Editing Okfuskee County, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
[[File:West Broadway Street, Okemah, March 2010.jpg|thumb|right|West Broadway Street in [[Okemah, Oklahoma|Okemah]]]]

The area now covered by Okfuskee County was occupied by the [[Quapaw]] and [[Osage Nation|Osage]] tribes until 1825, when they ceded the land to the United States government. The Creeks moved here in the early 1830s and built two towns, Greenleaf and [[Thlopthlocco Tribal Town|Thlopthlocco]]. During the Civil War, Thlopthlocco served as headquarters for Confederate Col. [[Douglas H. Cooper]]. Greenleaf was where Chief Opothleyahola camped while he tried to retain unity among the Creeks, before leading over 5000 Creeks to Kansas to avoid the war.<ref name="EOHC-OkfuskeeCo">[http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OK005 Linda D. Wilson, "Okfuskee County." ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.] Retrieved August 18, 2013.</ref>

After the war, the Creeks were required to free their African American slaves. Many of these people remained in the same area and founded all-black communities. These towns included Boley, Bookertee, Clearview, Chilesville, and Rusk. Okfuskee, a Creek town, grew up around Samuel Checote's trading post after the Civil War.<ref name="EOHC-OkfuskeeCo"/>

The [[St. Louis and San Francisco Railway]] built a north–south line through this area during 1901–03. The [[Fort Smith and Western Railroad]] constructed an east–west line in 1903.<ref name="EOHC-OkfuskeeCo"/>

Okfuskee County was created at statehood from the former Creek Nation, and Okemah was designated as the county seat. Oil and gas production began in the county in 1914, when the Prairie Oil and Gas Company completed a well near Paden. Other wells followed elsewhere in the county, creating a population boom that peaked in 1930.<ref name="EOHC-OkfuskeeCo"/>