Editing LeFlore County, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
The Choctaw Nation signed the [[Treaty of Doak's Stand]] in 1820, ceding part of their ancestral home in the Southeastern U.S. and receiving a large tract in [[Indian Territory]]. They signed the [[Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek]] in 1830, which ceded the remainder of their original homeland. Most of the remainder of the Choctaw were [[Indian Removal|removed]] to Indian Territory, escorted by federal military troops, in several waves.<ref name="EOHC-LeFloreCo"/>

In 1832, the federal government constructed the Choctaw Agency in Indian Territory about {{convert|15|mi|km}} west of [[Fort Smith, Arkansas]]. The town of [[Skullyville, Oklahoma|Skullyville]] developed around the agency. It was designated as county seat of [[Skullyville County, Choctaw Nation|Skullyville County]], the capital of the [[Moshulatubbee District]] of which Skullyville County was a part, and the national capital of the [[Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma|Choctaw Nation]].

The U.S. Indian agents lived in the town. In the late 1850s, it was designated as a stage stop ([[Walker's Station]]) for the [[Butterfield Overland Mail]] route.

In 1834, the U.S. Army built [[Fort Coffee, Oklahoma|Fort Coffee]] a few miles north of Skullyville, but reassigned the garrison after four years. The Methodist Church took over the facility, converting it for use as the Fort Coffee Academy for Boys, a missionary school. That church also established the New Hope Seminary for Girls in 1845, just east of town. In 1847, the Choctaw Agency burned and its functions were transferred to [[Fort Washita]].<ref name="EOHC-LeFloreCo"/>

During the Civil War, the Choctaw allied with the Confederacy and many of their men served in its army. The [[Battle of Devil's Backbone]] was fought near the present town of Pocola on September 1, 1863. Union Major General [[James G. Blunt]] defeated Confederate Brigadier General [[William Lewis Cabell|William Cabell]]. Union troops burned the Fort Coffee Academy in 1863, because it was being used to house Confederate troops.<ref name="EOHC-LeFloreCo"/>

In 1866, the Choctaw government reopened New Hope Seminary, but never rebuilt a boys academy. New Hope Seminary operated until it burned in 1896. The first school for Choctaw [[freedmen]] opened at Boggy Depot. In 1892, the Tushkalusa (Black warriors) Freedmen Boarding school opened three miles southeast of Talihina.<ref name="EOHC-LeFloreCo"/>

From 1886, development of coal mining and timber production attracted considerable railroad construction; the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad built tracks from Wister west to McAlester. In 1898, the company extended the line east from Wister to Howe, continuing the line to Arkansas in 1899. (This line was leased to the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway in 1904).

In 1896, the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad (acquired by the Kansas City Southern Railway in 1900) built tracks through the region from north to south, exiting into Arkansas near the Page community in southern LeFlore County. In 1900-01, the [[Poteau Valley Railroad]] built a line from [[Shady Point, Oklahoma|Shady Point]] to [[Sutter, Oklahoma|Sutter]] (later known as [[Calhoun, Oklahoma|Calhoun]], which they abandoned in 1926. Also in 1900-01, the Arkansas Western Railroad constructed tracks from Heavener east to Arkansas. In 1901, the Fort Smith and Western Railroad connected Coal Creek west to McCurtain in Haskell County. In 1903-04, the Midland Valley Railroad laid tracks from Arkansas west through Bokoshe to Muskogee. The Oklahoma and Rich Mountain Railroad, owned by the Dierks Lumber and Coal Company, constructed the county's last railroad, from Page to the lumber town of Pine Valley in 1925–26.<ref name="EOHC-LeFloreCo"/>

Prior to statehood, the area that became LeFlore County was part of [[Moshulatubbee District|Moshulatubbee]] and the [[Apukshunnubbee District|Apukshunnubbee]] districts. Its present-day territory fell primarily within [[Nashoba County, Indian Territory|Nashoba]], [[Skullyville County, Choctaw Nation|Skullyville]], [[Sugar Loaf County, Choctaw Nation|Sugar Loaf]], and [[Wade County, Choctaw Nation|Wade]] Counties, with small portions falling within [[Cedar County, Choctaw Nation|Cedar]] and [[Sans Bois County, Choctaw Nation|San Bois]] Counties, in the Choctaw Nation.<ref name="EOHC-LeFloreCo"/>

[[Robert S. Kerr]], former governor of Oklahoma and U.S. senator, established a ranch outside Poteau in the 1950s. In 1978, the family donated this residence to the state. It was adapted and opened for use as the Kerr Conference Center and Museum. The Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture and the Overstreet-Kerr Historical Farm are also in the county.<ref name="EOHC-LeFloreCo"/>