Altus, Oklahoma

Altus, Oklahoma
—  City  —
Jackson County Courthouse in Altus, Oklahoma
Location of Altus, Oklahoma
Coordinates: 34°38′38″N 99°19′36″W
Country	United States
State	Oklahoma
County	Jackson
Government
• Mayor David Webb
Area
• Total	17.0 sq mi (44.1 km2)
• Land	16.8 sq mi (43.6 km2)
• Water	0.2 sq mi (0.5 km2)
Elevation	1,398 ft (426 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	19,813
• Density	1,200/sq mi (450/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP codes	73521-73523
Area code(s)	580
FIPS code	40-01700
GNIS feature ID	1089598
Website	http://www.cityofaltus.org/

Altus is a city in Jackson County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 19,813 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Jackson County.

Altus is home to Altus Air Force Base, the United States Air Force training base for pilots and aircrew in the C-17, and KC-135. It is also home to Western Oklahoma State College and Southwest Technology Center.

History

The town that would later be named Altus was founded in 1886. The community was originally called Frazer and served as a trading post until it was relocated due to an 1891 flood. It was renamed Altus, a Latin word meaning "high place".

The city has seen relatively steady growth since the beginning. The population doubled between the time of Oklahoma statehood and the 1910 census and even increased during the Great Depression. An irrigation project in the 1940s and World War II led to further growth in the town as the nearby air field was used to train military pilots.

HISTORY OF ALTUS AND JACKSON COUNTY

Frequently the museum staff is asked to contribute a brief history of Altus and/or Jackson County to one or another business in the area. Because each request usually reflects a different emphasis of interest, the finished product varies in length and content. "Brief" when speaking of the history of any southwestern Oklahoma area slaps the face of reality. Therefore, "brief" histories tend to neglect or compress beyond understanding the true grandeur and expanse of a distinctive region or period of development. Consequently, the museum staff was delighted when asked to contribute a brief history that was more than three paragraphs. The finished product Briefly. . .A History of Jackson County suffers from all the constraints of pithiness and editorial slashing, but we're still proud enough of the effort to share it with our readers. Also, to be absolutely honest, we spent so much time trying to get this one right that there wasn't time to work on another subject.

From the time of Coronado's exploration of the plains of Texas, the Oklahoma Panhandle and western Kansas in 1542, the area of present day Jackson County has been fought over and in dispute between nations. The region was claimed by Spain as part of the "right of exploration" based on Coronado's expedition. France laid claim to the region also, as a "right of exploration," when in 1673 Father Marquette and Louis Jolliet followed the course of the Mississippi River as far south as Arkansas River and claimed the river and all its drainage for France. Following the French and Indian War, France ceded its territory West of the Mississippi River to Spain. Napoleon, however, negotiated for the return of the territory but then in 1803 sold the region known as the Louisiana Purchase to the United States.

Always in dispute, first between the French and the Spanish, the boundaries became even more hotly contested when the more aggressive Americans became Spain's neighbors. France had told the United States it would receive the boundaries just as France had received them from Spain, to-wit: bounded on the east by the Mississippi River, on the south by the Gulf of Mexico, on the west by the Sabine River, the Red River, the Arkansas River and the Continental Divide. But the Red River was a problematic boundary. In spite of the fact the Pedro Vial had mapped the Red River to its head waters in the Palo Duro Canyon in 1785, several expeditions by the United States to locate the head waters failed. The United States finally secured an accurate mapping of the river in 1852 by Captain Randolph Marcy and Captain George McClellan, however, they did mis-locate the 100th Meridian at that time. The most southern and westerly flowing branch, known as the Prairie Dog branch was deemed by the United States as the boundary with Mexico. Mexico and later the Republic of Texas regarded the North Fork of the Red River to be the principal river bed and therefore the boundary. Texas proceeded to organize a county and named it Greer after John Greer, Lt. Governor Texas.

Following the Civil War, John Lytle opened the Great Western Cattle Trail through the region. The trail was in use from 1874 until about 1888. An average of 300,000 head of cattle moved over the trail annually, along with approximately 7000 horses and 1000 men.

When President Harrison signed the Organic Act authorizing the organization of Oklahoma Territory in 1890, he also directed that suit be bought against Texas in the United States Supreme Court to settle once and for all the question of boundary and jurisdiction. In 1896, the Supreme Court found in favor of the United States and against Texas. A region containing 1.4 million acres of land was added to the Oklahoma Territory. At statehood in 1907, Jackson County separated from Old Greer and at that time Altus was selected as county seat by popular vote.

Settlement of Old Greer and therefore Jackson County was primarily emigration by Texans into the region. Cattle ranches such as the Cross-S, owned by the Eddelman Brothers, Ikard-Harold Cattle and Franklin Cattle all ran their livestock on the open plains, meanwhile, nesters (a.k.a. squatters, sod-busters and farmers) drifted into the area looking for a better future. Texas also had offered land to veterans of the Texas War of Independence from Mexico in 1836. One recipient of such a grant was Captain A.S. Mangum for whom the town of Mangum is named. Once the land became a part of the Oklahoma Territory, the United States Government allowed those in residence to file on 160 acre homesteads and the option to purchase an additional 160 acres. Hampered by the lack of sufficient water, Altus and Jackson County were constantly endeavoring to find and establish a reliable source of potable water. An irrigation system developed by W.J. Fullerton in 1898 proved that it was possible to capture water with dams and through proper management reap substantial profits. Unfortunately, Mr. Fullerton was unable to obtain adequate capital to rebuild his irrigation project after a natural disaster destroyed the dam. The problem of water persisted and in 1927 Altus constructed a small dam across the North Fork of the Red River and laid a redwood pipe-line to the city. Along the way, farmers tapped into the line to irrigate crops. This arrangement proved so successful that a group of businessmen lead by W.C. Austin began to plan and lobby for a higher dam and an irrigation district.

The Bureau of Reclamation began work on raising the dam in 1942. The new dam and irrigation district were dedicated in 1947. Today the Altus Irrigation District irrigates 40,000 acres. Water has made it possible for Jackson County to lead the state in cotton production.

Needing additional water for industrial needs, the Mountain Park Project developed the Tom Steed Lake east of Altus. Water is diverted via a 10.8 mile canal from Elk Creek to Otter Creek. Each day 10 million gallons of water is pumped to Altus, 760,000 gallons to Snyder and 3.5 million gallons to Frederick. Although primarily an agricultural community, Altus recognized the need for diversification. Efforts to attract industry resulted in the re-opening of the old Altus Air Field in 1953 to become the Altus Air Force Base. In recent years, Bar-S-Food, a manufacturer and distributor of meat products and Altus Athletic, a producer of weight-lifting and health equipment, are two of many non-agriculture industries operating in Jackson County.

Prepared by Museum of the Western Prairie, 9/30/99, Burna Cole, Curator and Bart McClenny (580) 482-1044

Geography

Altus is located at 34°38′38″N 99°19′36″W (34.643754, -99.326603). Altus is situated in what used to be Old Greer County, an area with disputed ownership until a Supreme Court decision awarded it to Oklahoma Territory instead of Texas. The city lies between the main channel and north fork of the Red River.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 17.0 square miles (44.0 km²), of which 16.8 square miles (43.5 km²) is land and 0.2 square miles (0.5 km²) (1.17%) is water.

Climate

Climate data for Altus, Oklahoma
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °F (°C)	84 (29)	91 (33)	102 (39)	105 (41)	107 (42)	116 (47)	111 (44)	113 (45)	106 (41)	98 (37)	92 (33)	87 (31)	116 (47)
Average high °F (°C)	49 (9)	55 (13)	64 (18)	75 (24)	82 (28)	91 (33)	96 (36)	95 (35)	86 (30)	75 (24)	62 (17)	52 (11)	74 (23)
Average low °F (°C)	27 (−3)	32 (0)	39 (4)	50 (10)	60 (16)	68 (20)	73 (23)	72 (22)	64 (18)	52 (11)	39 (4)	31 (−1)	50 (10)
Record low °F (°C)	−4 (−20)	3 (−16)	8 (−13)	25 (−4)	38 (3)	49 (9)	58 (14)	54 (12)	35 (2)	28 (−2)	14 (−10)	2 (−17)	−4 (−20)
Precipitation inches (mm)	0.9 (23)	0.9 (23)	1.4 (36)	2 (51)	5 (127)	3.1 (79)	1.9 (48)	2.1 (53)	2.8 (71)	2.7 (69)	1 (25)	1 (25)	24.7 (627)
Snowfall inches (cm)	2.1 (5.3)	2.5 (6.4)	0.5 (1.3)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0.4 (1)	1.4 (3.6)	7.2 (18.3)
Source: Weatherbase.com

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1970	23,302		—
2000	21,447		—
2010	19,813		−7.6%

As of the census of 2000, there were 21,447 people, 7,896 households, and 5,629 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,274.1 people per square mile (492.0/km²). There were 9,264 housing units at an average density of 550.4 per square mile (212.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 72.62% White, 10.41% African American, 1.48% Native American, 1.38% Asian, 0.20% Pacific Islander, 10.32% from other races, and 3.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 17.25% of the population.

There were 7,896 households out of which 38.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.6% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.7% were non-families. 25.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.14.

In the city the population was spread out with 29.8% under the age of 18, 11.0% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 17.9% from 45 to 64, and 11.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 98.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $30,217, and the median income for a family was $38,400. Males had a median income of $28,041 versus $18,856 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,378. About 14.6% of families and 17.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.7% of those under age 18 and 12.8% of those age 65 or over.

Local notables

• Mark Cotney, National Football League (NFL) player (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
• Jason Gildon, NFL player (Jacksonville Jaguars and Pittsburgh Steelers)
• James Holt, NFL player (San Diego Chargers)
• John Sterling, NFL player (Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos)

Points of interest

• Lake Altus-Lugert
• Altus City Reservoir
• Altus Speedway
• Morgan Doll Museum
• Altus City Park including 18-hole disc golf course
• Altus Air Force Base

Gallery

Altus tornado, May 11, 1982   Rainbows near Altus, May 29, 1975   Lake Altus-Lugert, looking south   Norwegian pilots training at the C-17 Aircrew Training Center at Altus AFB   Satellite image of Altus AFB, February 17, 1995

External links

• City of Altus Web Page
• Western Oklahoma State College
• Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Altus
• Altus information, photos and videos on TravelOK.com Official travel and tourism website for the State of Oklahoma