Washita County, Oklahoma
This bit of Cloud Chief history submitted by Doyle Fenn.

CLOUD CHIEF
COURT HOUSE CONTROVERSY

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Newspaper Accounts of the Court House Controversy

CLOUD CHIEF BEACON
August 17, 1900

Last Saturday about fifty wagons from the Cordell vicinity rolled into Cloud Chief and in short order loaded all the county records and carried them to Cordell so Cloud Chief is left without an officer of any kind except deputy district clerk, Henry N. Berry, who will do business until Judge Irwin orders him to move to Cordell.

The CLOUD CHIEF BEACON moved to Cordell and became the CORDELL BEACON immediately after the August 17, 1900, issue was printed.

CLOUD CHIEF WITNESS
Friday July 29, 1904

CORDELL LOSES COUNTY SEAT

Judge Burford, on July 25th ordered Cordell to return the county seat to Cloud Chief by August 20. 1904. or give a reason why it did not do so.

It is up to Cordell now, and every body knows that Cordell cannot give a legal reason for removing the county seat from Cloud Chief.

If Cordell does not give legal reason by August 20th, the Supreme Court, which meets August 3 1st, will give us a decision and you know the rest.

Mr. Hobbs, our attorney, writes us that he can see no possible chance for Cloud Chief to lose. In fact, everybody says Cordell has lost out. Even Cordell herself has given up, as can be seen by their down heartedness.

Cordell is today as dead as a door nail. There is not a wheel moving or the sound of a hammer heard in the town. Now let everybody interested in Cloud Chief come forward & help push the town, and in 6 months more you will see a railroad through here with capital pouring in for investment and the best town between El Reno Hobart.

Unfortunately, a mysterious fire burned the court house during the night of August 4, 1909. The . Now let fire started in the court room prior to a scheduled everybody interested in Cloud Chief come forward and help push the town, and in six trial - burning the evidence,

The Cordell Citizens probably felt that the court and house controversy was settled after moving into the new court house, but were they ever in for a -surprise. The Cloud Chief supporters had not surrendered. They asserted that the 1900 election was held illegally. Early in 1904, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled on a similar case with a decision that county seats in Oklahoma Territory were established by an act of U. S. Congress, and local officials and citizens had no authority on the issue. Cloud Chief citizens were "walking on air", and Cordell citizens were "down in the mouth". Cloud Chief hired an attorney and filed suit in the Oklahoma Territory Supreme Court to require the court house and officers to be returned to Cloud Chief. The Supreme Court ruled that the court house must be returned to Cloud Chief or to appear in court within 30 days to show cause why they hadn't followed the decision.

x DAILY OKLAHOMAN
July 9, 1904

Guthrie - The present complication of the county seat election cases before the various courts of the territory is one that may reverse decisions of several yea' 's standing and also change the shire town locations in at least two counties of the territory -Washita and Grant.
Two years ago, almost, Judge Beauchamp held in the district court at Pond Creek that the county seat of that county (Grant) could not be moved to Medford, even if so voted by a majority of the people for the reason that congress had set aside the location of Pond Creek for that purpose; so long as Oklahoma is a Territory, according to Judge Beauchamp the shiretown cannot be moved. Judge Pancoast made a similar decision in Dewey County when there was a recent proposition pending to move the county seaifrom Taloga to Lenora. It is said, also, that both Judges Burford and Hainer have like opinions on the same question.
Acting on the opinion of Judges Beauchamp, Pancoast, and others, there has been an action commenced in Washita county to remove the county seat from Cordell to Cloud Chief. The last named place was the one set aside by congress as the shiretown of that county, but a few years after the opening the people of the county voted the removal to Cordell and the change did occur, Cordell being the county seat at present. The attorneys
in the case hold that if the recent decisions are correct that the removal from Cloud Chief to Cordell was illegal, therefore they have notified the county officials to change back to Cloud Chief. Of course the officials refused and notice has been given that a hearing will take place on July 25, before Chief Justice Burford, petitioning a mandamus action to compel the removal of the county seat back to Cloud Chief.

For the first time since the illegal removal of the county offices and records from Cloud Chief to the town of New Cordell are proper steps being taken to cause the same to be brought back to the site established by act of Congress, and the only lawful county seat of Washita County.
Several times since that eventful day four years ago when a crowd from Cordell, with spades and crow-bars, demolished the newly- erected court house in Cloud Chief, have efforts been made to secure justice, but without apparent results. At last we have secured the services of an honest and able lawyer for a reasonable consideration to take up the matter for us. Virgil M. Hobbs, a highly recommended attorney from Guthrie, will appear before the Supreme Court in that city on the 25th day of July and ask for a writ of mandamus compelling the county officers to remove the records to Cloud Chief and maintain them there. It is reasonably sure that this writ will be granted if justice is meted out, as there is a law by Congress prohibiting the removal of any county seats of Oklahoma by a vote of the people so long as Oklahoma is a Territory.
Some of the Cordell papers are unduly excited over this county seat matter and are indulging in ungentlemanly remarks. Gentlemen, this a matter of law, and if the law has been violated, as we think it has, you cannot afford to place yourselves on record as favoring violation of law; it won't do for molders of public opinion.
Cordell stole the county records which was very unjust; Supreme Court will order them to Cloud Chief then Cordell will bust.
It has been suggested that in case the writ of mandamus asked of the Supreme Court is granted, the people of Cloud Chief go to Cordell and tear up the court house and remove it to Cloud Chief the same as Cordell fellows did in Cloud Chief four years ago. This suggestion is out of place, and we know the people of Cloud Chief will do nothing of the kind. Cloud Chief is law abiding and if the writ is granted, it is the duty of the county commissioners to provide a court house here for the use of the county officers, and in case they fail to do this, the Supreme Court has Uncle Sam back of it to see that its mandates are carried out.

Cordell Beacon
January 13, 1910
CORDELL WINS IN SATURDAY'S ELECTION
Big Majority polled over entire county.
Cordell wins with a vote of 2575.
Dill gets only 819.

The election for the county seat removal is a thing of the past; the citizens of the county were out in great numbers to cast their vote for no removal.
The vote polled for our competitors was 400 short of the number of names contained in the petition calling the election and all indications pointed to the fact that Cordell was winning votes every day.

While at no time during the campaign were our people at all nervous over the outcome, everyone is glad it is over, and feel grateful to the voters of the county for the manner in which they took their stand.
Below we give the returns as they came at the court room on election night.

PRECINCT Lonetree Cloud Chief Retrop Dill Canute Center Point W. Spring Creek Rocky Steinburg' Cowden E. Spring Creek Colony Cordell #4 Cordell #3 Cordell #2 Cordell #1 Hefner Kom Bessie Auxier N. Bums Sentinel Port Star Raney Dugford Cottonwood Black Segar

CORDELL 87 54 51 1 56 108 20 229 80 21 13 8 92 70 102 156 40 174 199 146 36 207 206 52 153 35 33 43 44

DILL 1 56 2 141 36 2 32 23 2 66 77 67 2 0 3 4 26 4 2 23 83 27 21 6 1 27 21 7 24

CORDELL BEACON
Thursday, March 2, 1911

Farmers on the east side, you should have heard Judge Stewart of Harmon County give his reason for the creation of Seger county. Judge Stewart is County Attorney of Harmon County and knows whereof he speaks. He is in the employ of Carnegie making speeches over the eastern part of the county, advising our people to follow in the footsteps of Harmon county. He gave as his reason for cutting our county. that we were too large and that the proposed county of Seger was composed of the neglected corners of three counties; that in a small county you would know every body and everybody know you. He forgot to tell however that his little county of Harmon was paying $2.50 on the thousand dollar valuation to pay the salaries of county officers, wherein Washita County, a large and wealthy county, is paying only $1.00 on the thousand dollar valuation for salaries of county officials. Judge Duff pulled a tax receipt from Harmon County and made Judge Stewart acknowledge before a large number of voters that the above statement was true and right, here men had their eyes opened for the first time and now they are riding the county against forming a county where the tax levy for officials' salaries will be two and one half as large as in Washita county. Judge Duff made Stewart confess that according to the tax receipt which he held that the levy for court purposes in Harmon County was larger than the court levy in Washita County. With a downcast look, Stewart was told by the Carnegie finance committee that he had not made good in his speeches and was sent home, so we are informed. We might also add that Judge Duff made Stewart acknowledge before the vast and cheering audience that the total levy in Harmon County for county purposes was one mill larger than in Washita County. Showing to a blind man that it is not a good move to cut our county and go into a small county without any prestige.

CORDELL BEACON -
Thursday, March 2, 1911
No Free Buildings

The Carnegie papers attempt to deceive the voters in the proposed County of Seger by representing that a court house and jail will be built in Carnegie through the sale of town lots donated to the County for this purpose by the town site boomers and speculators in Carnegie. That Carnegie will give this for the purpose of getting the county seat. The Constitution of Oklahoma provides as follows:

Any person or corporation offering money or other thing of value either directly or indirectly, for the purpose of influencing any voter ,for or against, any competing town in such election shall be guilty of bribery. Under this provision of the Constitution, it has been held that such an offer as the above mentioned would disqualify any town that might be an applicant for the county seat.
And, after Carnegie gets the county seat, don't believe they are going to give you something for nothing.

Newspapers in Kiowa and Caddo County had similar arguments against the formation of Seger County.

CORDELL BEACON
Thursday, March 9,1911
Neither of the Three Portions Vote Fifty Per Cent in Favor of the New County

Saturday's contest was a battle royal. Never in history of the County had a question been so thoroughly debated and considered by our people, than the formation of the new County of Seger. The matter was discussed in every school district of that part of Washita County which was included in the cut, and the result is a glorious victory for the complete integrity of our matchless county.

When the agitation first began, the old settlers of the east side appealed to the county seat to contribute her efforts, as she had when an attempt was made to cut a strip off the west side, making Elk City a county seat, and how well the boys of the county seat responded can be graphically told by those who came in contact with the power of their logic.

Every foot of Washita County, now and forever was the slogan and when the smoke of carnage cleared away at six o'clock Saturday there could be seen flying from the mast head of our imperial county, the blazing words, "Washita, One and Inseparable".

From the sunny slopes of the Cotton Wood precinct on the south, to the level and fertile plains of Korn Valley came the same triumphant news, "The county has won."

So interested in the proposition were the people that more than 85 per cent of the people voted before noon.

Out of the nine precincts voting in this county but three gave majorities for the new county. Six had majorities against the proposition.

Cottonwood, the nearest part of our county to Carnegie, gave four majority against the proposition.

The votes were cast as follows: Cowden Cottonwood Star Cloud Chief Seger Auxier Korn Colony East Spring Creek TOTAL (Washita Co.) Caddo County Kiowa County

76 46 4 2 6 20 0 73 118 348 838 88

45 50 29 24 58 29 49 38 30 362 1067 89

NOTE: The newspaper totals are incomplete.

Newspaper reports reveal that Washita, Caddo and Kiowa counties were not the only counties attempting to rearrange county boundaries. Swanson County was created by election about the same time as the 1911 election for Seger County. Mountain Park was the county seat of Swanson County. The election was rescinded and the former county boundaries were restored.

CORDELL EXPERIENCES IMMEDIATE GROWTH

Moving the court house to Cordell stimulated immediate development as can be seen in the photographs taken about one year after the removal of the court house from Cloud Chief. Most of the businesses in Cloud Chief relocated in Cordell. During this period of time in our Oklahoma history, the court house and rail road were the most important factors to developing a town.

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South side of East Main Street in Cordell, Oklahoma Territory - 1901
(Photo # 19071.s.28.5, Morris Glass Plate Col., Archives & Manuscripts Division of Ok Historical Society)

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