Editing Cotton County, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
The eastern part of what is now Cotton County was opened to settlement by non-Native Americans by the 1901 Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Opening, which distributed land by a lottery system. In 1906, the remainder of the present county, then known as the [[Big Pasture]] was opened through a sealed bid process. Most of this territory became part of [[Comanche County, Oklahoma|Comanche County]] at statehood in 1907.<ref name="cottonpedia" />

In 1910, residents of the present Cotton County area tried to form a new county, named "[[Swanson County, Oklahoma|Swanson County]]," but this effort failed in 1911. Another effort in 1912 succeeded. This time, residents elected to split from [[Comanche County, Oklahoma|Comanche County]] and name the new county "Cotton County," for the primary crop in the region at the time.<ref name="cottonpedia"/> [[Randlett, Oklahoma]] was assigned as a temporary county seat, until a November 4, 1912, election made [[Walters, Oklahoma]] the permanent location.<ref name="cottonpedia"/>

Wheat became more prevalent than, and corn just as prevalent as, cotton as early as 1915.<ref name="cottonpedia"/> In 1934, corn had dwindled and winter wheat, cotton and oats had become the primary crops.<ref name="cottonpedia"/>

The county population has generally declined since 1920. In 1920, the population was 16,679. In 1930, it was 15,542. There was a brief increase in the late 1900s, but decline resumed in the 21st century.<ref name="cottonpedia"/>