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Oklahoma Counties
There are seventy-seven counties in Oklahoma. Oklahoma originally had seven counties when it was first organized as the Oklahoma Territory. These counties were designated numerically, first through seventh. New counties added after this were designated by letters of the alphabet. The first seven counties were later renamed. The Oklahoma Constitutional Convention named all of the counties that were formed when Oklahoma entered statehood in 1907. Only two counties have been formed since thenOttawa County, Oklahoma
Ottawa County Education, Geography, and History
Ottawa County is a county located in the northeastern corner of the state of Oklahoma. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 31,848.
Its county seat is Miami. The county was named for the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma. It is also the location of the federally recognized Modoc
Tribe of Oklahoma and the Quapaw Tribe of Indians, which is based in Quapaw.
Ottawa County comprises the Miami, OK Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Joplin-Miami, MO-OK Combined Statistical Area.
The county borders both Kansas and Missouri.
Etymology - Origin of Ottawa County Name
the tribal name, corruption of "Adawe," meaning to trade or traffic.
Demographics:
County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts
Ottawa County History
Archaeological studies indicate this area was inhabited for thousands of years by succeeding cultures of prehistoric
indigenous peoples. According to the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture, at the start of the 20th century, there were eight known
Archaic sites (6000 B. C. to 1 A. D.), sixteen Woodland sites (1 A. D. to 1000 A.D.), and six Plains Village sites (1000 to 1500 A. D.).
The Osage Nation had moved into the area from Missouri and Kansas by the 19th century, under pressure from European-American encroachment on
their lands. They ceded this land to the Federal Government in exchange for another area farther west in Indian Territory. In 1828, the
Western Cherokee, the first group of this nation to relocate west of the Mississippi River, ceded their land in Western Arkansas to the
Federal Government in exchange for some of the land just vacated by the Osage.
In 1831, the Federal Government reacquired part of what would eventually become Ottawa County in order to resettle some smaller tribes that
had been forced west from the Midwest under its Indian Removal program. These included two tribes of Iroquois, Shawnee, Quapaw, Peoria,
Kaskaskia, Miami, Ottawa and Wyandotte. The Neosho Agency administered the affairs of these tribes from 1837 until 1871. In that year, it was
renamed as the Quapaw Agency, serving only the tribes in Indian Territory.
Oklahoma History Center
Located in Oklahoma's northeastern corner, Ottawa County contains 484.73 square miles of land and water. Created at
1907 statehood the county is bordered by Kansas on the north, Missouri on the east, Delaware County on the south, and
Craig County on the west. The name honors the Ottawa tribe.
The environmental setting displays two separate characteristics, the Ozark Plateau and the Osage Plains. The Ozark
Plateau of the eastern part of the county gives way to the plains west of the Neosho River. The plains region here has
also been classified as the Neosho Lowlands. The Neosho (Grand) and Spring rivers once merged in the county, but they
now drain into the Lake O' the Cherokees, known as Grand Lake, impounded in 1940....OTTAWA
COUNTY
Geography: Land and Water
As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 485 square miles (1,260 km2), of which 471 square miles (1,220 km2) is land and 14 square miles (36 km2) (2.8%) is water. It is the fourth-smallest county in Oklahoma by area. The eastern part of the county lies in the Ozark Plains, while the western is in the Neosho Lowlands.
Neighboring Counties
Bordering counties are as follows:
- Cherokee County, Kansas (north)
- Newton County, Missouri (east)
- McDonald County, Missouri (southeast)
- Delaware County (south)
- Craig County (west)
Education
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