Editing Miami, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
The city was founded in an unusual way, compared to other towns established in [[Indian Territory]]. Per the ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'' "... it was settled in a business-like way by men of vision who looked into the future and saw possibilities. It didn't just grow. It was carefully planned."<ref name="EOHC-Miami">{{cite encyclopedia |first=Jess |last=Heck |url=http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=MI002  |title=Miami |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture |access-date=8 April 2021 }}</ref>

W. C. Lykins petitioned the [[U.S. Congress]] to pass legislation on March 3, 1891, to establish the town. He met with Thomas F. Richardville, chief of the [[Miami Tribe of Oklahoma]], who agreed to meet in turn with the [[Indian Commission|U.S. Indian Commission]] and the [[Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma|Ottawa Tribe]].

That meeting resulted in Congress authorizing the [[United States Secretary of the Interior|secretary]] of the [[United States Department of the Interior]] to approve the townsite purchase from the Ottawa. Lykins, Richardville and Manford Pooler, chief of the Ottawa, are identified in historical accounts as "fathers of Miami." Lykins' company, the Miami Town Company, bought {{convert|588|acre|ha}} of land from the Ottawa for ten dollars an acre. On June 25–26, 1891 they held an auction of lots. In 1895, Miami incorporated and had more than 800 residents.<ref name="EOHC-Miami" />

The discovery of rich deposits of lead and zinc under [[Quapaw]] land a few miles north caused Miami to boom. In 1907, at the time of statehood, its population was 1,893. As mining increased and more mills were built, the population more than tripled to 6,802 by 1920.<ref name="EOHC-Miami"/>

Miami was on the route of the [[Jefferson Highway]] established in 1915, with that international road running more than {{convert|2,300|mi}} from [[Winnipeg]], Manitoba in Canada across the border and to [[New Orleans]], Louisiana.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.jeffersonhighwayinoklahoma.com/ |title=The Jefferson Highway Route in Oklahoma|publisher= Oklahoma Members of the Jefferson Highway Association |access-date=October 27, 2019 }}</ref> [[U.S. Route 66 in Oklahoma|US Route 66]] in Oklahoma also passed through Miami. An historic [[U.S. Route 66 in Oklahoma#Structures|section of the Route 66 roadbed]] is marked in Miami.

It is the capital of the [[Miami Tribe of Oklahoma]], after which it is named; the [[Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma]], [[Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma]], [[Peoria (tribe)|Peoria Tribe of Indians]], and [[Shawnee Tribe]].<ref name="oic">{{cite web |publisher=Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commission |url=http://www.ok.gov/oiac/Publications/index.html |date=2008 |title=Oklahoma Indian Nations Pocket Pictorial |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211145522/http://www.ok.gov/oiac/Publications/index.html |archive-date=February 11, 2009}}</ref>