Editing Tulsa race massacre (section)

===Taking up arms===
Having seen the armed black men, some of the more than 1,000 whites who had been at the courthouse went home for their own guns. Others headed for the National Guard [[Arsenal|armory]] at the corner of Sixth Street and Norfolk Avenue, where they planned to arm themselves. The armory contained a supply of small arms and ammunition. Major James Bell of the [[180th Cavalry Regiment|180th Infantry Regiment]] learned of the mounting situation downtown and the possibility of a break-in, and he consequently took measures to prevent it. He called the commanders of the three National Guard units in Tulsa, who ordered all the Guard members to put on their uniforms and report quickly to the armory. When a group of whites arrived and began pulling at the grating over a window, Bell went outside to confront the crowd of 300 to 400 men. Bell told them that the Guard members inside were armed and prepared to shoot anyone who tried to enter. After this show of force, the crowd withdrew from the armory.{{sfn|Hirsch|2002|pp=87–88}}

At the courthouse, the crowd had swollen to nearly 2,000, many of them now armed. Several local leaders, including [[Charles William Kerr|Reverend Charles W. Kerr]], pastor of the [[First Presbyterian Church (Tulsa)|First Presbyterian Church]], tried to dissuade mob action. Chief of Police [[John A. Gustafson]] later claimed that he tried to talk the crowd into going home.{{sfn|Oklahoma Commission|2001|p=62}}

Anxiety on Greenwood Avenue was rising. Many black residents worried about the safety of Rowland. Small groups of armed black men ventured toward the courthouse in automobiles, partly for surveillance and to demonstrate they were prepared to take necessary action to protect Rowland.{{sfn|Oklahoma Commission|2001|p=62}} Many white men interpreted these actions as a "Negro uprising" and became concerned. Eyewitnesses reported gunshots, presumably fired into the air, increasing in frequency during the evening.{{sfn|Oklahoma Commission|2001|pp=62, 67}}

In Greenwood, rumors began to fly—in particular, a report that whites were storming the courthouse. Shortly after 10 p.m., a second, larger group of approximately 75 armed black men decided to go to the courthouse. They offered their support to the sheriff, who declined their help.

There are conflicting reports about the exact time and nature of the incident, or incidents, that immediately precipitated the massacre. According to the 2001 Commission, "As the black men were leaving, a white man attempted to disarm a tall, African American World War I veteran. A struggle ensued, and a shot rang out."<ref name="OK History 2001-02-28 p56-58" /> Then, according to the sheriff, "all hell broke loose."<ref name="MADIGAN" /> At the end of the exchange of gunfire, 12 people were dead, 10 white and two black.<ref name="wwhite" />

Another firsthand account originates from Eloise Taylor Butler—the daughter of the famed "Peg Leg" Taylor—who was nineteen years old and in Greenwood on that day. According to Eloise's great-granddaughter, who passed on the story that Eloise told her, while "the initial story was that it started at the Courthouse," in fact, "It escalated ''to'' the Courthouse. It started like down the street from the Courthouse."<ref name="Taylor Account" /> This key inciting incident reportedly occurred when a group of around six white men approached and beat down a lone black man. Black store owners reportedly then came out of nearby shops to help defend the black man, and "once they started defending him, they ended up having to shoot." The account further notes, "[The black store owners] fought back the best they could. But...[the white mob] started on that end of town, where the black people started fighting, [the white mob] set those initial shops on fire at the very beginning."<ref name="Taylor Account" /> The 2001 Commission itself does note that "African American homes and businesses along Archer were the first targets" of the white mob's arson.{{sfn|Oklahoma Commission|2001|p=194}} These could possibly be the same shops "down the street from the Courthouse" where this inciting incident reportedly took place, and it establishes an immediate motive for those particular shops being targeted first. Of course, it may simply be the case that they were targeted first only out of convenience—Archer being the first street on Greenwood's side of the Frisco Tracks. Moreover, while the Taylor account seems adamant that this incident occurred before the initial gunfight at the Courthouse (and then "escalated ''to'' the Courthouse"), it's still possible that the incident Taylor witnessed was itself simply a product of the rolling gunfight that is known to have ensued across the streets of Tulsa following that first widely reported exchange of gunfire.