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Our County History
by Nelda Brown

Logan County, Oklahoma is located in central Oklahoma, north of Oklahoma City approximately 30 miles and is made up of 749 square miles of plains and rolling hills. The great land “run” of April 22, 1889 provided great opportunities for settlers and speculators in land and thus was the beginning of settlement of the area. The hardworking settlers were determined to keep their 160 acres of free government land by building improvements, starting businesses, breaking sod to plant crops of vegetables, melons, corn, and kaffir. They were a hardy lot and faced tremendous difficulties in the first few years.

Early newspaper accounts about Oklahoma referred to the area as “The Land of The Fair God” and was so labeled by Colonel Elias Cornelius Boudinot, a Cherokee Indian, and representative of the Cherokee Indians to the Congress of the United States.

Logan County was first designated as “County No. 1” when Oklahoma Territory was organized in 1890. It was later named Logan in honor of a great statesman and soldier, John Alexander Logan. His biography tells of a remarkable man from Illinois. His leadership during the Civil War links him to famous battles, and exemplary service. Logan was a U.S. senator from Illinois 1871-77 and 1879-1886 and was a candidate for nomination for the Presidency June 3, 1884. He was chosen Republican candidate for Vice-President by acclamation. He was commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic and it was on his proposal that May 30th was designated as Decoration Day and made a national holiday. General Logan authored The Great Conspiracy (1886) and The Volunteer Soldier of America (1887). An equestrian statue in bronze, on a bronze pedestal with bas relief portraits of the general officers serving with him, and scenes in the U.S. Senate when he took the oath of office, and on battlefields in which he engaged, was unveiled in Washington, D.C., April 10, 1901. When you visit Washington, D.C., go see this statue at the appropriately named: Logan Circle. He died in Washington, D.C., December 26, 1886.

An extensive history of Logan County can be found in The Logan County History, Volumes I and II, as compiled by Helen Freudenberger Holmes.

A history of Logan County can be found at OSU Digital Library

Located in north-central Oklahoma, Logan County is bordered by Garfield and Noble counties on the north, Payne and Lincoln counties on the east, Oklahoma County on the south, and Kingfisher County on the west. Named for U.S. Sen. John A. Logan of Illinois, the county is drained by the Cimarron River and the Cottonwood and Ephraim creeks. Comprised of twenty-one townships Logan County lies within the Red Bed Plains physiographic area. The eastern three townships of North Cimarron, South Cimarron, and Iowa were added to Logan County after the Sac and Fox Land Opening on September 22, 1891, to comprise a total of 748.92 square miles of land and water. At the turn of the twenty-first century incorporated towns included Cedar Valley, Cimarron City, Coyle, Crescent, Marshall, Meridian, Mulhall, Orlando, and Guthrie, the county seat.

According to an Oklahoma archaeological study published in 1983, Logan County had forty-eight known prehistoric sites, of which none had been tested or excavated. However, a survey of some of those sites indicated cobble workshops and knapping stations. Because the county is located in a region that has not been subjected to substantial analyses, the archaeological record is sketchy

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