
Canadian River
cuts
across the
southwest portion. As to
physiographical
region, the northeastern
half lies
on the
western edge of the
Red Bed Plains and the
southwestern
half lies
in the Gypsum Hills.
At the turn
of the
twenty-first century
incorporated towns
included Canton, Geary,
Greenfield,
Hitchcock,
Longdale,
Okeene, and
Watonga, the
county
seat.
After the Louisiana Purchase (1803)
which
included
present
Oklahoma,
explorers and traders
such as Maj. Stephen
H. Long (1817),
Thomas
James
(1821),
John
McKnight
(1821), and Josiah
Gregg (1839-40) traversed
present Blaine
County
along the
rivers. Capt.
Nathan
Boone, who
reconnoitered from Fort Gibson to
western
Indian
Territory in 1843, crossed
southwestern
Blaine
County on his
return
trip to the
fort. James
William Abert,
army lieutenant working for
the
U.S. Corps
of
Topographical
Engineers, started
from Fort
Bent (Colorado) to Fort
Gibson, Indian
Territory, following
the Canadian
River in
1845. Before
the Civil
War Jesse Chisholm had established
a salt works in present Blaine County
in
order to trade
the
commodity
with the
Plains Indians.
The area was originally part of
Indian
Territory where
the Creek and
Seminole
had
been
settled in the
1820s and 1830s.
Following the
Civil
War, the
Reconstruction
Treaties of 1866
required
the Five Civilized
Tribes to cede part
of
their lands.
Thus, the
Creek
relinquished the
western half of their lands,
and the
Seminole lost
all their land. In
1869 the
Cheyenne
and
Arapaho were
removed
from
Colorado to these
lands in
Indian
Territory. In 1879 Cantonment, a
military
post, was
established
in
present northwestern Blaine County.
In
December 1882
Mennonites opened an
American Indian school
near the post. The
Episcopal Church
operated the Whirlwind
Mission in
southwestern Blaine County
from 1897 to
1917.
When the
jurisdiction
of the
Darlington Agency was divided in
1903, the
Cheyenne-Arapaho Agency was
established
at
Cantonment. After the
Cheyenne and Arapaho
took land
allotments,
their reservation was
opened to
non-Indian
settlers on April
19,
1892. The county
was organized on that date as
"C" County.
The
southwest portion of the
county
south of
the
Canadian River was
part of the Wichita
and
Caddo
reservation
and
was opened to settlers
on August
8, 1901.
Early settlers opened towns and
farmed
the sandy-loam
soil. They grew wheat,
corn,
cotton,
oats,
Kaffir
corn,
broomcorn, sorghum, hay,
and
Irish potatoes.
Cotton
gins, mills, and grain
elevators soon appeared in
the towns of Geary,
Greenfield,
Hitchcock,
Okeene, and
Watonga. The outcropping of
gypsum attracted
at
least six plaster
mills, with
a plant
established at
Southard in
1905.
Cattle drives from Texas to Kansas
followed the Caldwell Trail, which was
situated
west of
Cantonment. A military road connected
Fort
Reno and
Cantonment.
The
Southern Stage Company
and
the Concord Stage
served the citizens
until
railroads were
built
in the
early
1900s.
The Enid and Anadarko Railway (later
the Chicago,
Rock
Island and Pacific Railway)
constructed
a line
between Enid
and
Greenfield in 1901-1902. Between
1901 and
1903 the
Blackwell, Enid and
Southwestern
Railroad
(later
the St. Louis and San Francisco
Railway) ran a line
from Darrow, Blaine
County, to the Red
River. In
1905 the
Kansas City,
Mexico
and Orient
Railway finished a line
from Fairview, Major
County, to Oakwood,
Dewey County,
cutting
across
the northwest
corner of Blaine
County. After U.S.
Highways 270 and
281
were constructed,
the
Southwest
Greyhound
and the Red
Ball
bus lines served county
residents.
The
following sites in Blaine
County
are listed on
the
National Register
of Historic
Places:
*
Blaine County
Courthouse,
Watonga
*
Cantonment,
Canton
*
Jesse
Chisholm
Grave
Site,
Geary
* Cronkhite
Ranch
House, Watonga -
