This article is a great find. Many people have asked me why Caddo did not become the county seat, and here is their answer. I love the fact that Mr. Crossett often took the time to write these long editorials explaining local history. And yes, I will look up some of the articles denouncing other towns. They should be interesting reading.
The Caddo Herald
August 27, 1926
County Seat Locations Caused Much Fighting By G. A. Crossett
Things don’t happen by accident.
Perhaps a great many Durant people do not know the fight the town had to make to become the county seat of Bryan County. Nor do many of them remember that it required several years of hard work before a suitable court house was built.
But it did.
With the passage of the Curtis Bill in 1893 the first good titles to land were secured by people who had built houses on town property in the Indian Territory. Under the provisions of this bill, the towns were to be surveyed by a townsite commission and the lots apprised. The owner of the improvements on a lot was privileged to buy the lot from the Choctaw government for fifty per cent of the appraised values. If the same person owned improvement on more than one lot he was privileged to buy the other lots at five-eighths of the appraised value.
After the passage of this bill and before the townsite commission got to work there was a great hurry in the various towns to put improvements on the lots to get advantage of the lower price. In most cases nothing but slim foundations were placed as improvement. Later to be taken away or built upon as suited the individual.
Calera was the first town surveyed. This town first was called Cale, then the name was changed to Sterrett, in honor of the chairman of the townsite commission. Later the name was changed again to Calera. Atoka was another town survey early and that town originally was laid out in all sorts of ways. The commission sought to lay it out straight. This caused a great deal of confusion and the expense to the lot owners was in some cases very great. After this experience the commission decided not to make drastic changes in the layout of the towns.
The Curtis bill also provided for twenty-five Recording Districts, with Federal Court held in each recording town. The present limits of Bryan County comprised Recording District No. 25. To get this laid out Durant and Caddo citizens vied with each other to get their towns somewhere near the center of a district, and be named as recording town. Durant won out, but they knew they had been in a contest.
Con. Con. Delegates
To every intent and purpose these Recording Districts were counties, with a Court Clerk, who recorded all instruments as does now the county clerk. He was also clerk of the Federal Court which held sessions twice each year. Judge Clayton was the first judge to hold court in Bryan County. This in the fall of 1902. In the spring of the following year he held court again, and it was at this time he threatened to move the court to Caddo if provision was not made for a place for negro witnesses to eat and sleep. It soon was provided which proved another step in securing the county seat.
When the statehood bill passed, provision was made for electing delegates to the Constitutional Convention. Caddo and Durant again locked horns and Caddo succeeded this time in being put in a district that did not contain Durant. The Durant district elected Bob Williams to represent them in the convention. The Caddo district contained Caddo, Bennington, and Bokchito. There is another story about how these delegates were chosen. Gabe Parker was finally elected from the Caddo district.
In the Constitutional Convention Bob Williams was successful in securing the present lines of Bryan County, but not without some difficulty. At one time Gabe Parker proposed a county named Choctaw, with Bennington as the county seat which included Caddo in the northwest part of it. The Durant county first ran up toward Twelve Mile Prairie, but Caddo was not in it. Caddo, not having a delegate to the Convention, did not have much chance on the floor. But Caddo citizens tried to get a county carved between Blue and Boggy rivers which left Bennington and Bokchito in one end and Boggy Depot in the other. But there was nothing doing. Parker’s Choctaw County hopes were blown up when Williams got to work on it. But the effort was made, anyway.
County Seat Election
Durant was named by the Convention as the county seat of Bryan County. But a provision of the Constitution made it possible to have an election on the matter after the adoption of the instrument. About two years after statehood an election was held to locate the county seat. Caddo, being within two miles of the north boundary, knew she was hopelessly out-located. Calera and Bokchito were rivals of Durant for the honor.
The campaign was lively throughout .There was much public speaking. A great deal depended on the outcome. Calera sent to Texas and hired speakers to present her side. All towns bought advertisements in The Herald, and to hear them talk about their rival you would think neither place was fit for a dog to live in. That was one time when Caddo was very popular, for each town was seeking the large vote that resided at Caddo.
At the election Caddo gave a good majority in favor of Durant. Some voted for Calera in the hope that by putting the county seat farther away some day Caddo would have a chance of being “it” in another county. But the convention had made the forming of another county so difficult that the hope was not very well founded and the majority philosophically said “well if we can’t get the county seat we might as well get it as close to us as possible.”
Durant in the election received a majority of the vote and was declared the county seat. In those county seat elections the election officers were brought in from adjoining counties for sometimes things got pretty serious and a out-of-county man was thought not to be vitally interested.
Since that election no one has seriously thought of trying to change the county seat or the county lines.
The legislature passed acts to allow the holding of courts at towns other than the county seats, and Caddo and Bennington were included. But these courts roved so expensive and so inconvenient that by common consent the acts we repealed.
Court House Built
The old building formerly occupied by the post office just north of the Democrat office was for many years used as a court house. Soon after cinching the county seat, Durant citizens began agitation for building a court house commensurate with the needs and dignity of the county. The old quarters were cramped and inadequate. Danger of fire always threatened. But many years passed until an attempt was made to vote $150,000 bonds for a courthouse and jail. This election, after a warm fight, resulted in the bond failing to carry.
A year or so later the bond advocates toned down their wants and in 1917 an election that was almost unopposed voted $100,000 bonds, and in 1918 the present court house was built.
The trouble was not ended, however when the bonds carried. There were rival interests; some wanted the courthouse in one part of town and some in another, so that there was an internecine fight as to where it should be located. Finally the present site was chosen.
To the credit of the men who were County Commissioners at that time, this building now stands. There had been no hint of graft in its building. The county got its money’s worth in this building. It safely and simply houses the county officers. There is no fear of fire. The courts have room for juries and witnesses as well as spectators and the jail is comfortable and safe.
The old wooden jail that stood behind the old court house was unsafe and unsanitary and it was severe punishment to be incarcerated there especially in the summer time.
So you see that the county seat did not come to Durant by accident but by endeavor.