Alfalfa County, Oklahoma

Alfalfa County, Oklahoma
Location in the state of Oklahoma
Oklahoma's location in the U.S.
Founded	1907
Named for	William H. "Alfalfa Bill" Murray
Seat	Cherokee
Largest city	Cherokee
Area
• Total	881 sq mi (2,282 km2)
• Land	866 sq mi (2,243 km2)
• Water	15 sq mi (39 km2), 1.7%
Population (est.)
• (2013)	5,847
• Density	6.5/sq mi (3/km²)
Congressional district	3rd
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5

Alfalfa County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 5,666.^[1] Its county seat is Cherokee.^[2] Alfalfa County was formed in 1907 from Woods County. The county is named after William H. "Alfalfa Bill" Murray, the president of the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention and ninth governor of Oklahoma.^[3]

History

Indigenous peoples inhabited and hunted in this area for thousands of years. By 1750, the Osage had become a dominant tribe in the area. About one third belonged to the band led by Chief Black Dog (Manka - Chonka). Before 1800 they made the Black Dog Trail starting east of Baxter Springs, Kansas and going northwest to their summer hunting grounds at the Great Salt Plains in present-day Alfalfa County.^[4][5] The Osage stopped at the springs for its healing properties on their way to hunting at the plains, which attracted migratory birds and varieties of wildlife. The Osage name for this fork of the Arkansas River was Nescatunga (big salt water), what European-Americans later called the Salt Fork. The Osage cleared the trail of brush and large rocks, and made ramps at the fords. Wide enough for eight men riding horses abreast, the trail was the first improved road in Kansas and Oklahoma.^[6]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 881 square miles (2,280 km²), of which 866 square miles (2,240 km²) is land and 15 square miles (39 km²) (1.7%) is water.^[7] It is part of the Red Bed plains. Great Salt Plains Lake and Great Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge lie within the county. The major streams in the county are the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River and the Cimarron River.^[3]

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 64
• State Highway 8
• State Highway 8B
• State Highway 11
• State Highway 38
• State Highway 45
• State Highway 58

Adjacent counties

• Harper County, Kansas (northeast)
• Grant County (east)
• Garfield County (southeast)
• Major County (south)
• Woods County (west)
• Barber County, Kansas (northwest)

National protected area

• Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge

Demographics

As of the census^[13] of 2010, Alfalfa County had a population of 5,642 people, down from 6,105 people in 2000. Most of the population (89.1%) self-identified as white. Black or African American individuals made up 4.7% of the population and Native Americans made up 2.9% of the population. Less than 1% of the population was Asian.

The median age of the population was 46 years and 18% of the county's population was under the age of 18. Individuals 65 years of age or older accounted for 20.2% of the population.

There were a total of 2,022 households and 1,333 families in the county in 2010. There were 2,763 housing units. Of the 2,022 households, 23.4 percent included children under the age of 18 and slightly more than half (56.3%) included married couples living together. Non-family households accounted for 34.1% of households. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.81.

The median income for a household in the county was $42,730, and the median income for a family was $56,444. The per capita income for the county was $24,080. About 7 percent of families and 11 percent of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.4 percent of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of 15 January 2013[14]
Party		Number of Voters	Percentage
	Democratic	905	29.66%
	Republican	1,881	61.65%
	Unaffiliated	265	8.69%
Total		3,051	100%

Presidential election results^[15]

Year	Republican	Democrat
2012	84.7% 1,539	15.3% 278
2008	83.1% 2,023	16.9% 411
2004	82.4% 2,201	17.6% 470
2000	75.2% 1,886	23.3% 583

Communities

NRHP sites

The following sites in Alfalfa County are listed on the National Register of Historic Places:

Alfalfa County Courthouse, Cherokee Aline IOOF Lodge No. 263, Aline Carmen IOOF Home, Carmen Carmen IOOF Lodge No. 84, Carmen Cherokee Armory, Cherokee Cherokee Friends Church, Cherokee

Cherokee IOOF Lodge No. 219, Cherokee Farmers' Exchange Elevator, Goltry Farmers' Federation Elevator, Cherokee Hotel Cherokee, Cherokee Ingersoll Tile Elevator, Ingersoll Sod House, Cleo Springs

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved November 8, 2013. 
2. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
3. ^ ^{a b} .Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and CultureDianna Everett, "Alfalfa County," Accessed November 5, 2009.
4. ^ Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and CultureBurl E. Self, "Black Dog (1780-1848)", , accessed November 5, 2009
5. ^ """Full text of "Wah Kon Tah The Osage And White Man S Road. Retrieved 14 January 2012. 
6. ^ Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and CultureLouis F. Burns, "Osage", , accessed November 5, 2009
7. ^ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Retrieved February 18, 2015. 
8. ^ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2014". Retrieved June 4, 2015. 
9. ^ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved February 18, 2015. 
10. ^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved February 18, 2015. 
11. ^ Forstall, Richard L., ed. (March 27, 1995). "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved February 18, 2015. 
12. ^ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. April 2, 2001. Retrieved February 18, 2015. 
13. ^ "American FactFinder".  
14. ^ http://www.ok.gov/elections/documents/reg_0113.pdf
15. ^ "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011. 

External links

• Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Alfalfa County
• Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory

	Barber County, Kansas		Harper County, Kansas
	Woods County		Grant County
		Alfalfa County
	Major County		Garfield County

Municipalities and communities of Alfalfa County, Oklahoma, United States County seat: Cherokee City Cherokee Towns Aline Amorita Burlington Byron Carmen Goltry Helena Jet Lambert CDP Nescatunga Other unincorporated communities Ingersoll Yewed

National Register of Historic Places in Alfalfa County, Oklahoma Aline Aline IOOF Lodge No. 263 Carmen Carmen IOOF Lodge No. 84 Carmen IOOF Home Cherokee Alfalfa County Courthouse Cherokee Armory Cherokee Friends Church Cherokee IOOF Lodge No. 219 Farmers' Federation Elevator Hotel Cherokee Cleo Springs Sod House Goltry Farmers' Exchange Elevator Ingersoll Ingersoll Tile Elevator See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Alfalfa County, Oklahoma and List of National Historic Landmarks in Oklahoma

State of Oklahoma Oklahoma City (capital) Topics History Government Governor (List) Symbols People Geography Sports Visitor attractions Society Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Politics Regions Arklatex Central Cherokee Outlet Cross Timbers Four State Area Flint Hills Green Country Kiamichi Country Little Dixie Northwestern Oklahoma City Metro Ouachita Mountains The Ozarks Panhandle South Central Southwestern Texoma Tulsa Metro Western Largest cities Ardmore Bartlesville Bixby Broken Arrow Del City Duncan Edmond Enid Lawton Midwest City Muskogee Moore Norman Oklahoma City Owasso Ponca City Shawnee Stillwater Tulsa Yukon Counties Adair Alfalfa Atoka Beaver Beckham Blaine Bryan Caddo Canadian Carter Cherokee Choctaw Cimarron Cleveland Coal Comanche Cotton Craig Creek Custer Delaware Dewey Ellis Garfield Garvin Grady Grant Greer Harmon Harper Haskell Hughes Jackson Jefferson Johnston Kay Kingfisher Kiowa Latimer Le Flore Lincoln Logan Love Major Marshall Mayes McClain McCurtain McIntosh Murray Muskogee Noble Nowata Okfuskee Oklahoma Okmulgee Osage Ottawa Pawnee Payne Pittsburg Pontotoc Pottawatomie Pushmataha Roger Mills Rogers Seminole Sequoyah Stephens Texas Tillman Tulsa Wagoner Washington Washita Woods Woodward