Creek County, Oklahoma: History
European explorers traveled through this area early in the 19th century, after the Louisiana Purchase. In 1825, the Osage Nation ceded the territory where the Federal Government planned to resettle the Creek Nation and other tribes after their expulsion from the Southeastern part of the United States. The Creeks began migrating into this area, where they and many black families settled to begin farming and raising cattle. In 1835, Federal soldiers under Captain J. L. Dawson built the Dawson Road, following an old Osage hunting trail.
Railroads gave an important boost to the local economy. In 1886, the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad built a line from Red Fork to Sapulpa. In 1898, the St. Louis and Oklahoma City Railway Company (later the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway), connected Sapulpa and Oklahoma City.
Bristow was originally designated by the statehood constitutional convention as the county seat for Moman County-- later Creek County-- prior to statehood; but, the convention later designated Sapulpa, with the proviso that an election could be held after statehood. The county held such an election on August 20, 1908, amidst arguments that Bristow was more centrally located, but Sapulpa was the center of population in the county. Sapulpa won, setting off a multi-year cycle of petitions, court challenges and new elections. After yet another election, the Oklahoma Supreme Court conclusively ruled in favor of Sapulpa on August 1, 1913.
After oil was discovered at Glenn Pool in adjacent Tulsa County in 1905, other strikes occurred in Creek County. The Cushing-Drumright Oil Field opened in 1912, creating boom towns Drumright, Kiefer and Oilton. By 1920, the county population had increased to 62,480.