Wayne Boothe

Washita County (Ok) (Images of America) Wayne Boothe

Created from part of the Cheyenne-Arapaho Indian reservation, 1,008 square miles of rich agricultural land became home to over 5,000 homesteaders with a run at high noon on April 19, 1892. The county has a rich heritage as about 55 communities and over 100 school districts were established during the first 10 years. As Oklahoma was a territory at the time, only Congress could establish a county seat, and it named Cloud Chief, with a population of about 20 or 30, as the county seat. According to history, Cloud Chief, located in the southeast corner of the county, had several businesses established by midafternoon and a population of over 3,000 that first night. In 1900, the people of Washita County, by a vote of 1,349 in favor to 282 in opposition, illegally moved the courthouse under gunfire to Cordell, which was located in the exact center of the county. Today Washita County has 44 ghost towns, which had a post office or a community store that no

longer exist.