April 5, 1873: Ford County Is Organized
From Early Ford County by Ida Ellen Rath: Peketon County Later Ford
From the 1884-1885 Polk’s Gazetteer and Business Directory :
FORD COUNTY. Situated in the southwestern portion of the State, bounded on the north by Hodgeman county, on the east by Edwards and Comanche, on the south by the Indian Territory, and on the west by Finney and Seward counties. Originally organized in 1873 it then contained but 1,080 square miles, but it was reconstructed in 1883 by the addition of all the county of Clark and half of the counties of Gray and of Meade, making its area now 3,024 square miles or 1,935,360 acres, of which about 40,000 are in cultivation. County seat, Dodge City; population, 900. Limestone and sandstone are abundant in some parts of the county, and gypsum is found. No coal, but a salt spring is worked and large quantities of salt manufactured. The surface is generally level or slightly undulating, no timber, and the land is only suited for stock raising, excepting in the neighborhood of the Arkansas river, where extensive irrigating works are being constructed, and excellent results are obtained. The only railway is the A., T. & S. F, which runs from east to west in the extreme northern part of the county, following the valley of the Arkansas river–the principal stream of the county–as far as Dodge City, thence running north. The Cimarron river runs for a few miles through the southeastern corner. Large numbers of cattle are shipped from this county. Population June, 1883, 2,000.