Editing Alfalfa County, Oklahoma (section)

==History==

===Early history===
[[Indigenous peoples]] inhabited and hunted in this area for thousands of years. By 1750, the [[Osage Nation|Osage]] had become a dominant tribe in the area. About one third belonged to the band led by Chief [[Black Dog (Osage chief)|Black Dog]] (''Manka - Chonka''). Before 1800 they made the Black Dog Trail starting east of [[Baxter Springs, Kansas]] and heading southwest to their summer hunting grounds at the [[Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge|Great Salt Plains]] in present-day Alfalfa County.<ref>[http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=BL002 Burl E. Self, "Black Dog (1780-1848)", ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''], accessed November 5, 2009</ref><ref>{{Cite web| title = Full text of "Wah Kon Tah The Osage And White Man S Road"| access-date = January 14, 2012| url = https://archive.org/stream/wahkontahtheosag012195mbp/wahkontahtheosag012195mbp_djvu.txt}}</ref> The Osage stopped at the springs, which attracted migratory birds and varieties of wildlife, for its healing properties on their way to hunting on the plains. The Osage name for this fork of the Arkansas River was ''Nescatunga'' (big salt water), what European-Americans later called the [[Salt Fork Arkansas River|Salt Fork]].<ref name="USACE1">[https://www.swt.usace.army.mil/Locations/Tulsa-District-Lakes/Oklahoma/Great-Salt-Plains-Lake/History/ U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, "History of the Great Salt Plains Lake"] Accessed June 22, 2016</ref> The Osage cleared the trail of brush and large rocks, and made ramps at the fords. Wide enough for eight men riding horses abreast, the trail was the first improved road in Kansas and Oklahoma.<ref>[http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OS001 Louis F. Burns, "Osage", ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''], accessed November 5, 2009</ref>

===Pre-statehood===
The treaties of 1828 and 1835 placed what would later become Alfalfa County within the [[Cherokee Outlet]], which was owned by the [[Cherokee Nation]]. Ranching became the primary economic activity from 1870 to 1890; cattle companies that belonged to the Cherokee Strip Live Stock Association leased grazing land from the Cherokee. Prominent rancher, [[Andrew Drumm Institute|Major Andrew Drumm]] operated the "U Ranch" here as early as 1870. Its headquarters were southeast of [[Driftwood, Oklahoma|Driftwood]] on the [[Medicine Lodge River|Medicine Lodge]] and [[Salt Fork of the Arkansas River|Salt Fork]] rivers.<ref name="EOHC-AlfalfaCo"/>

[[Image:Cherokee Outlet 1885.jpg|right|280px|thumb|The Cherokee Outlet (1885)]]
[[Image:Oklahoma Land Rush.jpg|right|280px|thumb|An Oklahoma Land Rush (1889)]]

[[Woods County, Oklahoma|Woods County]] was created in September 1893 at the same time as the opening of the Cherokee Outlet with the [[Land Run of 1893|Cherokee Strip Land Run]]. As population increased and Cherokee land titles were extinguished, the legislature authorized the creation of Alfalfa County in 1907, as part of statehood.<ref name="EOHC-AlfalfaCo"/>  The county was named after [[William H. Murray|William H. "Alfalfa Bill" Murray]], who served as the president of the [[Oklahoma Constitution]]al [[Convention (meeting)|Convention]] and would later be elected as the ninth [[governor of Oklahoma]].<ref name=EOHC-AlfalfaCo/><ref name="OPN"/><ref name="County Names">{{cite web|title=ORIGIN OF COUNTY NAMES IN OKLAHOMA, Vol. 2, No. 1, March 1924|url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v002/v002p075.html|website=Oklahoma Historical Society's Chronicles of Oklahoma|publisher=Oklahoma State University|access-date=May 9, 2016|page=75|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814135738/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/v002/v002p075.html|archive-date=August 14, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> He promoted creation of this county.

===Statehood years onward===
The city of [[Cherokee, Oklahoma|Cherokee]] was designated as the county seat after being chosen by voters in an election held in January 1909. Other towns receiving votes for the honor were [[Carmen, Oklahoma|Carmen]], [[Ingersoll, Oklahoma|Ingersoll]], and [[Jet, Oklahoma|Jet]].<ref name="EOHC-AlfalfaCo"/>

Alfalfa County's population was primarily of European-American ancestry. European immigrants and their children were numerous in the early 1900s. [[Germans from Russia]] (ethnic Germans who immigrated to American from Russia), many of whom were [[Mennonites]], settled near [[Ingersoll, Oklahoma|Ingersoll]], [[Driftwood, Oklahoma|Driftwood]], Cherokee, and [[Goltry, Oklahoma|Goltry]]. Early censuses also reveal a considerable number of Bohemians from the Austro-Hungary Empire. At the turn of the twenty-first century, nearly 17 percent of county residents claimed German ancestry on the census.<ref name="EOHC-AlfalfaCo"/>  One Mennonite church (in Goltry) remained {{As of|2006|lc=y}}.<ref name=GAMEO>{{cite web|last1=Bergen|first1=JW|title=Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online - Alfalfa County (Oklahoma, USA)|url=http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Alfalfa_County_(Oklahoma,_USA)|website=Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online|publisher=GAMEO|access-date=January 27, 2016}}</ref>

Early railroad construction, from the Choctaw Northern line (1901), the [[Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway|Kansas City, Mexico and Orient]] (1901), the [[Arkansas Valley and Western Railway|Arkansas Valley and Western]] (1904), and the [[Denver, Enid and Gulf Railroad|Denver, Enid and Gulf Railroad Company]] (1904), contributed greatly to the county's early prosperity and caused many small towns to flourish. They would compete as wheat-shipping points and [[agribusiness]] centers for many years thereafter.<ref name="EOHC-AlfalfaCo"/>  However, by 2000 only one rail line, the [[BNSF Railway|Burlington Northern Santa Fe]], served the county.<ref name="EOHC-AlfalfaCo"/>

Petroleum exploration and production has been a contributor to Alfalfa County's economy since the time of statehood. Agricultural pursuits, including wheat farming and livestock raising, were major contributors to Alfalfa County's economy during the twentieth century. Small-scale agriculture in its early years supported dozens of towns and dispersed rural communities, many of which no longer exist as a result of transportation and economic changes. After construction of railroads, those towns bypassed by rail service, such as Carroll, Carwile, Keith, and Timberlake, did not prosper for long.

Restructuring of the railroad industry in the late 20th century resulted in abandonment of other lines, and towns such as Ingersoll and Driftwood, for example, had declining populations that made it difficult to sustain educational and city services. Ingersoll (founded 1901) peaked in 1910 with 253 inhabitants and Driftwood (founded 1898) in 1930 with 71. By 1980, neither of these towns was still incorporated. [[Aline, Oklahoma|Aline]], [[Amorita, Oklahoma|Amorita]], [[Burlington, Oklahoma|Burlington]], [[Byron, Oklahoma|Byron]], Carmen, Cherokee, Goltry, [[Helena, Oklahoma|Helena]], Jet, and [[Lambert, Oklahoma|Lambert]] remained incorporated as of 2000.<ref name="EOHC-AlfalfaCo"/>