A Brief History of Tulsa

The U.S. Government erected a fort in the new Indian Territory near the area where the Grand River, Verdigris River and Arkansas River join together. This area was later to be known by the Creeks as Three Forks.

In 1833, a boundary line was established to separate the Creek Nation, Cherokee Nation and Osage Nation.  That line, approximately the current Edison Street, extended east from current Tulsa for approximately thirty miles to current Highway 69 at Chouteau and then south to Fort Gibson.  The land north of the Creeks was divided near the current Elwood Street with the Cherokee Nation to the northeast and the Osage Nation to the northwest.  In 1834 the Lockapoka Creek Indians, led by Chief Achee Yahola, were relocated by the federal government from Alabama to Oklahoma Indian Territory. They arrived in 1836 at present day Tulsa

Settling in the area around 17th and 18th and Cheyenne and Denver, under an oak tree overlooking the Arkansas River, they rekindled the ashes of the ceremonial fire carried with them from Alabama under what is now the Creek Council Oak. The tree still stands and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.




Achee Yahola reportedly built a cabin for his family near the current First Street and Frisco Avenue.  He died of smallpox in 1850 and was buried somewhere close to his cabin.

Tulsa's name is believed to have come from a tribal town in Alabama known as Tallasi, Tallase or Talise.  These were contractions of Tullahasse or Tallahasse, meaning Old Town.  Early spellings included Tulsee and Tulsey (Town).

The Lewis Perryman family had settled near the Three Forks settlement with the Big Springs clan in the 1828 expedition. In 1848, he moved his family to the Lochapoka area and built a one and one-half story cabin of huge hewn logs near the current area of Thirty-third Street and Rockford Avenue. He had four wives and many children. His land covered the area bounded by the current Nineteenth Street to Seventy-first Street from the Arkansas River east to Lynn Lane.  The family cemetery is still located at Thrity-second Street and Utica Avenue.  

After the Civil War, George Perryman returned to the house his father had built and began ranching.  He married a full blood Creek in 1868 and in the early 1870s built a fine, large house near the current Thirty-eighth Street and Trenton Avenue.  In time, the residence earned the nickname of the White House.  On March 25, 1879, the Star Route was established with Josiah Perryman named as Postmaster.  The post office was designated Tulsa.

In 1882 the Atlantic Pacific Railroad came to Tulsey Town along with some whites who wanted to settle in the area. Soon the town began to develop near Main and Boston.

By 1901 oil was discovered four miles west across the Arkansas River at Red Fork. The wells there produced the first commercially significant volumes of oil. By 1907 when Oklahoma became a state, the Glenn Pool was the most productive oil location in the world and Tulsa was the "Oil Capital of the World."  Tulsa's population was 7,298. By 1920, the population of Tulsa was over 70,000.

This period produced many of Tulsa's historic buildings. Men like Waite Phillips, Robert M. McFarliln and W.G. Skelly sought to leave their mark with grand business and residential structures, many of them in the Art Deco style popular at the time.


Another community flourished in Tulsa during the oil boom....Greenwood. It was the largest and wealthiest of Oklahoma black communities and was known as Black Wall Street.  The neighborhood was a hotbed of jazz and blues in the 1920's. William "Count" Basie was discovered playing in a club in Greenwood.

In 1921, Greenwood was the scene of the worst race riot in United States history. At least 36 were killed with some counts much higher.  Thirty-five blocks of businesses and residences were burned.  Greenwood eventually recovered, and two blocks have been restored and are part of the Greenwood Historical District. 

 
The prosperity of the oil boom laid the foundation for another important industry - aviation. Many of Tulsa's oilmen became enthusiasts of the new and promising field. The second World War solidified Tulsa's importance as an oil producer and aviation center. Pilots were trained at Spartan School of Aeronautics and Douglas Aircraft Co. Built its mile-long Air Force Plant No. 2 in 1942 to build bombers.

In later years, McDonnell-Douglas and Rockwell International facilities in Tulsa would contribute to space programs and national defense.

The period of the 1950s and 60s saw Tulsa expand.  Small towns that had once been suburbs of the city were annexed as the city limits expanded to the south and east. To accompany its increased size, improvements were made in city government, schools, and libraries.

Cultural institutions including Gilcrease Museum, Philbrook Museum and Tulsa Ballet established national reputations and numerous cultural and philanthropic organizations flourished.

While the rest of the nation suffered through the oil crisis and weak economy of the 1970s and early 1980s, Tulsa enjoyed a period of economic prosperity.

With the oil bust of the mid 1980s, Tulsa's economy took a downturn, but economic diversification, promising new technologies, and an abundant supply of natural gas helped the recovery.