Editing Latimer County, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
This area was occupied for at least 3500 years by cultures of indigenous peoples. The most recent of the prehistoric peoples established complex earthworks during the [[Mississippian culture]]. Archeological excavations have revealed artifacts from [[Archaic period in the Americas|Archaic]], [[Woodland period|Woodland]], and Mississippian cultures. Living in what is now southeastern Oklahoma, these peoples were direct ancestors of the [[Caddo Nation]], a historic confederacy of tribes that flourished in east Texas, Arkansas and northern Louisiana before removal to another area of Indian Territory.<ref name="oas"/>

In the 1970s excavations at the McCutchan-McLaughlin site revealed many details about the lives and deaths of the [[Fourche Maline culture]] people, who lived in this area in the [[Woodland Period]], about 300 BCE to 800 CE. These hunter-gatherers were physically healthier than later descendants in more complex cultures who depended on [[maize]] agriculture, but they were also often beset by warfare. Numerous remains were found in mass graves, killed by arrows or spears. This archeological site continues to be studied and has been listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="oas">[http://www.ou.edu/cas/archsur/counties/latimer.htm "Latimer County: McCutchan-McLaughlin Site"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100531183817/http://www.ou.edu/cas/archsur/counties/latimer.htm |date=May 31, 2010 }}, ''Oklahoma's Past'', Oklahoma Archeological Survey, University of Oklahoma, 2005 (updated 2016); accessed January 19, 2016</ref>

In 1831, the area now known as Latimer County was organized as part of the [[Choctaw Nation]] in the [[Indian Territory]] after the Choctaw were removed by the federal government from their traditional territory in the American Southeast. Following statehood Latimer County's boundaries were drawn to conform to Oklahoma's township and range system, which uses east–west and north–south lines as land boundaries. The Choctaw Nation, by contrast, divided its counties using easily recognizable landmarks, such as mountains and rivers. The territory of present-day Latimer County had the distinction of being the meeting point of all three administrative super-regions comprising the Choctaw Nation, called the [[Apukshunnubbee District|Apukshunubbee District]], [[Moshulatubbee District]], and [[Pushmataha District]]. Within these three districts the land area of the present-day county fell within Gaines County, [[Jack's Fork County|Jacksfork County]], [[Sans Bois County, Choctaw Nation|Sans Bois County]], [[Skullyville County, Choctaw Nation|Skullyville County]], and [[Wade County, Choctaw Nation|Wade County]].

In 1858, the [[Butterfield Overland Mail]] established a route through the territory, which included stage stops at Edwards's Station (near present Hughes), Holloway's Station (near Red Oak), Riddle's Station (near Lutie) and Pusley's Station near Higgins.<ref name="EOHC-LatCo"/>

The beginning of large-scale coal mining attracted railroad construction to the area to get the commodity to market. The chief coal mining areas were in the mountains in the north of the county, in the Choctaw Segregated Coal Lands. Coal mining companies were rapidly established in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1889–90, the Choctaw Coal and Railway Company (later known as the [[Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad]], and still later as part of the [[Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway]]) laid 67.4 miles of track from [[Wister, Oklahoma|Wister]] to [[McAlester, Oklahoma|McAlester]]. The Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway (Katy) completed a branch line from North McAlester to Wilburton in 1904.<ref name="EOHC-LatCo"/>

As a prelude to Oklahoma being admitted as a state to the Union, the [[Dawes Act]] was extended to the Choctaw and others of the [[Five Civilized Tribes]]. These had all been removed from the Southeast. Choctaw tribal control of communal lands was dissolved, and the lands were allotted to individual households of tribal members, in an effort to encourage subsistence farming on the European-American model. The Choctaw lost most of their land, with individuals retaining about one-quarter of the land in the county.<ref name="EOHC-LatCo"/> The government declared any remaining land to be 'surplus;' it was sold, mostly to non-Natives. Tribal governments were also dissolved, and Oklahoma became a state. McGirt v. Oklahoma, 591 U.S. ___ (2020), was a landmark[1][2] United States Supreme Court case which ruled that, as pertaining to the Major Crimes Act, much of the eastern portion of the state of Oklahoma remains as Native American lands of the prior Indian reservations of the Five Civilized Tribes, never disestablished by Congress as part of the Oklahoma Enabling Act of 1906. As such, prosecution of crimes by Native Americans on these lands falls into the jurisdiction of the tribal courts and federal judiciary under the Major Crimes Act, rather than Oklahoma's courts.

By 1912, the newly organized county had 27 mines; some 3,000 miners produced 5,000 tons of coal per day. Most coal was produced by the large companies. Native-born whites held most of the jobs as miners, but African Americans, European immigrants from the British Isles and Italy, and Mexicans also worked as laborers in the mining industry.<ref name="EOHC-LatCo"/>

In less than two decades, the coal industry collapsed, due to labor unrest seeking relief from harsh working conditions and unfair labor practices, competition from oils, and the effects of the [[Great Depression]]. From 1920 to 1930, the county lost about 2,000 people, who sought work in other areas.<ref name="EOHC-LatCo"/> By 1932, only one mine still operated in the county. Mining towns lost almost half of their populations, and at one point, 93.5 percent of those remaining in the country were surviving on government relief, through programs started by the administration of President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]. Federal construction projects to build infrastructure and invest for the future provided many jobs for the unemployed. Locally such projects included Wilburton Municipal Airport, schools at Panola and elsewhere, and road-paving works. The [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] (CCC), another federal program conducted in collaboration with state governments, developed a park project at the state game preserve, now part of [[Robbers Cave State Park]].<ref name="EOHC-LatCo"/>

In 1933, Spanish–American War veterans established Veterans Colony in the county, buying land together. The war veterans could build cabins here and grow their own food, living year round in a community. In later years, membership was opened to veterans of all wars. Veterans Colony still operates.<ref name="EOHC-LatCo"/>