DURANT

city, seat (1907) of Bryan county, southern Oklahoma, U.S., in the Red River Valley, a few miles north of the Texas border. Settled c. 1870 and named for a well-known Choctaw family, its growth was assured after the arrival of the MissouriKansasTexas Railroad in 1872. It developed as a service centre for a diversified farming area, and in 1909 Southeastern State College (now Southeastern Oklahoma State University) was established there. Its economy has been sustained by oil, gas, and industry (including peanut and cotton processing and the manufacture of utility truck bodies, clothing, and cement blocks). With the completion of Lake Texoma, impounded on the Red River by Denison Dam (1943), 14 mi (22 km) west, Durant has also become the focus of a recreation area. Ft. Washita, on the east side of the lake (1843), was used as a Confederate military post during the Civil War. Pop. (1990) 12,823.