Muscogee (Creek) Papers
Collection Overview
The Muscogee (Creek) Papers consist of a collection of materials such as personal letters, military letters, laws and bylaws, government correspondence, land claims, speeches, petitions, depositions, government appointment records, resolutions, journal articles, census records, records books, and other manuscript documents ranging from 1782-1966. Letters include correspondence from James Seagrove, Major General Thomas Pinckney, Chief Roly Canard Elenor Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, and others. Some notable documents are an appointment signed by President James Monroe (1817), a Land Lottery with list of names for Montgomery County (1832), Collections of the Georgia Historical Society Volume III- Part 1, written by Benjamin Hawkins, which gives an incredibly detailed description of Muscogee (Creek) Nation and its inhabitants and intricacies (1848), a notebook of Creek Laws in the Creek language (1849), a bound volume of Creek Laws (1865), a Creek Census Roll of Tulmochessee Town (1868), a typescript of Chief Samuel Checote’s record book (1860-1874), and a typescript of History of the Muscogee's or Creek Indians (1518-1893).
Access Restrictions
Available by appointment only at the Helmerich Center for American Research (HCAR) with the exception of materials with donor restrictions. Contact Library staff in advance to inquire if materials exist pertaining to your research interests.
Use Restrictions
Please contact the Rights and Reproduction Department for information on publishing or reproducing materials included in these records. Permission will be granted by the Gilcrease Museum as the owner of the physical materials, and does not imply permission from the copyright holder. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain all necessary permissions from the copyright holder.
Provenance
The Gilcrease Foundation acquired these materials before 1964 and is housed in the Helmerich Center for American Research (HCAR). The library currently receives most materials through community donation, board members, artists and the acquisition of manuscript collections.
Staff, interns, and volunteers of the Thomas Gilcrease Library and Archive have contributed to the organization and maintenance of the files since the collection passed to the City of Tulsa in the 1950s.