I talked about the longest postal route in the United States recently. That saga recounted Jim Ed Bull and his 187.6 mi (302 km) daily slog from Mangum, Oklahoma through the rural countryside. I also discovered an interesting bit of trivia during my research. This little corner of southwestern Oklahoma used to be part of Texas. The arrangement lasted until nearly the 20th Century.
I’d stumbled across this historical marker
“OLD GREER COUNTY. S. and W. of North Fork of Red R. Greer Co. was named and governed as a part of Texas from 1860 until 1896 when U. S. Supreme Crt. decision made it part of Oklahoma Ter. This county area was claimed by 14 different governments from 1669 to Oklahoma statehood in 1907; since then it has been divided into 3 counties and the southern part of Beckham County.”
I may leave that “14 different governments” claim for another day. Right now I’ll focus on the first sentence. It mentions Greer being part of Texas from 1860 to 1896. That seemed easily verifiable and I found a number of sources readily available. I consulted the Handbook of Texas from the Texas State Historical Association, the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture from the Oklahoma Historical Society, and of course I went to a primary source, the actual U.S. Supreme Court decision, United States v Texas (1896).
So I Created a Map
I took a shot at recreating the approximate footprint of old Greer County, Texas. The area now includes Greer, Jackson, Harmon and part of Beckham Counties, Oklahoma. Also I used Google’s Map Engine Lite to draw something for the first time. Unfortunately the former Google Maps “My Maps” capability no longer exists so I had to use the new tool. I guess it turned out acceptably well.
Origins of a Controversy
The root of the issue extended all the way back to the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819. That treaty did several things such as making Florida part of the United States. It also formalized the boundary between the U.S. and Spain’s colonial territories in North America. The treaty relied upon the best map available at the time. Thus it specifically referenced “Melishe’s Map of the United States, published at Philadelphia, improved to the first of January 1818.“
The Melish Map relied upon the skills of John Melish, a Scottish immigrant with a penchant for detail and accuracy. He published his “Map of the United States with the contiguous British and Spanish Possessions” originally in 1816. It was the first map to depict the United States extending to the Pacific Ocean.
However, it contained a couple of key errors unknown at the time. The 100th Meridian ran about a degree too far east and the depiction of the Red River included only a single branch. This created a problem that would later arise in Greer County.
The Situation Becomes Apparent
Texas inherited the former Spanish boundary (later Mexican boundary) when it became an independent Republic. The same boundary followed when it became part of the United States. Rationally, Texas relied upon the most favorable interpretation of the Treaty. It used the Melish Map and its errors literally when it drew Greer County in 1860. It thereupon named the county for the state’s former lieutenant governor John Alexander Greer who served 1847-1851.
The Federal government disputed Texas’ interpretation. However, around that same time the Civil War broke out and there were more pressing issues to worry about.
Too Much to Ignore
Greer County’s population grew tremendously in the post-war years. Only ten families lived in Greer in 1884 on expansive cattle ranches. Two years later, settlers established a county seat in Mangum. According to the Handbook of Texas, “A school system was set up, and by 1892 sixty-six school districts had been formed with an enrollment of 2,250 pupils.”
The population jumped from nearly zero to several thousand in a decade. With that impressive growth, the Federal government could no longer ignore the situation. President Harrison signed an act organizing the Oklahoma Territory and it contained a provision that required a solution. Otherwise the dispute would complicate eventual Oklahoma statehood. A Commission failed to reach an agreement and the case came to the Supreme Court.
The United States favored the true 100th Meridian and the Prairie Dog Town Fork (i.e., the southern fork; the main fork) of the Red River as the boundary between Texas and the Oklahoma Territory. Texas favored the 100th Meridian of the Melish map and the North Fork of the Red River, relying upon the explicit language of the Adams–Onís Treaty.
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the United States and the disputed land became part of Oklahoma.
Epilogue
Texas lost the case and had to recognize the “true” 100th Meridian as its border with that part of Oklahoma. Nonetheless the two states continued to bicker about the accuracy of the survey that established the meridian. They didn’t agree on its permanent placement until 1930.
Visitors at the Old Greer County Museum in Mangum can see the whole story in much greater detail.
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