Creek Nation Council Oak Park, 1750 South Cheyenne, Tulsa

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Creek Nation Council Oak Park designates the site where the Locapoga clan of the Creek Indian Nation established their new home in Indian Territory in This was the first settlement of the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Under a post oak, called the Council Oak, the leader of the Creek clan placed the ashes of their last council fires from their ancestral homelands in Alabama. Today, the site is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is listed in the Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory. History: In the Locapoga tribe of the Creek Indians arrived at their new home in what was to become Indian Territory after an arduous and deadly trek from their ancestral homelands in Alabama.

They deposited the ashes from their last council fires in Alabama around a giant post oak and kindled a new council fire. On this site they also established "busk" grounds for the tribe, where almost all tribal business was conducted. In addition, the site provided a place for the tribe to gather for ceremonies, feasts, and games. Until around tribal business was still conducted at the site. The land was acquired by various Tulsa citizens around the turn of the Century, and in the the tree and immediate grounds were almost destroyed so a parking lot could be built. However, several Tulsa citizens and the Creek Nation stepped in and purchased the land to preserve the site and its historic significance.

The land was then donated to the City of Tulsa and named the Creek Nation Council Oak Park. Today, the giant post oak still towers over the site. In recent years, on the acres that encompasses the park, plants used by the Creek Indians in their native Alabama homeland have been planted.

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"Creek Nation Council Oak." Historic American Landscapes Survey. Library of Congress, Prints and Photograph Division,, Washington, Washington, (accessed on May 1, CREEK NATIONAL COUNCIL OAK HALS NO. OKI PAGE 2 "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Creek Council Tree Site (accessed May 1, "National Register Properties in Oklahoma: Creek Council Tree Site," asp ?id=76001576shpopic. asp ?id=7800 (accessed May 1, Parks Department, City of Tulsa, Oklahoma, (accessed April 25,

Source document Quoted word for word from HALS OK-1. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Steve Eilers, May West Stillwater, OK steve. eilers (alokstate.edu Dr. Charles Leider Professor and Director of the Landscape Architecture Program Horticulture and Landscape Architecture Department 360 AG Hall Stillwater, OK Office: charles.leiderfalokstate.edu The Council Oak and its protecting fence (Steve Eilers, CREEK NATIONAL COUNCIL OAK HALS NO. OKI PAGE 3 ... i(*v " ' VETM* " Viii/i .] * Eft us..*:-:. The Council Oak and its protecting fence (Steve Eilers,