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Muskogee County

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1907

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History
    Muskogee County was named for the Muscogee (Creek) Tribe, although its boundaries encompass the Muskogee District of the Creek Nation and a portion of the Illinois and Canadian districts of the Cherokee Nation.
    In 1719 Jean Baptiste Bénard de la Harpe, a French explorer and trader, encountered a Wichita village in the present county. By the end of the eighteenth century a settlement of fur traders emerged at the Three Forks, including Auguste Pierre Chouteau, one of the area's earliest frontier merchants. By the early 1800s the Osage had become the region's dominant tribe, driving out the less warlike Wichita. However, Cherokee and Choctaw hunting forays into the area challenged the Osage, resulting in frequent conflict. In response, in 1824 federal officials established Fort Gibson on the Grand River at the Three Forks. The town of Fort Gibson that emerged near the post is the county's oldest.
    Fort Gibson became the terminus of the Trail of Tears for the Cherokee and Creek people. Removed from their homeland in the southeastern United States, many settled along the rivers of Muskogee County but founded only a few towns such as Webbers Falls. Some Creek and Cherokee reestablished their cotton plantations and continued to use slave labor.
    With the outbreak of the Civil War Confederate troops of both the Cherokee and Creek nations established Fort Davis across the Arkansas River from Fort Gibson. At Fort Gibson, regiments of the Cherokee and Creek Home Guard as well as the First Kansas Colored Infantry held Indian Territory for the Union. In 1862 Federal troops captured and destroyed Fort Davis. Other engagements that occurred in the county included the Bayou Menard Skirmish (1862), several at Webbers Falls (1862), and the Creek Agency Skirmish (1863). At the war's conclusion the Creek Nation's plantation lifestyle came to an end. Creek freedmen returned to the river bottoms within the county and raised cotton.

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Muskogee County Cemetery Listings

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Oklahoma State Archives

  • Dept. of Libraries
    Third Floor
    200 NE 18th St.
    Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
    Phone: (405) 522-3579
  • The Oklahoma State Archives provides an excellent library of genealogy records including: Commissioner of Confederate Pensions Applications, 1915-33, Commissioner of Confederate Pensions Pension Files, 1915-49, U.S. District Land Office Homestead Registers, 1889-1908, Oklahoma Supreme Court Applications to the Bar, 1907-42, Oklahoma Board of Medical Examiners Deceased Files, 1907-86, Oklahoma Board of Pharmacy Deceased Pharmacist Files, 1907-75, and Oklahoma Board of Chiropractic Examiners Inactive License Files, 1921-84.

Oklahoma Genealogical Society Library and Archives
  • 2100 N. Lincoln Blvd.
    Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105-4997
    Phone: (405) 522-5225
  • The Oklahoma Genealogical Society maintains a library and archives that the public is allowed to visit. The Library and Archives contains over 62,000 volumes with emphasis on Oklahoma, Native American, and western history. In addition to these materials -- many of which are rare and out-of-print -- the library also houses a number of special collections.
County Clerk
400 West Broadway St., Suite 110
Muskogee, OK 74401
Phone (918)682-7781		Court Clerk
200 State St.
Muskogee, OK 74402
Phone (918)682-7873
Fax (918)684-1696		 

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Adjacent Counties

Wagoner County | Cherokee County | Sequoyah County | Haskell County
McIntosh County | Okmulgee County | Tulsa County

Last Updated, Tuesday, 05-Mar-2013 11:49:55 MST
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© Wednesday, 22-May-2013 09:52:04 MDT by Muskogee County Administrator