Tulsa: A Story of Achievement

              TULSA  tory   of   Achievement  By R. M. McCLINTOCK  It  CHAPTER I  How Tulsa Began I  The Indian heritage; Chief Legus Perryman makes town his home; first postoffice in 1878; the A  town Us terminus; early citizens; origin of name of Tulsa; early day morality of Tulsa; the Tulsa the Atlantic and the Pacific (now the Frisco) railway makes  com"; township survey in 1000; Tulsa's first bank.  Topsy,  "just growed."  Tulsa  ULSA isn't a town that, lik  was built.  There are cities that have just grown. They rue the  logical product of their location. Such are New York,  New Orleans, Galveston, Los Angeles. Sun Francisco.  Seattle, Chicago, in fact, most of the large cities of the  nation.  And. Indeed; it was inevitable that there should be a.  large city here somewhere in the Mid-Continent oil field*  But that city might as well have been a dozen other places  in Oklahoma. The fact that Tulsa became tliat city, instead ot Mus-  Yinita, Claremore. Okmulgee, Sapulpa, or any of a score of  Other* -hat had a long start on Tulsa, is due solely to the indomitable  en<M-y of the spirit that, from the early days down to the present,  has an-mated the men of Tulsa. They determined that here was to  be th* 'argest city of Oklahoma, and today, looking towards the eitf  from i distant point as the sun sets, you se^e their faith made manifest.  the *o\v. ring buildings that mount into the sky, the monument of  e  men have^ done.  e v-ense Tulsa is the newest of the new in tho way ot cities;  u span of life is but little more than a score of years; in J ^Op  ilaiion was only 1.300.   AndA  ictically th  office  In th  What     'o  In o  Its wnek  its por  yet Tulsa has a history, partly legendary, that goes back almost a  century, .n that respect few cities  in the southwest are as old.  But tlie old Tulsn. the Tulsa of  the Creek Indians, has been almost  obliterated by i Scarcely a  trace remains. Nevertheless, the  lull   realization   of   what   Tulsa   is  iday can only be truly grasi  (te  light of what  the 'lays that a'  wOne of the few   fcnd the  /ul   o;ik   tree,   carefu  £  the   grounds  of  the  Varies H. Peters, 1  which for generatioii^was  council   \ r< IK Ind  the |  In trjbal  - sinee the arrival of the  here from Aluh.inia in  there were ri«.-hi bottom lands where  the Indians could carry on their  primitive agriculture, the climate  was but little more severe than the  Creeks had known in Alabama, and  so the new arrivals probably soon  settled down contentedly into their  new home, leading the simple i:f.»  that had been theirs for generations.  The   first    time   that   the   vicinity  of   Tulsa    was   visited   by   a   white  man.   so   far   ;s   historical   records  show, was in 1S32, when Washington  Irving,   the  first  noted   Ameri-  issed     through  with  a company of explorers and adventurers.       It     has     been     generally  agreed   that   Irving  struck   the   Ar-  •r   south   of   Tulsa   and  the hills ir.  the vicinity  of   the   Irving   Place   ami   Country  club   district.      The   Irving   moivu-j  ment .narks   the   spot,   where   the|  that yc  on   from  n their  to   the   then   unknown  thereafter    became     Indian  >ry.    The white man had  south, He  that     his    red  Is suppose  was    i   ( ':  :>tlon  '• \  Tour c  lows: ^  to have been. If  c settlement here  rg   miss* .1   il  I —ihe j  or'   Tulsa      In    bC  the  Prairies,** 1st  com  powerful m  i"f)\      '       ;  brot  1 he   la  \v;is  governm<  Sat the  go.  Lands  were   fciund  tance f*  the   bai  JBHH  Tndian must  *n a n—- worthless land s, it was  ,-OUgiit then— in the far-distant  country beyond the Mississippi and  the Arkansas. Anc1 thither the Indians were transported. Some of  them came willingly, glad to get  away from contact with the toilsome, pushing, arrogant whites.  Son;" of them, on- the other hand,  had to be forced to leave the homes  where the spirits of their ancestors  dwelt.  No Railroads Then*  But, whether they came willingly, Or came under the guard of  iarmed whites, the way was long  and hard. There were no railroads  in those days, nor even roads, over  most of the distance. The Indians  had to find their toilsome way  over rivers, through forests and  across plains. Inured to hardship  as they were, yet many of the Indians perished, especially those who  "were entrusted for transportation  and maintenance to the tender mercies of white contractors. That pilgrimage has become known in Indian history as ''The Trail of  Tears."  The first Creeks came willingly.  'And with them, according to the  legend, which there seems no reason for doubting, they brought their  sacred council fire, which for unknown generations had burned beneath the council tree in the ancestral home in Alabama. From camp  to camp on all the long journey the  living coals were carried—the di-  vme flame that symbolized the undying fire that gives light and life  to man.  Arriving at last in the far-off  country which had been their goal,  the old council fire was lighted  in here in what is now  Tulsa, beneath the council oak. And  near the tree a straggling settlement of the expatriated Creeks  grew up. while to* the tree from  me to time the Indians came from  a considerable radius for the ceremonials of the old stomp dance.  And so Tulsa, in its beginning, was  a religious sanctuary, where was  worshipped that undying fire  which is God."  The site of the present city was  In those days as heavily timbered  as are the Osage hills today. There  was a world of game in the forests,  ^1  ; o'-ses. i-A\ entering the water.  i where a party ' of Osage  hunters had recently crossed the  river on their way to the buffalo  range. After letting our horses  drink in the river, we continued  along its bank for a space, and then  across prairies, where we saw a  distant smoke which wer hoped  might proceed from the encamp'  ment of the rangers. Following  what we supposed to be their trail,  we came to a meadow in which a  number of horses were grazing:  they were not. however, the horses  of the troop. A little farther on we I  reached a straggling Osage village'  on the banks of the Arkansas. Our  arrival created quite a sensation. A  number of old men came forward  and shook lv nds with us all severally: while the women and children nuddlec* together in groups,  storing at us wildly, chattering and  Kughing among themselves.  "Still hoping to reach the camp  of the rangers before nightfall, we  pushed on until twilight, when we  were obliged to halt on the borders of a ravine. The rangers  bivouacked under trees, at the bottom of the dell, while we pitched  our tent on a rock knoll near a  running stream. The night came  on dark and overcast, with flying  clouds, and much appearance of  rain. The fires of the rangers burnt  brightly in the dell, and threw  strong masses *of light upon the  robber-looking groups that were  cooking, eating and drinking around  them. To add to the wildness of  the scene, several Osage Indians,  visitors from the village we had  passed, were mingled among the  men. Three of them came and  seated themselves by our fire. They  watched everything that was going  on around them in silence, and  looked like figures of monumental  bronze." . '»  An Indian Settlement  The Creek tribe, or nation, was  divided into various clans, one of  the most powerful oZ which, the  Perrymans. chose Tulsa as their  home. Legu S. Perryman, who was  later one of the elected chiefs of  the Creek nation, and Several of  h brothers lived southeast of the  present town. And lest it be  thought that the original settlers  of Tulsa were mere savages, it is  worthy of note that Chief Perry-  :uan was a man of high character  < >ee  ive  o n 1 y  that  I justice   and   William  McKean.   Chauncey   Owen.       E.L. Mathewson and his son Frank, and  Dean   and   Berry   Hogan.   brothers.  In  the   54   years  that   had   Intervened since the settling of the country   in    1S2S   by   the    first   Creeks  had  beep  few changes.    Tlie  land   was   essentially   what   it   had  been.     There   were   great   herds   of  cattle ami  wild  game was less, but  otherwise   changes   had   been   tew.  Tulsa   still   slept   in.   embryo.    Ani  even   the  coming  of  the  first   rail-  ! road in  1885 was for some years to  stir  it   but  slightly.  A Cattle Shipping Point  Th" coming' of the Frisco railroad (then known as the Atlantic  & Pacific) to "Tulsey Town" in  August, 1882, did not Immediately  change the straggling Indian Bet-*  t lenient into ihe magnificent city  of today. The change, "specially  in the first few years, was gradual,  Nevertheless, the 19 years that  elapsed  between,'the arrival of the Frisco  and   the  discovery  of  oil   at  Red  Fork ha<   gradually assembJ  "lere the men who. when their grea  chance came,   were  to s  transform    a   village   in  city in   less  than a genei  The    few    residents   of   Tulsa    in  1S82   seemed   t'» <1   nothing  tc   do   with   .securfflg  the   construc-  I tion of road.    For so  'he   At hint i'-   &   Pacific   line,  lis t- vpiinated at Vinita.  meant line, -however.,  tie-  PfTie   business   had   d jvelope  region  about  Tulsa-,   and  pCn  What was in its day the most  did home in all this country, which  is still standing about four mllefl  southeast of the city, and is known  now. from his widow. who stllh  lives there, as the Rachel Ferryman  home.  But Legus and George Perryman  were not among the original Creek  immigrants. Both were born in the  Indian territory, and the Rachel  Perryman home is comparatively  modern, Chief Perryman died in  Tulsa   in   10 2 2.  But the Indians were not long  permitted to remain in peaceful  and undisturbed possession of the  new land they had traveled so far  to reach. The conquering whites  demanding more and more  land. Arkansas was settled, northern Texas became more populous,  Kansas was Opened. And the dregs  from these new settlements trickled  into the Indian country, renegade  whites who had been driven from  home, and who made the' Indian  territory . fastness from which to  direct forays against the white settlements. Hut not all the whites  were renegades: there came also  missionaries and teachers, and adventurous spirits who foresaw  wealth in trading with the Indians.  The Indians became involved in  Civil war, some of them fighting  with the north, some with the  south. Chief Perryman enlisted  with the Fnion forces. It was during the war that the first historical  mention of Tulsa is made. Col.  Douglas H. Cooper, commanding a  Confederate battalion of Creeks and  Seminoles. in an account of o  tion a against a force of Fnion  Creeks under commanjpfcg^ CJtiief  Hopoeithleyaaola, telldPofpassing  through "Tulsey T^w" where he  received inform^Pm concerning  the movomenjjj^Pnie enemy force,  and where ag^Hffmet his train.  - And th^Bf the last heard of  "Tulsey tJBP^ unti: the construction ot-^fiP* tension of the Frisco  railroaxjflP<>m Vinita, the former  termb^F brought about in 1882  the JBn>llshineut of a white settF-  mej^F here. But this intervening  3 had brought a gradual in-  Uion'of whiles Although Tulsa  is   primarily   Creek,   so   far   as  its  mate connection with three of tlie  Indian nations. But the cherokees  paid little attention to this west-  | ern fringe of fh-nr domain, while.  the Osagres in those days were  .st rict ly   nomads.  The Cattle Border  More and more cattle raising became the principal business of the  Indian territory. Some whites became engaged in thij business, leas-  ing^lands of the Indian nation—  for the Indians at first held their  lands in common, the first American Communists. Most of the cattlemen, however. Were either Indians themselves, or intermarried  whites.  Among tho, latter was W. K.  Halsell, whose wife was a Cherokee, and he had a large part in the  remaking of Tulsa, for it was the  establishment of his ranch near  Owasso—the largest in the Indian  territory—in 1881 that largely influenced the extension of the Frisco  the next year in order that it might  have the hauling of his vast shipments of stock. At one time Hal-  sell, who was for years a power  in the business life of the south-,  west, had SO.000 cattle on his vast  range. which comprised all of  northern Tulsa county and the south  part of Washington, besides CO 00  on   his  Texas   properties.  But Halseil was not the first of  the   cattlemen.     George   B.    Ferryman    had.    by    permission    of   the  Creek nation,  come  into control of  thousands of acres south  of Tulsa,  on   which   he   'Va^^j  Mwili^. - 'J.ong   before   the    railroad  built    his   herds   were    driven  overland   to   Coffeyville,   Kan.,   to  the railroad, and it was from there.  4 5  years ago.  that   the  lumber was  hauled for tho then palatial Perryman home.  Tulsa first became officially connected with the rest-oC the United  States in 1*7$. when Star route was  established into this country from  Muskogee, with a postoffice at  George Ferryman's house. R. C.  Kearn held th > contract, while the  mail carrier, who made Weekly  trips was known  as Sec rest.    Thej  r»nr  With the Frisco came two  who are entitled to be known as  the founders of Tulsa. Thev were  two brothers, H. C. and J. M. Hall.  It was H. C. Hall who came first.  He had been one of the contractors  on the railroad, but decided to  tie here. It had been intended by  the railroad company to locate  new town on the spot where the  stockyards once stood. But that  was over tlie line in the Cherokee  nation, where it was difficult to  secure land, so H. C. Hall persuaded the offieials to build their swl  track at the site of the present  Frisco station, in the Creek nation.  And Jack Kelt on. engineer for the  railroad, then surveyed the line of  Alain street, from which the modern city has been laid out.  The name of the new town s^ems  to have developed  naturally out of  the old "Tulsey Town."   Chief Perryman    thought    the    nam  from    the    Creek     word     "nil  meaning town.    The  United  St  bureau of ethnology derives it from  "Talsi." a contraction of "Tallihas-  see."  The honor of erecting the first  store seems to be shared by H. C.  Hall & Co. (the '\yo." being .T. M.  Hall, who came from Me A tester  to Join his brother). T. .1. Archer  (for whom Archer street was  named.) and George perryman. the  powerful Creek cattleman. Chauncey A. Owen, whose name is perpetuated in Owen park, built the  first hotel the St. Elmo.  Terminal hotel, just across^rUWl!Ui^  Frisco  station. H^^B  Chauncey  Owen's   Memories  When   I   came,   early  in  Owen not long ago told a local historian. "I could look south from the  Frisco right of way and see  nothing   but   scrub    oaks    and    p  grass.     Going   south    for   p  half a mile  a  man  would  come  to  the   log   cabin   of   Noah   Partridge,  one Ot the few while men  who had  at thai time ventured into the frontier wilderness.     And  this  was all."  The George Perryman home, the