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88-456: At both I-244's western and eastern terminus, the highway connects with I-44. I-244 runs from the western bank of the Arkansas River , across the river and past downtown Tulsa, before running through the northern half of the city and connecting again with I-44. In downtown Tulsa, I-244 forms the northern and western legs of the "Inner Dispersal Loop". The southern and eastern legs are formed by

176-465: A concurrency with the Interstate; US-75 south of here is a freeway headed south toward Glenpool and Okmulgee . The next three interchanges only provide partial access to the roads they link to. Exit 3A, which lacks a westbound exit ramp, provides access to Southwest Boulevard; exit 3B to 21st Street and Union Avenue and exit 4A to 17th Street and Southwest Boulevard provide only

264-527: A parclo interchange with Garnett Road and a partial interchange, providing only an eastbound exit and westbound entrance, with 129th East Avenue. I-244 then reaches its eastern terminus at a yield sign , where it merges into eastbound I-44/SH-66. US-412 continues east along I-44. I-244 was completed in December ;1975. It was named the Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway east from Downtown by

352-408: A black shoeshiner , was accused of assaulting Sarah Page, a white 21-year-old elevator operator in the nearby Drexel Building. He was arrested and rumors that he was to be lynched were spread throughout the city, where a white man named Roy Belton had been lynched the previous year. Upon hearing reports that a mob of hundreds of white men had gathered around the jail where Rowland was being held,

440-407: A group of 75 black men, some armed, arrived at the jail to protect Rowland. The sheriff persuaded the group to leave the jail, assuring them that he had the situation under control. The most widely reported and corroborated inciting incident occurred as the group of black men left when an elderly white man approached O. B. Mann, a black man, and demanded that he hand over his pistol. Mann refused, and

528-474: A pool hall, and cigar store. All were reduced to ruins. By his account and court records, the mob destroyed nearly $ 2.7 million in real estate (in 2018 dollars), and much of his life's work. According to the memoirs of Greenwood pioneer, B.C. Franklin , Gurley left Greenwood for Los Angeles, California. Gurley and his wife, Emma, moved to a 4-bedroom home in South Los Angeles and ran a small hotel. He

616-682: A series of dams and large reservoir lakes have been built on the Arkansas and its intersecting tributaries, including the Canadian , Verdigris , Neosho (Grand) , Illinois , and Poteau rivers. These locks and dams enable the river to be navigable by barges and large river craft downriver of Muskogee, Oklahoma , where the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System joins the Verdigris River. Into western Arkansas ,

704-457: A sheriff's deputy was violently overwhelmed in the race massacre . In a matter of moments, the terrorist mob destroyed all he had built. During the race massacre, The Gurley Hotel at 112 N. Greenwood, the street's first commercial enterprise, valued at $ 55,000, was destroyed, and with it Brunswick Billiard Parlor and Dock Eastmand & Hughes Cafe. Gurley also owned a two-story building at 119 N. Greenwood. It housed Carter's Barbershop, Hardy Rooms,

792-554: A shot at quick economic gains through the mining and oil industries. Even though African-Americans constituted a small percentage of the overall population in Oklahoma, the percentage of African-Americans in Tulsa had significantly increased to around 12.3 percent during the oil boom. Many African-Americans had come from the Deep South and Kansas because of the opportunity to strike gold because of

880-638: A single traffic signal. East of here, I-244 intersects the Gilcrease Expressway again at its eastern terminus; this interchange also forms the eastern terminus of SH-11 , which runs along the Gilcrease for its easternmost stretch. The next interchange to the east, serving Mingo Road, provides an exit for eastbound traffic and an entry to westbound traffic. I-244 then junctions with US-169 , the Mingo Valley Expressway (a freeway). East of US-169 lies

968-698: A site in the Tensas Basin , show that part of the river's meander belt flowed through up to 3200 BCE. While it was previously thought that this relict channel was active at the same time as another relict of the Mississippi River 's meander belt, it has been shown that this channel of the Arkansas was inactive approximately 400 years before the Mississippi channel was active. The Arkansas has three distinct sections in its long path through central North America. At its headwaters beginning near Leadville , Colorado ,

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1056-477: A story called Beyond Greenwood: The Historic Legacies and Overlooked Stories of America’s ‘Black Wall Streets' . Many white residents felt intimidated by the prosperity, growth, and size of "Black Wall StreetGreat Park development (formerly Newhall Ranch)". Not only was Greenwood, Tulsa expanding in population, it was expanding its physical boundaries, which eventually collided with the boundaries of white neighborhoods. According to several newspapers and articles at

1144-523: A westbound exit and eastbound entrance. North of exit 4A, I-244 and US-75 cross the Arkansas River. Exit 4B marks I-244's entry into the Inner Dispersal Loop (IDL), a ring of freeways encircling Downtown Tulsa . At exit 4B, the southwest corner of the loop, US-75 splits away from I-244, joining I-444 , which begins at this interchange and proceeds along the south and east edges of

1232-466: A white woman. The Tulsa race massacre , also known as the Tulsa race riot or the Black Wall Street massacre, was a two-day-long white supremacist terrorist massacre that took place between May 31 and June 1, 1921, when mobs of white residents, some of whom had been appointed as deputies and armed by city government officials, attacked black residents and destroyed homes and businesses of

1320-602: Is a major tributary of the Mississippi River . It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado , Kansas , Oklahoma , and Arkansas . The river's source basin lies in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas River Valley. The headwaters derive from the snowpack in the Sawatch and Mosquito mountain ranges. It flows east into Kansas and finally through Oklahoma and Arkansas, where it meets

1408-659: The Crosstown Expressway (I-244) on the north, Elgin Avenue on the west, Greenwood Avenue on the east and the Frisco tracks on the south. The National Register of Historic Places Greenwood Historic District is slightly smaller, including 100 to 300 N. Greenwood Ave, but also includes 419 North Elgin Ave. The City of Tulsa submitted an application to the U.S. Department of the Interior for

1496-960: The Five Civilized Tribes along the Trail of Tears . Others were the descendants of people who had fled to Indian Territory . Many Black residents were also from the various Muskogee-speaking peoples, such as Creeks and Seminoles , while some had been adopted by the tribes after the Emancipation Proclamation . White residents of Tulsa referred to the area north of the Frisco railroad tracks as "Little AfricaGreat Park development (formerly Newhall Ranch)". The success of Black-owned businesses there led Booker T. Washington to visit in 1905 and encourage residents to continue to build and cooperate among themselves, reinforcing what he called "industrial capacity" and thus securing their ownership and independence. Washington highlighted that he had directed

1584-477: The Mississippi River from Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin toward the Gulf of Mexico, but turned back at the mouth of the Arkansas River. By that time, they had encountered Native Americans carrying European trinkets and feared confrontation with Spanish conquistadors. Jean-Baptiste Bénard de la Harpe , a French trader, explorer, and nobleman had led an expedition into what is now Oklahoma in 1718–19. His original objective

1672-417: The Mississippi River near Napoleon, Arkansas . Water flow in the Arkansas River (as measured in central Kansas ) has dropped from approximately 248 cubic feet per second (7.0 m /s) average from 1944–1963 to 53 cubic feet per second (1.5 m /s) average from 1984–2003, largely because of the pumping of groundwater for irrigation in eastern Colorado and western Kansas . Important cities along

1760-526: The Santa Fe Trail followed the Arkansas through much of Kansas, picking it up near Great Bend and continuing through to La Junta, Colorado . Some users elected to take the challenging Cimarron Cutoff starting at Cimarron, Kansas . During the American Civil War, each side tried to prevent the other from using the Arkansas River and its tributaries as a route for moving reinforcements. Initially,

1848-621: The Tulsa Drillers , to a new stadium, now known as ONEOK Field to be constructed in the Greenwood District. The proposed development includes a hotel, baseball stadium, and an expanded mixed-use district. Along with the new stadium, there will be extra development for the city blocks that surround the stadium. After the Tulsa Race Massacre, many residents had promised to rebuild after the massive destruction. Within ten years after

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1936-599: The Tulsa Port of Catoosa on the Verdigris River , enters the Arkansas River near Muskogee, and runs via an extensive lock and dam system to the Mississippi River. Through Oklahoma and Arkansas, dams which artificially deepen and widen the river to sustain commercial barge traffic and recreational use give the river the appearance of a series of reservoirs. The McClellan–Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System diverts from

2024-521: The U.S.–Mexico border from the Adams–Onís Treaty (in force 1821) until the Texas Annexation or Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo . The river is alternatively pronounced / ɑːr ˈ k æ n z ə s / ar- KAN -zəs or / ˈ ɑːr k ən s ɔː / AR -kən-saw . The path of the Arkansas River has changed over time. Sediments from the river found in a palaeochannel next to Nolan,

2112-512: The United States during the early 20th century, it was popularly known as America's "Black Wall Street". It was burned to the ground in the Tulsa race massacre of 1921, in which a local white mob gathered and attacked the area. Between 75 and 300 Black Americans were killed, hundreds more were injured, and the homes of 5000 were destroyed, leaving them homeless. The massacre was one of the largest in

2200-605: The unsigned I-444 (signed as U.S. Highway 75 (US-75)). I-244 begins at a stack interchange with I-44 (which is concurrent with State Highway 66 (SH-66) at this point) and a short segment of the Gilcrease Expressway that is disconnected from the rest of that highway. I-244 continues northeast from here, running parallel to Southwest Boulevard. Two interchanges provide access to 33rd West Avenue, 40th Place, and Southwest Boulevard. US-75 northbound then merges into I-244 eastbound at exit 2, forming

2288-409: The 1950s and 1960s. Desegregation encouraged black citizens to live and shop elsewhere in the city, causing Greenwood to lose much of its original vitality. Since then, city leaders have attempted to encourage other economic development activity nearby. Some residents attempted to sue the city and filed insurance claims against it, but all of those claims were denied by the city government. People within

2376-678: The 1990s and 2000s resulted in tourism initiatives and memorials. John Hope Franklin Greenwood Reconciliation Park and the Greenwood Cultural Center honor the victims of the Tulsa Race Massacre, although the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce plans a larger museum to be built with participation from the National Park Service . In 2008, Tulsa announced that it sought to move the city's minor league baseball team,

2464-664: The African-American community after the Tulsa Race Massacre rarely discussed the historic significance of Greenwood after the Tulsa Race Massacre because of fear that it might occur again. In 1996, a commission was established to examine recommendations to compensate and support the descendants of the victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. In 2001, a final report was released that highly recommended that victims’ descendants receive full reparations. Alfred Brophy, an American legal scholar, outlined four specific reasons why survivors and their descendants should receive full compensation:

2552-582: The Arkansas River 2.5 mi (4.0 km) upstream of the Wilbur D. Mills Dam to avoid the long winding route which the lower Arkansas River follows. This circuitous portion of the Arkansas River between the Wilbur D. Mills Dam and the Mississippi River was historically bypassed by river vessels. Early steamboats instead followed a network of rivers—known as the Arkansas Post Canal—;which flowed north of

2640-562: The Arkansas River as a supply route. In September 1864, a body of Confederate irregulars led by General Stand Watie (Cherokee) successfully ambushed a Union supply ship bound for Fort Gibson. The vessel was destroyed, and a part of its cargo was looted by the Confederates. By 1890, water from the Arkansas River was being used to irrigate more than 20,000 acres (8,100 ha) of farmland in Kansas. By 1910, irrigation projects in Colorado had caused

2728-532: The Arkansas River for thousands of years. The first Europeans to see the river were members of the Spanish Coronado expedition on June 29, 1541. Also in the 1540s, Hernando de Soto discovered the junction of the Arkansas with the Mississippi. The Spanish originally called the river Napeste . "The name "Arkansas" was first applied by French Father Jacques Marquette , who called the river Akansa in his journal of 1673. The Joliet-Marquette expedition travelled

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2816-486: The Arkansas River in central Colorado have been known for exceptional trout fishing, particularly fly fishing , since the 19th century, when greenback cutthroat trout dominated the river. Today, brown trout dominate the river, which also contains rainbow trout . Trout Unlimited considers the Arkansas one of the top 100 trout streams in America, a reputation the river has had since the 1950s. From Leadville to Pueblo,

2904-425: The Arkansas River include Canon City , Pueblo , La Junta , and Lamar, Colorado ; Garden City , Dodge City , Hutchinson , and Wichita, Kansas ; Tulsa, Oklahoma ; and Fort Smith and Little Rock, Arkansas . The May 2002 I-40 bridge disaster took place on I-40 's crossing of Kerr Reservoir on the Arkansas River near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma . Since 1902, Kansas has claimed that Colorado takes too much of

2992-524: The Arkansas River is serviced by numerous fly shops and guides operating in Buena Vista, Salida, Cañon City, and Pueblo. Colorado Parks and Wildlife provides regular online fishing reports for the river. A fish kill occurred on December 29, 2010, in which an estimated 100,000 freshwater drum lined the Arkansas River bank . An investigation, conducted by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, found

3080-650: The Arkansas River, reaching a place called Arkansas Post , about 60 miles (97 km) above the confluence of the Arkansas and the Mississippi rivers. In mid-April 1822, the Robert Thompson , towing a keelboat, was the first steamboat to navigate the Arkansas as far as Fort Smith. For five years, Fort Smith was known as the head of navigation for steamboats on the river. It lost the title to Fort Gibson in April 1832, when three steamboats, Velocipede , Scioto, and Catawba , all arrived at Fort Gibson later that month. Later,

3168-528: The Arkansas runs as a steep fast-flowing mountain river through the Rockies in its narrow valley, dropping 4,600 feet (1,400 m) in 120 miles (190 km). This section supports extensive whitewater rafting , including The Numbers (near Granite, Colorado ), Brown's Canyon , and the Royal Gorge . At Cañon City, Colorado , the Arkansas River valley widens and flattens markedly. Just west of Pueblo, Colorado ,

3256-471: The Arkansas. These included flatboats ( bateaus ) and keelboats . Along with the pirogues, they transported piles of deer, bear, otter, beaver, and buffalo skins up and down the river. Agricultural products such as corn, rice, dried peaches, beans, peanuts, snakeroot, sarsaparilla, and ginseng had grown in economic importance. On March 31, 1820, the Comet became the first steamboat to successfully navigate part of

3344-526: The Center was almost $ 3 million. The Center plays a key role in the reconstruction and unity of the Greenwood Historic District. The Greenwood Cultural Center sponsors and promotes education and cultural events showcasing African American heritage. It also provides positive images of North Tulsa to the community, and attracts a diversity of visitors to the Center and to the city of Tulsa. In 2011,

3432-540: The Greenwood Cultural Center during the community's 100-year commemoration of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Ground was broken in 2008 at 415 North Detroit Avenue for a proposed Reconciliation Park to commemorate the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. John Hope Franklin , son of B. C. Franklin and a notable historian, attended the groundbreaking ceremony. After his death in 2009, the park was renamed John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park. Attractions include two sculptures and

3520-711: The Greenwood Cultural Center lost all funding from the State of Oklahoma, threatening its existence. The community responded with donations and GoFundMe campaigns, and the Cherokee Nation contributed to its summer programs. Michael Bloomberg donated one million dollars to the Greenwood Art Project in 2019 and made the Greenwood Cultural Center his first stop on his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination on January 19, 2020. In 2021, President Biden visited

3608-1021: The Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma . The event is considered one of the worst incidents of racial violence in American history . The attackers burned and destroyed more than 35 square blocks of the neighborhood—at the time, one of the wealthiest black communities in the United States, colloquially known as "Black Wall Street ." More than 800 people were admitted to hospitals, and as many as 6,000 black residents of Tulsa were interned in large facilities, many of them for several days. The Oklahoma Bureau of Vital Statistics officially recorded 36 dead. The 2001 Tulsa Reparations Coalition examination of events identified 39 dead, 26 black and 13 white, based on contemporary autopsy reports, death certificates, and other records. The commission gave several estimates ranging from 75 to 300 dead. The massacre began during Memorial Day weekend after 19-year-old Dick Rowland ,

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3696-813: The Greenwood Historic District on September 29, 2011. On August 8, 2012, the Coordinator of the National Register Program wrote the Tulsa Preservation Commission that the proposed District would be renamed as the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921. In 2022, Greenwood Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places . In 2023, a bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate to create Historic Greenwood District—Black Wall Street National Monument . The Greenwood Rising History Center

3784-581: The Keystone Expressway. The L.L. Tisdale Parkway continues north from here. I-244 turns east from here, following the north leg of the IDL, joined by US-412 eastbound, which will overlap I-244 for the remainder of the highway. Three more exits to downtown streets are along this leg of the loop. At the northeast corner of the loop, I-244 junctions with I-444, which ends at this interchange, and US-75, which continues north toward Bartlesville . I-244 and US-412 exit

3872-637: The Mississippi River. At 1,469 miles (2,364 km), it is the sixth-longest river in the United States , the second-longest tributary in the Mississippi– Missouri system, and the 47th longest river in the world . Its origin is in the Rocky Mountains in Lake County, Colorado , near Leadville . In 1859, placer gold discovered in the Leadville area brought thousands seeking to strike it rich, but

3960-617: The Oklahoma Highway Commission in 1984. The spans carrying I-244/US-75 across the Arkansas River to Downtown Tulsa were built in 1967. A $ 78 million (equivalent to $ 104 million in 2023) project commenced in April ;2011 to replace the westbound bridge. The new westbound bridge across the Arkansas River opened to traffic on December 19, 2012. Work started on the new eastbound bridge on June 7, 2013. A ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on September 15, 2014, for

4048-638: The Union Army abandoned its forts in the Indian Territory, including Fort Gibson and Fort Smith, to maximize its strength for campaigns elsewhere. The Confederate Army sent troops from Texas to support its Native American allies. Union troops returned to the area later in the war, after defeating the Confederates at the Battle of Pea Ridge and the Battle of Fort Smith . They began recovering the position it had previously abandoned, most notably Fort Gibson and reopened

4136-620: The United States annexed Texas after the Mexican–American War , in 1846. The treaty was made shortly after the "Old Settler" Cherokee were pushed out of Texas and moved near what became known as Webbers Falls on the Arkansas River. They planned to reunite with the Cherokee who had moved there on the Trail of Tears in 1839. That area, then part of Arkansas Territory , would become Indian Territory and later Oklahoma . This area had long been

4224-544: The area. After buying these vacant spaces, he would then sell them to African-American residents for redevelopment so that these empty spaces could be transformed into residential houses and profitable businesses. By 1921, Stradford had been considered one of the wealthiest African-Americans in the country as he owned numerous properties in Greenwood and even had his hotel named after him: Stratford Hotel. In addition to Mr. Stradford, there were also investments and reinvestments into

4312-488: The areas around the Great Lakes began exploring the Mississippi and some of its northern tributaries. They soon learned that the birchbark canoes, which had served them so well on the northern waterways, were too light for use on southern rivers such as the Arkansas. They turned to making and using dugout canoes, which they called pirogues , made by hollowing out the trunks of cottonwood trees. Cottonwoods are plentiful along

4400-443: The black community and allowing Greenwood to flourish and prosper. On "Black Wall Street", there were African-American attorneys, real estate agents, entrepreneurs, and doctors who offered their services in the neighborhood. One primary example of the black entrepreneurial spirit is illustrated by J.B. Stradford. He had graduated from Indiana University with a law degree and had moved to Greenwood to purchase various land vacancies in

4488-456: The case of the Seminoles) were forced to move with them. This proved problematic as rules concerning the freedom of African Americans differed between tribes. Others later traveled to Oklahoma for the land rushes in 1889 through 1891 and continued in the years leading to 1907, the year Oklahoma became a state, hoping that a majority-black population could build a firewall against further extension of

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4576-434: The community. One executive of the local YMCA recalled that there were several barbershops, several grocery stores, and even a funeral home service. Greenwood was known to be an active religious community as there were numerous black-owned churches, Christian youth services, and other religious organizations. In addition to Tulsa, there are stories of other "Black Wall Street" across the country. On May 29, 2021, TIME published

4664-598: The compact did not stop further disputes by the two states over water rights to the river. The Kansas–Oklahoma Arkansas River Basin Compact was created in 1965 to promote mutual consideration and equity over water use in the basin shared by those states. The Kansas–Oklahoma Arkansas River Commission was established, charged with administering the compact and reducing pollution. The compact was approved and implemented by both states in 1970 and has been in force since then. The McClellan–Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System begins at

4752-506: The completion of the span. More recently, the Greenwood District in Tulsa has called for the removal of the I-244 corridor, which is seen as just as damaging to the community as the Tulsa race massacre . However, the segment is also part of the future I-42 corridor, making this unlikely. The entire route is in Tulsa , Tulsa County . Arkansas River The Arkansas River

4840-549: The country, leading to the nickname, "Black Wall Street". Around the start of the 20th century, O. W. Gurley, a wealthy black landowner from Arkansas, came to what was then known as Indian Territory to participate in the Oklahoma Land run of 1889. The young entrepreneur had just resigned from a presidential appointment under president Grover Cleveland in order to strike out on his own. In 1906, Gurley moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he purchased 40 acres (16 ha) of land which

4928-403: The creation of a 4,000 acre totally black-owned district on the edge of Tuskegee , under the supervision of C. W. Greene , to model Washington's vision; it was named Greenwood and formally organized in 1901. The Tulsa community was formally organized the year after Washington's visit, 1906, with the name Greenwood. By 1921, it was home to about 10,000 black residents. Greenwood Avenue in Tulsa

5016-448: The damage affected African-American families, the city was culpable, and city leaders acknowledged that they had a moral responsibility to help rebuild the infrastructure after the race massacre. More recently, the Greenwood District has called for the removal of the I-244 corridor, which is seen as just as damaging to the community as the Tulsa race massacre . The city of Tulsa's Greenwood Historic District comprises an area bounded by

5104-467: The dead fish "... cover 17 miles [27 km] of the river from the Ozark Lock and Dam downstream to River Mile 240, directly south of Hartman, Arkansas ." Tests later indicated the likely cause of the kill was gas bubble trauma caused by opening the spillways on the Ozark Dam. Greenwood District, Tulsa Greenwood is a historic freedom colony in Tulsa, Oklahoma . As one of the most prominent concentrations of African-American businesses in

5192-412: The easily recovered placer gold was quickly exhausted. The Arkansas River's mouth is at Napoleon, Arkansas , and its drainage basin covers nearly 170,000 square miles (440,000 km ). Its volume is much smaller than the Missouri and Ohio rivers, with a mean discharge of about 40,000 cubic feet per second (1,100 m /s). The Arkansas from its headwaters to the 100th meridian west formed part of

5280-422: The history of U.S. race relations , destroying the once-thriving Greenwood community. Within ten years of the massacre, surviving residents who chose to remain in Tulsa rebuilt much of the district. They accomplished this despite the opposition of many white Tulsa political and business leaders and punitive rezoning laws enacted to prevent reconstruction. It continued as a vital black community until segregation

5368-417: The loop on an easterly course. East of the IDL, I-244 and US-412 run generally parallel to Admiral Place. This segment of the Interstate provides access to several major north–south streets, including Lewis, Harvard, and Yale avenues. The interchanges at Sheridan Road and Memorial Drive are inverted single-point urban interchanges (SPUI) with lefthand entrance and exit ramps intersecting the surface street at

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5456-414: The loop. US-64 and SH-51 westbound join I-244 at this interchange, continuing along the westside of the loop with the Interstate. Two partial interchanges, exits 4C and 5A, provide access to Downtown Tulsa streets. I-244 then reaches the northwest corner of the IDL. At this point lies an interchange with two other freeways. US-64 and SH-51 split away from I-444 here to join westbound US-412 , forming

5544-419: The lower Arkansas River and followed a shorter and more direct route to the Mississippi River. When the McClellan–Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System was constructed between 1963 and 1970, the Arkansas Post Canal was significantly improved, while the lower Arkansas River continued to be bypassed by commercial vessels. Many nations of Native Americans lived near, or along, the 1,450-mile (2,334-km) stretch of

5632-416: The massacre, surviving residents who chose to remain in Tulsa rebuilt much of the district. They accomplished this despite the opposition of many white Tulsa political and business leaders and punitive rezoning laws enacted to prevent reconstruction. There were over 240 black businesses in Greenwood in 1941. It continued as a vital black community until segregation was overturned by the federal government during

5720-408: The next morning, killing men and burning and looting stores and homes. Around noon on June 1, the Oklahoma National Guard imposed martial law , ending the massacre. About 10,000 black people were left homeless, and the cost of the property damage amounted to more than $ 1.5 million in real estate and $ 750,000 in personal property (equivalent to $ 38.43 million in 2023). By the end of 1922, most of

5808-448: The north, Archer Street and the Frisco tracks to the south, Cincinnati Street on the west, and Lansing Street on the east. Another black American entrepreneur, J.B. Stradford and his wife Bertie Eleanor Wiley Stradford, arrived in Tulsa in 1899. He believed that black people had a better chance of economic progress if they pooled their resources, worked together and supported each other's businesses. He bought large tracts of real estate in

5896-464: The northeastern part of Tulsa, which he had subdivided and sold exclusively to other blacks. Gurley and a number of other blacks soon followed suit. Stradford later built the Stradford Hotel on Greenwood, where blacks could enjoy the amenities of the downtown hotels who served only whites. It was said to be the largest black-owned hotel in the United States. In 1914, Gurley's net worth was reported to be $ 150,000 (about $ 3 million in 2018 dollars). And he

5984-399: The old man attempted to disarm him. A gunshot went off, and then, according to the sheriff's reports, "all hell broke loose." The two groups shot at each other until midnight when the group of black men were greatly outnumbered and forced to retreat to Greenwood. At the end of the exchange of gunfire, 12 people were dead, 10 white and 2 black. Alternatively, another eyewitness account was that

6072-414: The residents' homes had been rebuilt, but the city and real estate companies refused to compensate them. Many survivors left Tulsa, while residents who chose to stay in the city, regardless of race, largely kept silent about the terror, violence, and resulting losses for decades. The massacre was largely omitted from local, state, and national histories for years. Revitalization and preservation efforts in

6160-407: The rich oil fields. During the Jim Crow era, African-Americans were not allowed to make purchases or services in predominantly white areas. In particular, Oklahoma was known to have some of the harshest and most unjust Jim Crow laws in the country. Some economists theorize this forced many African-Americans to spend their money where they would feel welcomed, effectively insulating cash flow to within

6248-435: The river enters the Great Plains . Through the rest of Colorado , Kansas , and much of Oklahoma , it is a typical Great Plains riverway, with wide, shallow banks subject to seasonal flooding and periods of dwindling flow. Tributaries include the Cimarron and the Salt Fork Arkansas rivers. In eastern Oklahoma, the river begins to widen further into a more contained consistent channel. To maintain more reliable flow rates,

6336-446: The river path works between the encroaching Boston and Ouachita mountains, including many isolated, flat-topped mesas, buttes, or monadnocks such as Mount Nebo , Petit Jean Mountain , and Mount Magazine , the highest point in the state. The river valley expands as it encounters much flatter land beginning just west of Little Rock, Arkansas . It continues eastward across the plains and forests of eastern Arkansas until it flows into

6424-588: The river to stop flowing in July and August. Flooding in 1927 severely damaged or destroyed nearly every levee downstream of Fort Smith, and led to the development of the Arkansas River Flood Control Association. It also resulted in the Federal government assigning responsibility for flood control and navigation on the Arkansas River to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE). The headwaters of

6512-471: The river's water; it has filed numerous lawsuits over this issue in the U.S. Supreme Court that continue to this day, generally under the name of Kansas v. Colorado . The problems over the possession and use of Arkansas River water by Colorado and Kansas led to the creation of an interstate compact or agreement between the two states. While Congress approved the Arkansas River Compact in 1949,

6600-505: The shooting began "down the street from the Courthouse" when black business owners came to the defense of a lone black man being attacked by a group of around six white men. It is possible that the eyewitness did not recognize the fact that this incident was occurring as a part of a rolling gunfight that was already underway. As news of the violence spread throughout the city, mob violence exploded. White rioters invaded Greenwood that night and

6688-518: The strangers a warm welcome. La Harpe's party was honored with the calumet ceremony and spent ten days at this location. In 1988, evidence of a native village was discovered along the Arkansas River 13 miles (21 km) south of present-day Tulsa, Oklahoma . By then, the site was known as the Lasley Vore Site . French traders and trappers who had opened up trade with Indian tribes in Canada and

6776-512: The streams of the southwest and grow to large sizes. The wood is soft and easily worked with the crude tools carried by both the French and Indians. The pirogues were sturdier and could be more useful for navigating the sandbars and snags of the Southern waterways. In 1819, the Adams–Onís Treaty set the Arkansas as part of the frontier between the United States and Spanish Mexico . This continued until

6864-406: The system of racial degradation and segregation known as Jim Crow . Oklahoma represented the hope of change and provided a chance for African Americans to not only leave the lands of slavery but oppose the harsh racism of their previous homes. They travelled to Oklahoma by wagons, horses, trains, and even on foot. Many of the settlers were relatives of Native Americans who had traveled on foot with

6952-400: The time, there were reports of hateful letters sent to prominent business leaders within "Black Wall Street," which demanded that they stop overstepping their boundaries into the white segregated portion of Tulsa. White residents grew increasingly resentful about the wealth of the Greenwood community. The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 started when police accused a Black shoe shiner of assaulting

7040-479: The traditional territory of the Osage . They resisted the new Native Americans moving in with armed conflict. The US encouraged a peace treaty made in 1828 but the territory issue was still unresolved by the time thousands of additional Cherokee refugees moved to the area during the Trail of Tears . By the time Fort Smith was established in 1817, larger capacity watercraft became available to transport goods up and down

7128-455: Was "only to be sold to colored". Among Gurley's first businesses was a rooming house which was located on a dusty trail near the railroad tracks. This road was given the name Greenwood Avenue, named for a city in Mississippi . The area became very popular among black migrants fleeing the oppression in Mississippi. They would find refuge in Gurley's building, as the racial persecution from the south

7216-478: Was completed in 2021 at 21 North Greenwood Avenue on the corner of Greenwood Avenue and Archer Street. The Greenwood Cultural Center, dedicated on October 22, 1995, was created as a tribute to Greenwood's history and as a symbol of hope for the community's future. It has a museum, an African American art gallery, a large banquet hall, and it housed the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame until 2007. The total cost of

7304-492: Was honored in a 2009 documentary film called, Before They Die! The Road to Reparations for the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot Survivors . The Greenwood district in Tulsa came to be known as "Black Wall Street", one of the most commercially successful and affluent majority African-American communities in the United States. Booker T. Washington referred to the Greenwood neighborhood as “Negro Wall Street.” Many Americans, including African-Americans, had moved to Oklahoma in hopes of gaining

7392-505: Was important because it ran north for over a mile from the Frisco Railroad yards, and it was one of the few streets that did not cross through both black and white neighborhoods. Greenwood was home to a thriving Black commercial district, whose many red brick buildings belonged to Black Americans and housed thriving businesses, including grocery stores, banks, libraries, and much more; one of the most affluent African-American communities in

7480-409: Was made a sheriff's deputy by the city of Tulsa to police Greenwood's residents, which resulted in some viewing him with suspicion. By 1921, Gurley owned more than one hundred properties in Greenwood and had an estimated net worth between $ 500,000 and $ 1 million (between $ 6.8 million and $ 13.6 million in 2018 dollars). Gurley's prominence and wealth were short lived, and the authority vested in him as

7568-496: Was non-existent on Greenwood Avenue. In addition to his rooming house, Gurley built three two-story buildings and five residences and bought an 80-acre (32 ha) farm in Rogers County. Gurley also founded what is today Vernon AME Church. He also helped build a black Masonic lodge and an employment agency. This implementation of "colored" segregation set the Greenwood boundaries of separation that still exist: Pine Street to

7656-552: Was overturned by the federal government during the 1950s and 1960s. Desegregation encouraged black citizens to live and shop elsewhere in the city, causing Greenwood to lose much of its original vitality. Since then, city leaders have attempted to encourage other economic development activity nearby. Many African Americans came to Oklahoma during the Native American removal . When these tribes came to Oklahoma, Africans held enslaved or living among them as tribal members (notably in

7744-458: Was to establish a trading post near the present city of Texarkana, Arkansas , but he extended his trip overland as far north as the Arkansas River (which he designated as the Alcansas ). The explorer wrote that he and nine other men, including three Caddo guides and 22 horses loaded with trade goods, had come to a native settlement overlooking the river, where there were about 6,000 natives, who gave

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