McIntosh County, Oklahoma was created,
at
statehood in
1907, from land that was
mostly part of the Creek Nation
with its eastern-most areas part of what was
the extreme southwestern part of the Canadian District of
the Cherokee Nation
.
Indian historians claim that in 1541,
when Hernando De Soto crossed the
Mississippi River near Memphis and continued his journey
westward, he passed through the southern part of McIntosh
county. As evidence they point to the huge rock in the
middle of the Canadian River, known as Standing Rock, as
being identical with the Standing Rock described in the
Spanish record of De Soto's Travels. Also, There is a claim
that not many years ago a skeleton was unearthed near the
Canadian River, clad in full Spanish armor.
The Creeks came to the area in
1836 and their influence can be seen in many ways. Many of
the local town and communities were named by the Creeks.
Eufaula gets is name from an old Creek town in Alabama
called Yufala which mean "they
split up here and went to other places."
The old Asbury
Mission School, located two miles northeast of Eufaula, was
established in 1849 by the Episcopal Church under a contract
with the Creek Council and maintained for many years prior
to the Civil war. Today it is the Eufaula Boarding
School.
In 1861, Albert Pike, the
Confederate general, met with some of the leading Creeks in
McIntosh County and induced them to join the Southern
Confederacy, only a few weeks after the Cherokees had
refused to consider his proposition.
On July 17, 1863, smoke
billowed, cannons roared, and the weapons of 9,000 troops
flashed when the largest battle in Indian Territory fought
during the war between the states was waged just 3 1 | 2
miles northeast of Checotah. Honey Springs Battlefield
Historic Site.
In the summer of 1872 The
Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad reached this
neighborhood and the two prosperous towns of Checotah and
Eufaula were established, although an Indian settlement had
been in existence at Eufaula for many years prior to that
period.
In 1876, THE INDIAN JOURNAL was founded and
published in Eufaula and is the oldest surviving newspaper
in the state.
In 1889 the first
U.S. federal court was established at Muskogee, which
embraced most of Indian Territory.
In 1895 there were
four districts of federal courts and 26 sub-stations. The
Central District covered the area of the Creek and Seminole
Nations with Muskogee as the court seat, while the Southern
District, covering the area of the Choctaw and Chickasaw
Nations, had South McAlester (now called McAlester) as its
court seat. These records are held partly in the National
Archives and at Oklahoma Historical Society. The 26
recording districts of the federal court accepted land
records, marriages and other legal proceedings.
It was not until
1898 that a non-citizen of the Indian Nations of Indian
Territory could legally own land in this area. Upon
statehood, most of these land records were retained by the
local county governments.
No county records exist prior to 1907.
Genealogical records for some ancestors who lived in this
area before 1907 may be found in records of the Five
Civilized Tribes Agency at Muskogee, the
Oklahoma Historical Society in Oklahoma
City and the National Archives
.
The
county seat of McIntosh County, Oklahoma is Eufaula which is
located about 14 miles south of I-40 on U.S. 69. Cities and
towns in McIntosh county are Checotah, Duchess Landing,
Eufaula, Hanna, Hitchita, Rentiesville, Shady Grove,
Stidham, Texanna. More information can be viewed at
towns.
|
Name |
Named For |
Location |
Post Office Dates
|
|
Brushhill |
Nearby Land Feature
|
7
Miles SW of Checotah |
6
Feb 1894 - 31 Dec 1915 |
|
Burney |
|
5
Miles W of Pierce |
29 July 1896 - 30 Nov 1907
|
|
Cathay |
Poetic Word for China
|
6
Miles N of Eufaula |
18 Feb 1903 - 15 June 1914
|
|
Checotah |
Samuel Checote, Creek Chief
|
I-40 & 69
|
17 June 1886 - Present
|
|
Clara |
|
Near Checotah
|
21 Apr 1910 - 14 Mar 1916
|
|
Eufaula |
Old Creek Town in Alabama
County Seat of McIntosh Co.
|
Mayors of Eufaula
|
6
Feb 1874 - Present |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fame |
"Famous bottom land"
|
5
Miles NW Eufaula |
9
June 1894 - |
|
Fawn |
|
8
Miles SE of Checotah |
11 Feb 1898 - 31 Oct 1916
|
|
Fishertown |
William & George Fisher
|
5
Miles NE of Eufaula |
10 July 1883 - 25 July 1893
|
|
Grayson
AKA
Wildcat |
Creek
Chief George W. Grayson |
8
Miles NE of Henryetta |
10 Feb 1902 - 30 April
1929 |
|
Hanna |
Hanna Bullett
|
18 Miles SW of Eufaula
|
24 Aug 1904 -
|
|
Hasson |
|
Present Day Hanna
|
22 Sept 1902-24 Aug 1904
|
|
Hitchita |
Indian Band of Muskhogean
|
|
23 Apr 1901 - Present
|
|
Huttonville |
A.J. Hutton, First
postmaster |
5
Miles NW of Eufaula |
19 Oct 1896 - 28 Feb 1911
|
|
Irby | Bond |
|
8
Miles N of Eufaula |
4
Jan 1907 - 5 Feb 1909 |
|
Lenna |
Lenna Moore, Local Creek
Indian |
13 Miles NW of Eufaula
|
4
Jan 1902 - |
|
Mellette |
William Mellette, US District
Attorney in Muskogee, Okla. |
10 Miles SW of Eufaula
|
1
May 1901 - 14 July 1934 |
|
Micco
AKA
NORTH FORK TOWN
|
Creek word for Cheif
|
2
Miles E of Eufaula |
4
Aug 1853 - 30 Mar 30 1996 |
|
Nerotown |
Governor Nero, Creek allotee,
Formerly Huttonsville |
5
Miles NW of Eufaula |
28 Feb 1911 - 20 July 1915
|
|
Onapa |
Formerly Irby or Bond, Creek word
for above. |
8
Miles N of Eufuala |
5
Feb 1909 - 30 June 1914 |
|
Pierce |
Homer Pierce Lee, First
Postmaster |
11 Miles W of Checotah
|
26 Mar 1907 -
|
|
Proctor |
|
12 Miles SW of Eufaula
|
2
April 1892 - 31 May 1901 |
|
Raiford |
Mrs. Jeannetta Thoma Raiford
rancer and land owner
|
15 Miles SW of Eufaula
|
17 June 1905 - 15 May 1926
|
|
Rentisville |
William Renti, Townsite
Developer |
5
Miles N of Checotah |
11 May 1904 -
|
|
Richard(s)ville |
Eastman Richard, plant and gin
operator. |
10 Miles W of Checotah
|
7
Nov 1917 - 15 Oct 1919 |
|
Salem |
|
5
Miles SE of Henryetta |
3
Oct 1908 - 27 Apr 1918 |
|
Stidham |
George W. Stidham, Prominent Creek
Leader |
8
Miles NW of Eufuala |
30 Jan 1897 -
|
|
Texanna |
Nearby Settlement of Texas
Cherokees |
9
Miles NE of Eufaula |
27 June 1888 - 16 July 1940
|
|
Vernon |
William T. Vernon, Registrar of the
treasury |
10 Miles SE of Dustin
|
20 Mar 1912 - 13 April 1914
|
|
Vivian |
Vivian Wilhite,
Local resident |
8 Miles W of
Eufaula |
13 Jan 1910-30 Sept
1947 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wildcat |
See Grayson above
|
|
|
