Editing Pryor Creek, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Pryor Creek}}
In the early 1800s, treaties with the [[Cherokee]], [[Osage Nation|Osage]], and [[Choctaw]] gave the tribes allotments in [[Indian Territory]] in the region that would become [[Oklahoma]].<ref name="indianpedia">"[http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=IN018  Dianna Everett, "Indian Territory." ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.''] Accessed August 5, 2013</ref> Captain [[Nathaniel Hale Pryor]], who was married to an Osage woman and served as an agent to the [[Osage Nation|Osage people]], was among those settling northeastern Oklahoma.<ref>[http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/P/PR024.html May, Jon D. "Pryor, Nathaniel," ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.] Accessed August 5, 2013)</ref> He established a trading post on the [[Neosho River|Grand River]], shortly before the Union Mission was established {{convert|5|mi|0}} southeast of present-day [[Chouteau, Oklahoma|Chouteau]] in 1820.<ref>[http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=MA044  Amanda Carney, "Mayes County, ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.] Accessed August 5, 2013</ref> 

Pryor Creek is along the path of the [[Texas Road]] cattle trail,<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=TE023 | title= Texas Road | publisher=[[Oklahoma Historical Society]] | access-date=January 23, 2019}}</ref> and the later [[Jefferson Highway]]<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1kDNFO6G72Zs6uYHw8OoQTF-x5ALIx4xe&ll=36.272239108052105%2C-95.15108052080575&z=11 | title= Jefferson Highway Map | publisher=2lanetraveler.com | access-date=January 23, 2019}}</ref> of the early [[National Trail System]], both roughly along the route of [[U.S. Route 69 in Oklahoma|U.S. Route 69 through Oklahoma]] today.

In 1870, the [[Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad]] started construction in the Cherokee Nation along the Kansas border, laying tracks to Texas. By June 1871, the railroad reached present-day Pryor Creek.<ref name="Pryor">[http://www.pryorok.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Pryor.woa/wa/room?id=90h05&bid=2037 Pryor, Oklahoma. "History of Pryor."] Retrieved October 15, 2013.</ref>

A post office was eventually established naming the town ''Coo-y-yah'', Indian Territory. Coo-y-yah is Cherokee for "place of the [[Huckleberry|huckleberries]]".<ref name="TravelOK"/> On April 23, 1887, Coo-y-yah was changed to Pryor Creek, but the "Creek" was dropped by the post office on January 26, 1909.<ref name="tillypedia">[http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=PR023 George W. Tilly,  "Pryor Creek,"  ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.] Accessed August 5, 2013)</ref> The official name of the city government is still Pryor Creek despite a proposition put before voters in 1963 to change the name officially to Pryor.<ref name="Pryor"/>

On April 27, 1942, a tornado swept along Pryor's main street from the western edge of the business district to the eastern edge of the city, destroying nearly every building and causing extensive damage to the residential section. The storm killed 52 people, according to the U.S. Weather Bureau, but The Associated Press set the total at 60 two days after the storm. More than 400 were injured in the storm that caused damage estimated at US$3 million.<ref name="Pryor"/>

The F4 tornado struck about 5 p.m. (17:00) local time, an hour and a half after one hit near [[Talala, Oklahoma]], and mowed a path about {{convert|5|mi|km|0}} long, killing three and injuring 12. Talala, which was not hit, is about {{convert|30|mi|km|0}} northwest of Pryor Creek. Governor [[Leon C. Phillips]] put the area under martial law, but because the [[Oklahoma National Guard]] had been activated for service during [[World War II]], he sent state troopers to rescue victims, maintain order and prevent looting.<ref>"[http://www.rarenewspapers.com/view/558671 Pryor tornado disaster]," ''New York Times'', April 28, 1942. (accessed August 5, 2013)</ref>

The Pryor tornado ranks as the fifth deadliest in Oklahoma history behind tornadoes at [[1947 Glazier–Higgins–Woodward tornado outbreak|Woodward in 1947]], [[1905 Snyder tornado|Snyder in 1905]], Peggs in 1920, and [[Tornado outbreak of April 12, 1945|Antlers in 1945]]. The [[1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak|May 3, 1999]], tornado at Midwest City caused more damage but fewer deaths.<ref>[http://newsok.com/oklahomas-10-deadliest-tornadoes/article/3351036 "Oklahoma's 10 deadliest tornadoes." NewsOK.] March 7, 2009. (accessed August 5, 2013)</ref>

In 1951, voters approved the present city charter of a [[mayor-council government]] system, which provided for the election of a mayor, clerk, treasurer, police chief and eight councilors. The charter also established a cemetery, park, library board, and a municipal utility board, which oversees operations of the city-owned gas, water, electric and sewer systems.<ref name="Pryor"/>