Labette County, Kansas

Labette County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Oswego
Year Organized: 1867
Square Miles: 649

Court House:

501 Merchant
County Courthouse
Oswego, KS 67356

Named: Originally part of Dorn county after Colonel Earl Van Dorn, of the regular army (he was also a Confederate officer), but changed from Dorn to Neosho in 1861 after name of the principal river in southern Kansas. Labette county has a peculiar history, not generally known, or at least not found in the books. Prior to the summer of 1866 all that part (and being the south half) of Neosho county, now comprising Labette, was sparsely populated. In the spring of 1866 there was a great rush of immigration to that locality, and the new settlers proceeded to organize a government of their own. They gave the name Labette (then writen La Bette), and called a convention, nominated a full set of county officers, and a representative to the State Legislature, and elected them at the November election, and started a county government--for all of which no authority of law whatever existed. The "Representative" so elected was Charles H. Bent, who reported at Topeka with a petition, "signed by John G. Rice and 224 other citizens of Labette county," asking that Mr. Bent be admitted to a seat in the House. He was admitted, and afterwards submitted a Bill to "organize and define the boundaries of Labette county," which passed, and was approved the 7th of February, 1867. The word La Bette is French, and signifies "the beet."

State & County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Labette County, in the southern tier, is the second county west from the Missouri line. It is bounded on the north by Neosho county, on the east by Crawford and Cherokee, on the south by the State of Oklahoma, and on the west by Montgomery county. It was established by the legislature of 1867 and the boundaries fixed to include the territory extending from the sixth standard parallel on the north to the boundary of the state on the south, and from the Cherokee neutral lands on the east to the Osage reserve on the west. Labette was formed of the southern part of Dorn county (q. v.).

Pierre Labette was an early trader in southeast Kansas; a creek was named for him. Later, the county was named for the creek.

The early history of Labette County was marred by a mysterious and murderous family named Bender who were never brought to justice.

Geography

The surface of the county is generally undulating prairie, with gentle slopes, and numerous streams. The largest stream is the Neosho, which flows south through the eastern tier of townships as far as Oswego. Labette creek rises in the northwest and flows southeast across the county. Big Hill, Pumpkin, and a number of smaller creeks, drain different parts of the county. Well water is found in abundance at a depth of 30 feet.

Common limestone for flagging, and a superior grade of sandstone are plentiful. Brick clay, coal and salt are to be had in commercial quantities. Oil and gas underlie almost the entire surface of the county.

Neighboring Counties:

Neosho County (north)
Crawford County (northeast)
Cherokee County (east)
Craig County, Oklahoma (south)
Nowata County, Oklahoma (southwest)
Montgomery County (west)

Cities:

- Altamont	city	Incorporated Area
- Bartlett	city	Incorporated Area
- Canada	township
- Chetopa	city	Incorporated Area
- Edna	city	Incorporated Area
- Elm Grove	township
- Hackberry	township
- Labette	city	Incorporated Area
- Montana	township
- Mound Valley	city	Incorporated Area
- Mount Pleasant	township
- Neosho	township
- North	township
- Osage	township
- Oswego (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Parsons	city	Incorporated Area
- Richland	township

County Resources:

Labette County - KS-Cyclopedia - 1912

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

Penn Foster High School

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