The farmingCaddoan Mississippian culture dates as early as the Late Archaic Period 1500 BCE in Bowie County.[5] TheHernando de Soto expedition of 1541 resulted in violent encounters. Spanish and French missionaries broughtsmallpox,measlesmalaria, andinfluenza epidemics.[6] Eventually, these issues and problems with theOsage, forced the Caddo to abandon their homelands. Settlers had peaceful relations with the 19th centuryShawnee,Delaware andKickapoo in the area.
French explorerJean Baptiste Bénard de La Harpe founded the military fortLe Poste des Cadodaquious in 1719.[7] The fort remained in continuous use until 1770. The Red River Expedition of 1806 which passed through Bowie County,[8] headed by Thomas Freeman and Peter Custis, was of great diplomatic and economic importance toPresident Thomas Jefferson. Bowie County was established in December 1840 and reduced to its present size in 1846.DeKalb was the temporary county seat, withBoston becoming the permanent county seat in 1841.[9][10]
Bowie County, in the years leading up to theAmerican Civil War, was settled mostly by Southerners who brought their slave labor to work the cotton fields. By 1860, slaves outnumbered whites 2,651 to 2,401. The county voted 208–15 in favor ofsecession from the Union.[11] While Bowie was never a battlefield in that war, it was occupied during Reconstruction. Between 1860 and 1870, the population declined. The occupation, and the new legal equality of blacks, became a hostile situation that fostered Cullen Baker.
Cullen Montgomery Baker (b.circa 1835 – d. 1869)[12] was a twice-widowed, mean-spirited drunk who killed his first man before he was 20. When Thomas Orr married Baker's late wife's sister, thereby denying Baker that opportunity, Baker attempted to hang Orr. Legends abound as to his activities in Bowie andCass Counties, including a rumored tie to theKu Klux Klan. His exploits turned him into a folk hero dubbed "The Swamp Fox of the Sulphur River".[13][14] He was aConfederate States Army veteran who joined two units, designated as a deserter from the first, and receiving a disability discharge from the second.[15]Reconstruction allowed him to focus his anger toward what many at the time believed was a Union intrusion into their lives. Baker and his gang conducted a vicious rampage against citizens he perceived as being on the wrong side of the black labor issue, at William G. Kirkman and theFreedman's Bureau in Bowie County, and at the soldiers of the Union occupation. Kirkman unsuccessfully pursued Baker, killing one of Baker's men in the second attempt. LikeSwamp Fox Francis Marion, Baker always managed to elude capture, often with the help of local citizens. Kirkland was murdered by "person or persons unknown",[11] but Baker boasted of having done the deed. In December 1869, Thomas Orr and a group of neighbors killed Baker.[15] A local legend has it the deed was accomplished withstrychnine-laced whiskey.
Bowie was hit hard by theGreat Depression. Measurable relief came late when theLone Star Army Ammunition Plant was established in 1942. The base was active until 2009.[18] TheRed River Army Depot,[19] opened in 1941, remains active. The two installations occupied almost 40,000 acres (160 km2) and provided job opportunities for thousands.
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 923 square miles (2,390 km2), of which 885 square miles (2,290 km2) is land and 38 square miles (98 km2) (4.1%) is covered by water.[20]
Bowie County, Texas is one of only three counties in Texas to border two other U.S. states (the others beingDallam andCass). Bowie County forms part of thetripoint of Texas-Oklahoma-Arkansas.
Bowie County, Texas – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
As of the2020 census, the county had a population of 92,893. The median age was 39.7 years. 23.0% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.7% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 101.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 100.3 males age 18 and over.[27]
62.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 37.9% lived in rural areas.[29]
There were 35,518 households in the county, of which 31.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 43.0% were married-couple households, 18.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 32.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 29.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[27]
There were 39,536 housing units, of which 10.2% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 62.0% were owner-occupied and 38.0% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 9.9%.[27]
Bowie County is no longer one of the sevendry counties in the state of Texas. Both the city of Nash and the city of Texarkana (on November 6, 2013, and November 5, 2014, respectively)[33][34] have passed laws that allow the sale of beer and wine.
Bowie County had voting patterns similar to theSolid South up until 1976. The county has consistently voted for the GOP in each 21st century president election. The last Democrat to win this county wasBill Clinton of neighboring Arkansas, with which the county shares theTexarkana metropolitan area, in both of his national victories.
United States presidential election results for Bowie County, Texas[35]
