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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 of 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, 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.
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 Ft. 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, followed by the arrival of the railroad. By this time the area was known as 'Tulsey Town' and had grown to be a trading post and cattle town.
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