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Indian Pioneer History Project for Oklahoma
Date:
Name: D. (David) O. Gilliss
Post Office: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth:
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Place of Birth:
Information on father:
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Vol. 26, p. 41-42 (partial)

 “Tulsey Town” (for the cattleman's benefit), my father loaded us up again and we came to “Tulsey  Town” to live in 1882. We were the first white people to put up a home here, though it was only a tent, floored and boxed up. There were only three houses here when we came and I will tell you exactly where they were. Noah PARTRIDGE, a fullblood Creek, with his wife and step son, lived in a little log house about where the Holy Family Church is today on Eighth and boulder. He didn't cultivate any ground, just depended on hunting and fishing. Noah's brother, Kipsee Partridge, lived where Owens school is now. He had about an acre of corn fenced in. Later the land in this area came into the hands of Chauncey OWENS, and was called Owens Park. West of Noah partridge lived a Mexican named HOSEY, who had married a Creek Indian and had four or five children. They lived in a log house and cultivated six or eight acres, which was fenced in.

As I said we were the first white people to put up a home in “Tulsey Town”. It was a large tent-house put up at about where Archer and Elwood are today just a little north toward Cameron Street. Our family at that time consisted of my father and mother and five children: Lewis, Hattie, myself and Anbnie and Alice SHOEMAKER, step children. The next white people to put up a tent-home were an old bachelor and his mother, who lived near us. With surveyors at work, people seemed to flock here and the tent-town grew. Chancey Owens moved from Coweta and started a tent-boarding house (floored and boxed up). Later he built a hotel for railroad employees. This was where the Gibson Hotel is at Main Street and the viaduct.

With the tent-houses and box houses springing up, came our first stores.  Jeff ARCHER put up the first store, a little board shack about twelve by eighteen feet, at what would be Main and the Frisco tracks today.  he sold cider and groceries.  The next store was put up by Josiah PERRYMAN, brother of Legus and George.  Josiah had married a white woman, old man JONES (Jack's) daughter.  He had his farm where Lynn Lane is today, about eight or nine miles east on Highway No. 66.  This little store was first at about where Third Street and Olympia are today.  This was the first post office in town, Perryman moved it from the George Perryman home about three and one-half miles south where it has been established on the Star Route in 1879.

Submitted to OKGenWeb by Joan Case <lcase@manti.com> 02-1999.