Editing Walters, Oklahoma (section)

== History ==
[[File:Oklahoma - Purcell through Witchita National Forest - NARA - 68147242 (cropped).jpg|250px|thumb|left|Walters in 1930]]
The land that is present-day Oklahoma was first settled by prehistoric American Indians including the [[Clovis culture|Clovis]] 11500 [[Common Era|BCE]], [[Folsom tradition|Folsom]] 10600 BCE, and [[Plano cultures|Plainview]] 10000 BCE cultures. Western explorers came to the region in the 16th century, with Spanish explorer [[Francisco Vásquez de Coronado]] visiting in 1541. Most of the region during this time was settled by the [[Wichita people|Wichita]] and [[Caddo]] peoples. Around the 1700s, two tribes from the north, the Comanche and Kiowa, migrated to the Oklahoma and Texas region.<ref name="okhistory">{{cite web|url=http://www.odl.state.ok.us/almanac/2005/14-histry.pdf |author=Oklahoma Department of Libraries |title=Oklahoma Almanac 2005 - Oklahoma History |pages=687–691| access-date=2011-04-25}}</ref>

For most of the 18th century, the Oklahoma region was under French control as part of [[Louisiana (New France)|Louisiana]]. In 1803, the [[Louisiana Purchase]] by [[Thomas Jefferson]] brought the area under United States control. In 1830, Congress passed the [[Indian Removal Act]], which removed American Indian tribes and relocated them to [[Indian Territory]]. The southern part of the territory was originally assigned to the [[Choctaw]] and [[Chickasaw]], until the 1867 [[Medicine Lodge Treaty]] allotted the southwest portion of the Choctaw and Chickasaw's lands to the [[Comanche]], [[Kiowa]], and [[Fort Sill Apache Tribe|Apache]].

The City of Walters was organized on August 6, 1901, under the original name of McKnight (named after the registrar at the Lawton land  office), Indian Territory. Application for a post office was made, but a town in Harmon County was found to have already taken the name of McKnight. This required that the name be changed. Walter was chosen, in honor of either McKnight's son or for a prominent resident, William Walter(s). The post office was named Walter but Congress allowed it to be changed to Walters in 1917 .<ref name = "EOHC-Walters">{{cite web|url=https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=WA011 | title= Walters| publisher= Larry O'Dell, Oklahoma Historical Society, Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture| access-date=March 1, 2020}}</ref>

The city finally grew large enough to meet the requirements for a government patent, and one was granted in June 1904. On August 12, 1912, an election was held to form a new county (Cotton) from a portion of Comanche County. The election was successful, and Cotton County became the last county formed in Oklahoma, on August 28, 1912. Shortly thereafter, another election was held to determine whether Walters or Temple would become the county seat; on December 2, 1912, Walters won by 282 votes, officially becoming the seat of Cotton County. The names of Walter and Walters were used interchangeably and confusingly until June 1917, when an application was made to Congress to officially change the post office name to Walters.<ref name = "EOHC-Walters"/>