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19-544: The Edwards Archaeological Site is an archaeological site in Beckham County, Oklahoma , near the town of Carter . The site is part of the Edwards Complex, a culture which flourished in this area from about 1400 to 1650. The site was a Native American (Indian) village and included dwellings surrounded by a round fortification. Large amounts of waste material, such as tools and bones, have been collected from

38-627: A map submitted with the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819. The treaty stated that the boundary between the French claims on the north and the Spanish claims on the south was Rio Roxo de Natchitoches ( Red River ) until it reached the 100th meridian west as noted on John Melish's map published in 1818. The problem was that the 100th meridian on the Melish map was some 90 miles (140 km) east of

57-523: A United States Supreme Court decision in the United States v. State of Texas boundary dispute case. At statehood, portions of land from both Roger Mills and Greer County were joined to form Beckham County. Sayre was named as the temporary county seat. A 1908 election after statehood made Sayre, Oklahoma the permanent seat. In 1910, a piece of southern Beckham County was returned to Greer County, Oklahoma. The Gannett survey of 1927-1929 found that

76-576: A household in the county was $ 45,726, and the median income for a family was $ 57,316. Males had a median income of $ 42,470 versus $ 27,075 for females. The per capita income for the county was $ 21,470. More than 12% of families and 15% of the population were below the poverty line , including 26% of those under age 18 and 14.4% of those age 65 or over. The county economy has been based mainly on farming and raising livestock. The major crops have been cotton, wheat, alfalfa, kafir, milo maize, and broomcorn. Mineral industries have occasionally been significant. In

95-574: Is a county located on the western border of the U.S. state of Oklahoma . As of the 2020 census , the population was 22,410. Its county seat is Sayre . Founded upon statehood in 1907, Beckham County was named for J. C. W. Beckham , who was Governor of Kentucky and the first popularly elected member of the United States Senate from Kentucky . Beckham County comprises the Elk City, OK Micropolitan Statistical Area . In 1855,

114-729: Is land and 2.1 square miles (5.4 km ) (0.2%) is water. The county is drained by the North Fork of the Red River and its tributaries: the Timber, Sweetwater, and Buffalo creeks. The northwestern part of the county is part of the High Plains. The rest of the county is part of the Gypsum Hills physiographic region. As of the 2010 United States census , there were 22,119 people, 8,163 households, and 5,485 families residing in

133-726: The Edwards site, with greater emphasis on bison hunting than agriculture. The inhabitants of the Edwards site were likely Caddoan speaking ancestors of the Wichita people . The people of the Edwards site may have been, or related to, the people that Francisco Coronado called the Teyas when he encountered them in the Texas Panhandle in 1541. They may also have been or related to the people called Escanjaques or Aguacane encountered by Juan de Oñate in northern Oklahoma in 1601. By

152-688: The U.S. government leased the western part of the formerly reserved Choctaw and Chickasaw Nation lands, which became known as the Leased District . After the Civil War, the two nations were forced to cede the land to the US government under terms of new treaties required because they had been allies of the Confederacy. Under the treaties they were also required to emancipate their slaves and provide them with citizenship in their nations. In 1869,

171-423: The county. The population density was 24.5 people per square mile (9.5 people/km ). There were 9,647 housing units at an average density of 10.7 units per square mile (4.1/km ). The racial makeup of the county was 85% white , 4% black or African American , 2.8% Native American , 0.8% Asian , less than 0.01% Pacific Islander , 4.6% from other races , and 2.8% from two or more races. Twelve percent of

190-530: The early 20th century, there was some salt production. A limited amount of oil and gas production began in the 1920s. School districts include: The following sites in Beckham County are listed on the National Register of Historic Places : 35°16′N 99°41′W  /  35.26°N 99.69°W  / 35.26; -99.69 Greer County, Texas The dispute arose from

209-628: The former Leased District was designated by the President as the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Reservation , following their removal from further west. During the 1880s, Texas cattlemen leased grazing land from the Cheyenne and Arapaho. Under the Dawes Act of 1891, the government split up such communal lands, allocating plots to individual households of various tribes. After distribution was made,

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228-537: The government declared any additional lands on the reservation to be "surplus". In 1892, the government opened such surplus land to settlement by non-Indians, attracting numerous European-American settlers and immigrants. The area was designated as County F in the newly created Oklahoma Territory , until it was renamed Roger Mills County . In 1896, Greer County, Texas was transferred to the Oklahoma Territory and became Greer County, Oklahoma , following

247-570: The land of some 1.5 million acres (6,100 km ; 2,300 sq mi) belonged to the United States. Following that ruling, on May 4, 1896, the land was officially assigned by Congress to Oklahoma Territory . The Greer County Homestead Law, passed just afterwards, gave the Texas settlers the 160 acres (0.65 km ) they were living on and the option to purchase an additional 160 acres for $ 1 per acre ($ 250/km ). When Oklahoma became

266-556: The onset of the historic period about 1700, the people of the Edwards site were no longer present, possibly having migrated eastward as a result of pressure from the Apache who had expanded their range on the Great Plains . The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 19, 1973. To prevent desecration of the site, the exact location is not disclosed. Beckham County, Oklahoma Beckham County

285-456: The population was Hispanic or Latino . By 2020, its population was 22,410. In 2010, there were 8,163 households, out of which 34.6% included children under the age of 18, 50.9% were married couples living together, 11.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 32.8% were non-families. Individuals living alone accounted for 27.6% of households and 11.2% had someone living alone who

304-521: The site, indicating prolonged inhabitation by a large group. Pottery fragments and obsidian and turquoise artifacts found at the site suggest that its inhabitants traded with Puebloan peoples . The predecessors in the region of the Edwards site were the Southern Plains villagers who depended upon a mixture of farming and hunting for subsistence. About 1400, the small Southern Plains settlements began to coalesce into larger villages, including

323-436: The true 100th Meridian, the boundary between Texas and western Oklahoma, was 3,800 feet (1,200 m) farther east than previously thought. The US Supreme Court ruled on March 17, 1930 that the strip of land must be returned to Texas, thereby reducing Beckham County's area slightly. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 904 square miles (2,340 km ), of which 902 square miles (2,340 km )

342-746: The true 100th meridian and the Red River forked about 50 miles (80 km) east of the 100th meridian. Texas claimed the land south of the North Fork (red on the map) and the United States claimed the land north of the South Fork (blue on the map, later called the Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River ). The dispute resulted in a lawsuit , which was heard by the Supreme Court under its original jurisdiction . The Court's opinion, in United States v. State of Texas 162 U.S. 1 (1896), issued on March 16, held that

361-448: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.02. In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.1% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 25.2% from 45 to 64, and 12.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.4 years. For every 100 females there were 105 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112 males. The median income for

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