Greer County, Oklahoma: History
After a dispute over the 1819 Adams-Onís Treaty and the related 1828 Treaty of Limits, the governments of both the United States and the state of Texas claimed ownership of some 1.5 million acres (6,100 km2) in what was then operated as Greer County, Texas. The county was named for former Texas lieutenant governor, John A. Greer. Litigation followed, and in the case of United States v. State of Texas 162 U.S. 1 (1896), with a ruling issued on March 16, the Supreme Court, having original jurisdiction over the case, decided in favor of the United States.
The county was assigned to the Oklahoma Territory on May 4, 1896. When Oklahoma was admitted as a state, Greer County was established according to its current boundaries; the remaining former county area was organized as Harmon, Jackson, and part of Beckham counties. The town of Mangum, designated as the county seat in 1886 when it was part of Texas, continued as the seat of Greer County, Oklahoma. From its establishment until at least 1903, Greer County was a sundown county, prohibiting African Americans from living in the county.
Originally developed for agriculture, the rural county had its peak of population in 1930. Mechanization of agriculture reduced the need for farm labor, and the population has declined as people migrated to cities for work.
Among the county attractions is Quartz Mountain State Park (known from 2002 to 2020 as Quartz Mountain Nature Park), near the community of Lone Wolf.