Editing Choctaw County, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
The [[Choctaw Nation]] moved into the area now occupied by Choctaw County in 1831–1832, as a result of their forcible removal from their homeland in the Southeastern United States, under the [[Indian Removal Act]]. The US wanted to extinguish Native American land claims in the Southeast to enable development by European Americans. It offered land in exchange in [[Indian Territory]].

The U.S. Army had already established [[Fort Towson]] in the western area in 1824, and took on the mission of protecting the newcomers from other tribes. In 1837, the [[Chickasaw]] were also removed, and settled the area around [[Doaksville, Choctaw Nation|Doaksville]], which was adjacent to the fort. Both the town of Fort Towson and Doaksville served as the capital of the Choctaw Nation. Doaksville became a ghost town after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. In 1848, the Presbyterian church established a mission, which still exists and is now known as [[Goodland Academy]].<ref name="EOHC-ChoctawCo"/>

The [[St. Louis and San Francisco Railway]] built a line through the town of Hugo in 1902, stimulating commercial development of the town as a regional center. Before statehood, the area of Choctaw County was part of [[Jackson County, Choctaw Nation|Jackson]], [[Kiamitia County|Kiamichi]], [[Cedar County, Choctaw Nation|Cedar]], and [[Towson County, Choctaw Nation|Towson]] counties, Choctaw Nation. It included two of the three provinces, or districts, comprising the Choctaw Nation: the [[Apukshunnubbee District]] and the [[Pushmataha District]].<ref>Morris, John W.  ''Historical Atlas of Oklahoma'' (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1986), plate 38.</ref>

As the end of the [[Indian Territory]] drew near, tribal citizens and other inhabitants organized an effort for the territory to be admitted to the Union as a state. The [[State of Sequoyah]], which they proposed, divided the territories of the five tribes into counties. Hugo was designated as the county seat of [[Hitchcock County, Sequoyah|Hitchcock County]]. Although neither Congress nor the president were interested in admitting Sequoyah as a state, the county boundaries proposed for Sequoyah were in some cases adopted for counties in the future state of Oklahoma.

In southeastern Oklahoma, the future Choctaw County's boundaries were generally those of Hitchcock County, Sequoyah. Similarly, boundaries proposed for [[Pushmataha County, Sequoyah]] served, in general, as the boundaries for [[Pushmataha County, Oklahoma]]. And [[McCurtain County, Oklahoma]] generally follows the boundaries proposed for McCurtain County, Sequoyah. Both counties are adjacent to and share boundaries with Choctaw County.<ref>Edwin C. McReynolds, ''Historical Atlas of Oklahoma'', 1965; Amos Maxwell, ''The Sequoyah Constitutional Convention'', 1953.</ref>

When Oklahoma became a state in 1907, Choctaw County was created and Hugo was named as the county seat.<ref name="EOHC-ChoctawCo"/>

===Recent events===
In October 2011 the [[U.S. Navy]] announced plans to honor Choctaw County with the naming of a ship. The [[Joint High Speed Vessel]] (JHSV) will simultaneously honor the three American counties named Choctaw County, in the states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.  "I grew up in Choctaw County, Miss., where people work hard to raise their families and provide for their children," Secretary of the Navy [[Ray Mabus]] said in announcing the plan. "I chose to name JHSV after Choctaw County to honor those men and women who represent rural America."  USNS ''Choctaw County'' will bear hull number JHSV-2.<ref>Ronald O'Rourke, "Navy Ship Names: Background for Congress," pp. 5-6. October 7, 2011. Congressional Research Service. This report is quoting U.S. Department of Defense news release 859-11, "Navy Names New Joint High Speed Vessel," dated October 6, 2011, accessed on October 6, 2011, at [https://web.archive.org/web/20111018131125/http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=14846].</ref>