Editing Colony, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
[[John Homer Seger|John Seger]], a native of Ohio and a Union veteran of the Civil War, was hired in 1872 to work as a mason/carpenter to build housing and other structures for a school for Native American children at the [[Darlington Agency]]. Later, he began a colony for Native Americans with [[Arapaho]] Indians, who were joined later by several [[Cheyennes]]. By the following year, Seger's colony had over 500 inhabitants. Seger began teaching modern agricultural methods as well as brick-making. By 1892, the colony had also built an industrial arts school, with the Native Americans providing the bricks and cutting stone for all the buildings.<ref name="EOHC-Colony"/>

William De Lestinier opened a store near the school with government permission, even before the [[Land Run of 1892]]. After the opening, a group of settlers, led by Zack King, created a townsite {{convert|4|mi|km}} west of the school and obtained a post office named Seger. De Lestinier moved his store to the new site. In 1895, the [[Dutch Reformed Church]] founded a mission at the colony. In 1896, a new post office named Colony opened, and the town took that name.<ref name="EOHC-Colony"/>

The colony continued to grow and had an estimated population of 300 by 1911. The Dutch Reformed mission closed in 1912 and the Seger Indian school closed in 1932.<ref name="EOHC-Colony"/>
[[File:Students branding cattle at Seger Colony School, Oklahoma, 1900 - NARA - 519189.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|alt=A man brands a cow while two men restrain it. A group of men watch.|In 1900, students brand cattle at the Seger Colony]]