Cherokee County was organized on August 3, 1866, by John Rogers; David M. Harlan; Richard Fields; George Fields; and
 Dennis Wolf. The county contains the cities of Baxter Springs, Columbus, Galena, Roseland, Scammon, Treece, Weir and
 West Mineral.

 The first church to be formally chartered was the Baxter Springs Methodist, founded on March 16, 1869. However, another
 church had been organized by Methodist minister Dr. C. C. Dowell in his home as early as 1867. The first county fair was
 held in 1919 in the Columbus city park. The first school district was founded in Lola Township, at the Chico schoolhouse,
 October 20, 1867. In 1869, Baxter Springs founded the first elementary school in a building that also housed the Methodist
 and Presbyterian churches.

 The county has been home to many interesting Kansans. Governor Samuel Crawford (1864-1868) lived in a large country
 house just east of Baxter Springs. James R. Hallowell was elected to Congress in 1878 but refused his seat because Kansas
 was allowed to have only three members and those were already serving. He also served as U. S. District Attorney from 1879
 to 1884. Merle Evans, for more than 50 years the bandleader for Ringling Brothers, Barnum, and Bailey Circus, was a resident
 of Columbus. Chief Justice of the Kansas Court of Appeals Jerome Harmon. Paul Gregg, an artist, was an illustrator for the
 Denver Post for more than 30 years. Glad Robinson Youse, of Baxter Springs, was an internationally known composer. Hale
 Irwin, professional golfer, was a resident of Baxter Springs as a boy.

 It is said that the Osage Indians under Chief Black Dog often used the Black Dog Trail (now 7th Street in Baxter Springs),
 from Spring River to reach their hunting grounds in present Labette and Montgomery counties. The story is told that women
 and children would clear the trail wide enough for thirty horsemen to ride abreast.