Kansas Counties

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Labette County, Kansas

Date Established:	February 26, 1867
Date Organized:
Location:
County Seat:	Oswego
Origin of Name:	Tradition asserts that the name is from the French words la bête, meaning 'the beast.'; the story goes that Labette Creek, the second largest stream in the county, was named by a group of French trappers after an encounter with a skunk; the county then took its name from the creek. Other sources, however, state the stream and the county are named for Pierre Bete [also spelled Baete or Beatte], a French-Canadian trapper and trader who married into the Osage tribe and lived along the Neosho River in the 1830s and 40s. Pierre Bete served as a guide for Washington Irving during the author's tour across the prairie in 1832.
Cities & Townships:	Place Population (2000 census) Chetopa (city) 1,281 Oswego (city) 2,046 Parsons (city) 11,514 Canada Township 217 Elm Grove Township 798 Fairview Township 239 Hackberry Township 403 Howard Township 357 Labette Township 373 Liberty Township 395 Montana Township 179 Mound Valley Township 806 Mount Pleasant Township 1,351 Neosho Township 222 North Township 612 Osage Township 703 Oswego Township 310 Richland Township 303 Walton Township 726 Total population: 22,835
Population:	1870 (9,973) 1880 (22,735) 1890 (27,586) 1900 (27,387) 1910 (31,423) 1920 (34,047) 1930 (31,346) 1940 (30,352) 1950 (29,285) 1960 (26,805) 1970 (25,775) 1980 (25,682) 1990 (23,693) 2000 (22,835)
Other Resources:	Bibliography Cemeteries in Labette County, as of 1906 Newspapers available on microfilm Townships & Independent Cities in Labette County Post offices in Labette County
Links to Other Sites:	Labette County page [Blue Skyways] Labette County GenWeb Early Kansas Maps [KanColl]