Swanson County, Oklahoma facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Swanson County |
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| County of Oklahoma | |||||||||||||
| 1910–1911 | |||||||||||||
 Swanson County on the map from circa 1912. |
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| Capital | Mountain Park (1910-1911) | ||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||
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• Established
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13 August 1910 | ||||||||||||
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• Disestablished
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27 June 1911 | ||||||||||||
| Contained within | |||||||||||||
| • Country |  United States |
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| • State |  Oklahoma |
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| Today part of |  United States |
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Swanson County was a county in Oklahoma that doesn't exist anymore. It was formed on August 13, 1910, from parts of Kiowa County and Comanche County. But it only lasted about a year because the Oklahoma Supreme Court decided the election that created it wasn't valid.
The county was named after Claude A. Swanson, who was the Governor of Virginia and a friend of Oklahoma's Governor at the time, Charles N. Haskell.
Contents
How Was Swanson County Formed?
On May 10, 1910, people in southern Kiowa County and western Comanche County voted in a special election. They wanted to create a new county. This new county would make it easier for local government to serve the people living there.
More than 60 percent of all voters approved the idea. However, most people in Comanche County voted against it. Even so, Governor Charles N. Haskell officially announced that Swanson County was formed on August 13, 1910. He chose Mountain Park, Oklahoma to be the temporary county seat. A county seat is like the main town where the government offices are.
In January 1911, James V. McClintic became the representative for Swanson County in the state House of Representatives.
What Happened with the County Seat?
The choice of Mountain Park as the county seat caused a lot of arguments. A group of people wanted Snyder to be the county seat instead. They said Mountain Park didn't have a good water system or fire protection. They also claimed it didn't have proper offices for the county government.
A big rainstorm that soaked important county papers seemed to support their point. People even went to court to try and solve the disagreement.
The County Records Dispute
On September 5, 1910, some people from Snyder simply took the county records to their town. In response, supporters of Mountain Park went to the homes of county officials. They arrested these officials. During this event, an employee of one of the county leaders died.
On March 7, 1911, the Supreme Court decided that Mountain Park was still the county seat. They ordered that the county records be moved to Hobart. Hobart was the county seat of Kiowa County.
Why Did Swanson County Disappear?
While the county seat argument was happening, officials from Comanche County challenged the Governor's decision. They argued that the people in their county had not approved the new county.
A lower court agreed with Comanche County and ruled that Swanson County should be dissolved. But the case was then taken to the state Supreme Court. On June 27, 1911, the Oklahoma Supreme Court officially dissolved Swanson County. This meant the county no longer existed.
After Swanson County was dissolved, a new county called Cotton County was created in 1912. It was formed from the southern part of Comanche County.
