Tulsa, Oklahoma

== History ==
{{Main|History of Tulsa, Oklahoma|Timeline of Tulsa, Oklahoma}}

[[File: Meadow Gold Neon Sign Route 66 Tulsa Oklahoma.jpg|thumb|right|The Meadow Gold sign has greeted [[U.S. Route 66|Route 66]] travelers in Tulsa for decades.]]

The area where Tulsa now exists is considered [[Indian Territory]], on the land of the [[Kiikaapoi]] (Kickapoo), Wahzhazhe Ma zha ([[Osage Nation|Osage]]), [[Muscogee]] (Creek), and [[Caddo]] tribes, among others,<ref>{{Cite web|title=NativeLand.ca|url=https://native-land.ca/|access-date=2020-09-28|website=Native-land.ca - Our home on native land|language=en}}</ref> before it was first formally settled by the [[Muscogee (Creek) Nation]] in 1836.<ref name="Tulsa Area History">{{cite web|url=http://www.tulsalibrary.org/tulsahistory/communities.htm#tul |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070108010448/http://www.tulsalibrary.org/tulsahistory/communities.htm |archive-date=January 8, 2007 |title=Tulsa Area History |publisher=Tulsa County Library |access-date=April 25, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> They established a small settlement under the [[Creek Council Oak Tree]] at the present-day intersection of Cheyenne Avenue and 18th Street.<ref>{{cite web |title=Creek Nation Council Oak |url=https://memory.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/ok/ok0000/ok0081/data/ok0081data.pdf |website=American Memory - Library of Congress |publisher=[[Historic American Landscapes Survey]]}}</ref> They named their new settlement ''Tallasi'', meaning "old town" in Creek, which later became "Tulsa".<ref name="Tulsa Area History" /> The area around Tulsa was also settled by members of the other so-called "[[Five Civilized Tribes]]" who had been relocated to Oklahoma from the Southern United States.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}} Most of modern Tulsa is located in the [[Muscogee (Creek) Nation|Creek Nation]], with parts located in the [[Cherokee Nation|Cherokee]] and [[Osage Nation]]s.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

Although Oklahoma was not yet a state during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], the Tulsa area saw its share of fighting. The [[Battle of Chusto-Talasah]] took place on the north side of Tulsa and several battles and skirmishes took place in nearby counties. After the War, the tribes signed [[Reconstruction Treaties|Reconstruction treaties]] with the federal government that in some cases required substantial land concessions. In the years after the Civil War and around the turn of the century, the area along the Arkansas River that is now Tulsa was periodically home to or visited by a series of colorful outlaws, including the legendary [[Wild Bunch]], the [[Dalton Gang]], and [[Little Britches (outlaw)|Little Britches]].{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

===Incorporation and "Oil Capital" prosperity===
Around August 1, 1882, the town was almost centered at a location just north of the current Whittier Square, when a construction crew laying out the line of the [[St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad]] chose that spot for a sidetrack.<ref name=Whittier>{{cite web|url= https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/michael-overall-how-whittier-square-could-have-been-the-middle-of-downtown-tulsa/article_f6b38386-4b25-11ed-8572-8bcc0dfa6728.html |title=How Whittier Square could have been the middle of downtown Tulsa |first=Michael |last=Overall |work=Tulsa World |date=October 16, 2022|access-date=November 6, 2022}}</ref>  However, an area merchant persuaded them to move the site further west into the Muscogee Nation, which had friendlier laws for white business owners.<ref name=Whittier/>  On January 18, 1898, Tulsa was officially incorporated and elected [[Edward E. Calkins]] as the city's first mayor.<ref name="Tulsa County History">{{cite web | first=Jeff | last=Smith | date=September 15, 2005 | url=http://www.rootsweb.com/~oktulsa/history.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071019033624/http://rootsweb.com/~oktulsa/history.htm | archive-date=October 19, 2007| title=Tulsa County History |publisher=Roots Web| access-date=April 27, 2007}}</ref>

Tulsa was still a micro town near the banks of the [[Arkansas River]] in 1901 when its first oil well, named Sue Bland No. 1,<ref name="Tulsa County History" /> was established. Much of the oil was discovered on land whose mineral rights were owned by members of the [[Osage Nation]] under a system of headrights. By 1905, the discovery of the grand [[Glenn Pool Oil Reserve]] (located approximately 15 miles south of downtown Tulsa and site of the present-day town of [[Glenpool, Oklahoma|Glenpool]]) prompted a rush of entrepreneurs to the area's growing number of oil fields; Tulsa's population swelled to over 140,000 between 1901 and 1930.<ref name="Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990">{{cite web|date=June 1998 |url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0027.html |title=Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990 |first=Campbell |last=Gibson |publisher=United States Census |access-date=April 29, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070314031958/http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0027.html |archive-date=March 14, 2007 }}</ref> Unlike the early settlers of Northeastern Oklahoma, who most frequently migrated from the [[Southern United States|South]] and [[Texas]], many of these new oil-driven settlers came to Tulsa from the commercial centers of the East Coast and lower Midwest. This migration distinguished the city's demographics from neighboring communities (Tulsa has larger and more prominent Catholic and Jewish populations than most Oklahoma cities) and is reflected in the designs of early Tulsa's upscale neighborhoods.

[[File:Tulsa OK Map 1920.jpg|thumb|right|A map of Tulsa in 1920]]

Known as the "Oil Capital of the World" for most of the 20th century, the city's success in the energy industry prompted construction booms in the popular [[Art Deco]] style of the time.<ref name="Tulsa History" /> Profits from the oil industry continued through the [[Great Depression]], helping the city's economy fare better than most in the United States during the 1930s.<ref name="Art Deco in Tulsa">{{cite web | url=http://www.tulsalibrary.org/research/artdeco/artdecointulsa.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061202031937/http://www.tulsalibrary.org/research/artdeco/artdecointulsa.htm | archive-date=December 2, 2006| title=What's Doing in Tulsa?| first=Rex | last=Ball |author2=Jennifer Young | publisher=Tulsa City-County Library | access-date=April 25, 2007}}</ref>

In 1923, [[Harwelden Mansion|Harwelden]] was built by oil baron E. P. Harwell and his wife Mary, and is an example of prosperity in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the 1920s.

===1921 Race Massacre===
{{main|Tulsa race massacre}}
In the early 20th century, Tulsa was home to the "[[Greenwood, Tulsa#Black Wall Street|Black Wall Street]]", one of the most prosperous Black communities in the United States at the time.<ref name="Tulsa Race Riot">{{cite web|url=http://www.tulsareparations.org/TulsaRiot.htm |title=The Tulsa Race Riot |first=Scott |last=Ellsworth |publisher=Tulsa Reparations |access-date=April 20, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131210225357/http://www.tulsareparations.org/TulsaRiot.htm |archive-date=December 10, 2013  }}</ref> Located in the [[Greenwood, Tulsa, Oklahoma|Greenwood]] neighborhood, it was the site of the [[Tulsa race massacre|Tulsa Race Massacre]], said to be "the single worst incident of [[mass racial violence in the United States|racial violence in American history]]",<ref name="okhist">{{cite web|first=Scott|last=Ellsworth|author-link=Scott Ellsworth|date=2009|url=https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=TU013 |title=Tulsa Race Riot|website=[[The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture]]|access-date=31 December 2016}}</ref> in which mobs of White Tulsans killed Black Tulsans, looted and robbed the Black community, and burned down homes and businesses.<ref name="Tulsa Race Riot" /> Sixteen hours of massacring on May 31 and June 1, 1921, ended only when National Guardsmen were brought in by the governor. An official report later claimed that 23 Black and 16 White citizens were killed, but other estimates suggest as many as 300 people died, most of them Black.<ref name="Tulsa Race Riot" /> Over 800 people were admitted to local hospitals with injuries, and an estimated 1,000 Black people were left homeless as 35 city blocks, composed of 1,256 residences, were destroyed by fire. Property damage was estimated at {{Nowrap|$1.8 million}}.<ref name="Tulsa Race Riot" /> Efforts to obtain reparations for survivors of the violence have been unsuccessful, but the events were re-examined by the city and state in the early 21st century, acknowledging the terrible actions that had taken place.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/20/us/20tulsa.html?_r=1&ref=us&pagewanted=all |title=As Survivors Dwindle, Tulsa Confronts Past |last=Sulzberger |first=A.G. |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 20, 2011 |access-date=June 20, 2011}}</ref>

===20th century===
[[File:Cains Ballroom Sign.jpg|thumb|upright|Cain's Ballroom came to be known as the "Carnegie Hall of Western Swing"<ref name="Cain's Ballroom">{{cite news | date=March 25, 2007 | url=http://www.tulsaworld.com/webextra/itemsofinterest/centennial/centennial_storypage.asp?ID=070321_1_CE13_spanc63544| title=Cain's Ballroom – A Music Icon: Venue is a landmark for Western swing, punk fans | first=Matt | last=Elliott | publisher=[[Tulsa World]] | access-date=April 20, 2007}}</ref> in the early 20th century.]]
In 1925, Tulsa businessman [[Cyrus Avery]], known as the "Father of [[U.S. Route 66|Route 66]],"<ref>{{cite web | url=http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG02/carney/avery.html | title=The Father of Route 66 | publisher=[[University of Virginia]] | access-date=April 20, 2007}}</ref> began his campaign to create a road linking [[Chicago]] to [[Los Angeles]] by establishing the [[U.S. Highway 66 Association]] in Tulsa, earning the city the nickname the "Birthplace of Route 66".<ref>{{cite web| title = Birthplace of Route 66: Tulsa, OK| url = http://www.citydictionary.com/OK/Tulsa/Birthplace-of-Route-66/5485/| date = Jun 22, 2009| access-date = July 28, 2010| archive-url = https://archive.today/20120724132504/http://www.citydictionary.com/OK/Tulsa/Birthplace-of-Route-66/5485/| archive-date = July 24, 2012| url-status = dead| df = mdy-all}}</ref> Once completed, U.S. Route 66 took an important role in Tulsa's development as the city served as a popular rest stop for travelers, who were greeted by Route 66 icons such as the Meadow Gold Sign and the [[Blue Whale of Catoosa]]. During this period, [[Bob Wills]] and his group, [[The Texas Playboys]], began their long performing stint at a small ballroom in downtown Tulsa. In 1935, [[Cain's Ballroom]] became the base for the group,<ref name="Cain's Ballroom" /> which is largely credited for creating [[Western swing|Western Swing]] music. The venue continued to attract famous musicians through its history, and is still in operation today.<ref name="Cain's Ballroom" />

For the rest of the mid-20th century, the city had a master plan to construct parks, churches, museums, rose gardens, improved infrastructure, and increased national advertising.<ref name="Tulsa History" /> The [[Spavinaw Water Project|Spavinaw Dam]], built during this era to accommodate the city's water needs, was considered one of the largest public works projects of the era.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tulsaweb.com/tulhist.htm |title=Tulsa's History |publisher=Tulsa Web |access-date=May 7, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070221234623/http://www.tulsaweb.com/tulhist.htm |archive-date=February 21, 2007 }}</ref>

A national recession greatly affected the city's economy in 1982, as areas of Texas and Oklahoma heavily dependent on oil suffered the [[1980s oil glut|freefall in gas prices]] due to a glut, and a mass exodus of oil industries.<ref name="Oil Bust">{{cite web | date=January 23, 2006 | url=http://staging.okcommerce.gov/test1/dmdocuments/Oklahoma_Oil_Gas_Briefing_January_2006_0302061746.pdf | title=Oil and Gas Briefing | publisher=Oklahoma Department of Commerce | access-date=April 27, 2007 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614044129/http://staging.okcommerce.gov/test1/dmdocuments/Oklahoma_Oil_Gas_Briefing_January_2006_0302061746.pdf | archive-date=June 14, 2007 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> Tulsa, heavily dependent on the oil industry, was one of the hardest-hit cities by the fall of oil prices.<ref name="Oil Bust" /> By 1992, the state's economy had fully recovered,<ref name="Oil Bust" /> but leaders worked to expand into sectors unrelated to oil and energy.

===21st century===
In 2003, the "[[Vision 2025]]" program was approved by voters, to enhance and revitalize Tulsa's infrastructure and tourism industry. The keystone project of the initiative, the [[BOK Center]], was designed to be a home for the city's minor league hockey and arena football teams, as well as a venue for major concerts and conventions. The multi-purpose arena, designed by famed architect [[Cesar Pelli]], broke ground in 2005<ref>{{cite web | url=http://ww3.visittulsa.com/general.asp?id=207 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070509145415/http://ww3.visittulsa.com/general.asp?id=207 | archive-date=May 9, 2007| title=BOK Center| publisher=Tulsa Convention and Visitors Bureau | access-date=April 20, 2007}}</ref> and was opened on August 30, 2008.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2009-01-07|title=Tulsa World: Updated: Opening of BOK Center draws thousands downtown|url=https://tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20080830_11_Ente266423|access-date=2021-10-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107004717/https://tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20080830_11_Ente266423|archive-date=January 7, 2009}}</ref>

In July 2020 the Supreme Court ruled in ''[[McGirt v. Oklahoma]]'' that as it pertains to criminal law much of eastern Oklahoma, including Tulsa, remains as Native American lands.<ref name="BBC News">{{Cite news|date=2020-07-10|title=Half of Oklahoma ruled to be Native American land|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53358330|access-date=2020-07-10}}</ref> Specifically, prosecution of crimes by Native Americans on these lands falls into the jurisdiction of the [[tribal court]]s and [[Federal judiciary of the United States|federal judiciary]] under the [[Major Crimes Act]], rather than Oklahoma's courts.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Murphy |first1=Sean |last2=Gresko |first2=Jessica |date=July 9, 2020 |title=Supreme Court hands Oklahoma a loss on tribal lands fight |language=en |website=Tulsa World |agency=Associated Press |url=https://tulsaworld.com/news/supreme-court-hands-oklahoma-a-loss-on-tribal-lands-fight/article_4c33fbe8-c1ed-11ea-8c16-2705dc65414a.html |access-date=2020-10-02}}</ref>