Editing Okmulgee County, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
The [[Muscogee (Creek) Nation|Creek Nation]] was removed into this part of Indian Territory along the [[Trail of Tears]] after signing treaties exchanging their land in Georgia and Alabama in 1826 and 1832. The actual move occurred over the period from 1827 to 1836. The [[Muscogee (Creek) Nation|Creek Nation]] government, led by chief [[Samuel Checote]], revised its constitution in 1867 and designated Okmulgee as its capital in 1868. The U.S. Post Office opened in Okmulgee on April 29, 1869. The [[Muscogee (Creek) Nation|Creek Nation]] built its capitol, a log building, in 1869. The building was rebuilt of stone in 1878.<ref name = EOHC-OkmulgeeCo/>

Okmulgee County was formed on July 16, 1907, from Muskogee land, with a population of 14,362. County government offices were located in the [[Creek National Capitol|Creek Council House]] until 1916, when the present Okmulgee County Courthouse was built. The former council building was then repurposed. The county's population was 21,115 in 1910 and increased to a high of 56,558 by 1930.<ref name = EOHC-OkmulgeeCo/>

Railroads came to the area in 1900, when the St. Louis, Oklahoma and Southern Railway (later the [[St. Louis and San Francisco Railway]] or Frisco) built a line from [[Sapulpa, Oklahoma]] via Okmulgee to a place near the [[Red River of the South|Red River]]. The Shawnee, Oklahoma and Missouri Coal and Railway (later also acquired by the Frisco) built a line from [[Muskogee, Oklahoma|Muskogee]]  to Okmulgee in 1902–03. It was abandoned in 1973. The Missouri, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway (purchased by the [[Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway]] in 1919) ran through [[Dewar, Oklahoma]] beginning in 1909, and the Okmulgee Northern Railway operated between Okmulgee and Deep Fork from 1916 to 1964.<ref name = EOHC-OkmulgeeCo/>

In 1918, the boundary between Okmulgee County and [[McIntosh County, Oklahoma|McIntosh County]] was realigned, moving the towns of [[Grayson, Oklahoma|Grayson]]<ref name="EOHC-Grayson">[http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=GR012 Lynn Marie Townsend, "Grayson."   ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.] Retrieved January 18, 2013.</ref> and [[Hoffman, Oklahoma|Hoffman]]<ref name="EOHC-Hoffman">[http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=HO004 Lynn Marie Townsend, "Hoffman."  ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. Retrieved January 18, 2013.]</ref> from McIntosh into Okmulgee County.

The [[Creek National Capitol|Creek Council House]] still stands today. While ownership of the building changed over the years, the City of Okmulgee in November 2010 sold the building back to the tribe for $3.2 million.<ref>Sara Plummer, [http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20101115_11_A13_CUTLIN80706 "Tribe regains historic Council House"], ''[[Tulsa World]]'', November 15, 2010.</ref> The building currently houses the Creek Council House Museum, with artifacts and exhibits about the history of the [[Muscogee]] tribe and the arts and crafts of other Native American tribes.