Tulsa is located in green country, northeast Oklahoma, Heartland, U.S.A. Here's my brief beginning of Tulsa History: In 1836, the trail of tears led some Lochapocka Creeks from Alabama who settled by the Arkansas River. They say Chief Archee Yahola led a ceremonial rekindling of the tribe�s sacred fire to celebrate a new beginning. A mighty oak has been identified by historians as the site of that celebration, and today, the oak tree just south of downtown still stands in tribute to Tulsa's beginning. Creek founders named it Tallasi, and it then became known as Tulsey and Tulsee, to finally become Tulsa. All names derive from the Creek word for "town." Over a 40 year period, settlers, mostly the "Five Civilized Tribes," Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks and Seminoles came bringing more trading and commerce. The first post office was established in Perryman's log cabin trading post in 1879, followed by the railroad. "Tulsey" then grew into a cattle town and trading post. Tulsa became incorporated as a town January 18, 1898 with a population of 1,100. Starting with an oil well, "Sue Bland No. 1", at Red Fork, across the Arkansas River, (later known as the Glenn Pool Strike) major oil strikes in the early 1900's put Tulsa on the map and became known as "the Oil capital of the World." Houses, businesses, and water systems began in 1905. In 1907, when Oklahoma became a state, Tulsa's population had bolted to 7,000 due to the oil strikes. The oil kept Tulsa's population growing, and it was 72,000 by the 1920's. By then the Arkansas River had become unsuitable for water supply, so Tulsa residents supported a mulitmillion dollar bond to bring water from the Spavinaw Hills... at the time, one of the largest public works projects in the country. In 1926, Cyrus Avery lobbied Congress to make "The Main Street of America" a national highway and Tulsa became "The Birthplace of Route 66." In the 40's offshore drilling affected the oil industry, but the aircraft and aerospace industry was beginning to grow. American Airlines built a major maintenance center and from New York came SABRE, the computer reservations system/global distribution system used by airlines, railways, hotels, travel agents and other travel companies. (Now there are over 300 avaiation related businesses in Tulsa.) One of the largest and most inland ports, the Tulsa Port of Catoosa, opened in 1970, joining Tulsa with the world in river navigation spanning to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico via the Arkansas River. The Museum is located at the Tulsa Port of Catoosa. Tulsa, also known as "America's Most Beautiful City" is now adorned with Art Deco architecture in the downtown area. Home to the world's largest, most comprehensive collection of art and artifacts of the American West, offering unparalleled collection of Native American art and artifacts, historical manuscripts, documents and maps... Gilcrease Museum; the largest collection of Judaica in the American Southwest... The Sherwin Museus of Jewish Art , and the Italian Renaissance collections housed in a historic villa of skillfully interpreted Renaissance styles in the most fashionable manner of the day (completed in 1927), as an art center for the city of Tulsa... The Philbrook Museum of Art. by Snowhawk. [Information derived from Tulsa Historical Society and Tulsa World.] Here's my best at Internet research on everything Tulsa: |
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Page Title: Gateway to Tulsa, Oklahoma - by Snowhawk
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