page_title: History of Tulsa, Oklahoma
section_title: Indian Territory: 1830–1882
hierarchical_section_title: History of Tulsa, Oklahoma / Indian Territory: 1830–1882
caption_attribution_description: The Sylvester Morris House, Tulsa Oklahoma. Built in 1885, this is the oldest surviving house in Tulsa. It was originally located on the 400 block of North Cheyenne. It was moved to Owen Park for preservation.
context_page_description: Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 45th-most populous city in the United States.
  Tulsa was settled between 1828 and 1836 by the Lochapoka Band of Creek Native American tribe. For most of the 20th century, the city held the nickname "Oil Capital of the World" and played a major role as one of the most important hubs for the American oil industry.
context_section_description: What was to ultimately become Tulsa was part of Indian Territory, which was created as part of the relocation of the Five Civilized Tribes—the Choctaw, Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), Chickasaw, and Seminole peoples. These Native American tribes moved into the region after the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, when they were forced to surrender their lands east of the Mississippi River to the federal government in exchange for land in Indian Territory. Each of the larger tribes was given extensive land holdings, individual governments were formed, and tribal members began new lives as farmers, trappers, and ranchers. The majority of the American Indians (including the numerous Creek and Cherokee settlers) came from the Southern states. During the Civil War, they largely favored the Confederacy, in part because the institution of slavery being common within the Five Civilized Tribes. Most of modern Tulsa is located in the Creek Nation, with parts located in the Cherokee Nation and Osage Nation.
  The city now known as Tulsa was first settled by the Lochapoka (Turtle Clan) Muscogee(Creek) between 1828 and 1836. Driven from their native Alabama, the Lochapokas established a new home at a site near present-day Cheyenne Avenue and 18th Street. Under a large burr oak tree, now called the Creek Council Oak Tree, they rekindled their ceremonial fire. The Lochapoka named their new settlement "Tulasi," meaning "old town" in their native language. Not coincidentally, 'tulasi' is the same word from which Tallahassee, Florida takes its name. Florida is part of the original home of the Muscogee people. The Lochapoka continued to use the site as late as 1896 for ceremonies, feasts and games. The area surrounding the tree was turned into the "Creek Nation Council Oak Park" in 1929.
  An 1832 visit to the area by the famous American writer Washington Irving is described in his book A Tour on the Prairies (1835). Irving accompanied a U.S. Army exploration party on an excursion from Fort Gibson west onto the prairie and the lands occupied by the Osage and Pawnee tribes. In it, he relates camping in a grove of large trees on the banks of the Arkansas River a few miles south of the present day Tulsa city-limits (now in the suburb of Bixby). Washington Irving Park sits near the location.
  In 1846, Lewis Perryman built a log cabin trading post near what is now 33rd Street and South Rockford Avenue. Perryman, who was part Creek, established a business foothold in the rugged frontier until the Civil War. The reconstruction period after the war contributed to the growth of the area; in 1879 the first post office opened on a ranch belonging to one of Lewis' sons, Josiah Chouteau Perryman, southeast of town. Josiah was appointed Tulsa's first postmaster. This was located in a log cabin near what would later become 31st Street and Lewis Avenue. Soon, it was officially moved to the George Perryman ranch house. By this time the area was known as 'Tulsey Town' and had grown to be a trading post and cattle town.
  A Methodist minister, Rev. Sylvester Morris, built a house in the early 1880s that now stands in Tulsa's Owen Park. Originally, it stood on what became North Cheyenne St. Morris served from 1836 until 1907, according to a sign in front of the house. This is the oldest surviving house in Tulsa.
caption: Sylvester Morris House in Owen Park, Tulsa, March 2007. Oldest surviving house in Tulsa.
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