Мускогги: История и развитие города в Оклахоме

Muskogee (/m//ə//'//s//k//oʊ//g//i:/) is the 13th largest city in Oklahoma and is the county seat of Muskogee County. Home to Bacone College, it lies approximately 48 mile (77 km) southeast of Tulsa. The population of the city was 36,878 as of the 2020 census, a 6.0% decrease from 39,223 in 2010.

French fur traders were believed to have established a temporary village near the future Muskogee in 1806, but the first permanent European American settlement was established in 1817 on the south bank of the Verdigris River, north of present day Muskogee. After the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830 under President Andrew Jackson, the Muscogee Creek Indians were one of the "Five Civilized Tribes" forced out of the American Southeast to Indian Territory. They were accompanied by their slaves. The Indian Agency, a two story stone building, was built here in Muskogee. It was a site for meetings among the leaders of the Five Civilized Tribes. Today it serves as a museum. At the top of what is known as Agency Hill, it is within Honor Heights Park on the west side of Muskogee. In 1872, the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad was extended to the area. A federal court was established in Muskogee in 1889, around the same time that Congress opened portions of Indian Territory to non Native settlers via land rushes. The city was incorporated on March 19, 1898. Ohio native Charles N. Haskell moved to the city in March 1901. He was instrumental in building on the land rush; he stimulated expansion of the city of more than 4,000 people to a center of business and industry by 1910, with a population of more than 25,000 inhabitants. Haskell built the first five story business block in Oklahoma Territory; he built and owned fourteen brick buildings in the city. Most importantly, he organized and built most of the railroads running into the city, which connected it to other markets and centers of population, stimulating its business and retail, and attracting new residents. As Muskogee's economic and business importance grew, so did its political power. In the years before the territory was admitted as a state, the Five Civilized Tribes continued to work on alternatives to keep some independence from European Americans. They met together on August 21, 1905 to propose the State of Sequoyah, to be controlled by Native Americans. They met in Muskogee to draft its constitution, planning to have Muskogee serve as the State's capital. The proposal was vetoed by US President Theodore Roosevelt and mostly ignored by Congress; the proposed State of Sequoyah was never authorized. The US admitted the State of Oklahoma to the Union on November 16, 1907, as the 46th state. Muskogee was the operational headquarters of the Muskogee Roads, four regional rail carriers under common management. The first was the Midland Valley Railroad, chartered in 1903. The three carriers surviving until 1963 were sold to the Texas & Pacific, which was a subsidiary of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Muskogee was on the route of the Jefferson Highway established in 1915. That road ran more than 2,300 miles from Winnipeg, Manitoba, to New Orleans, Louisiana. Muskogee attracted national and international attention when, in May 2008, voters elected John Tyler Hammons as mayor. Nineteen years old at the time of his election, Hammons is among the youngest mayors in American history.

Muskogee is a soft spot for floods. In May 2019, waters rose more than 42 feet on the Arkansas River. Those levels had not been reached since 1943 (although 1986 came close with water 39.6 feet high). The U. S. S. Batfish docked at the city's military harbor broke free on the river. Two barges filled with tons of phosphate broke loose and threatened to break the dam they were heading towards. Webber Falls was ordered to evacuate immediately.

Muskogee is an economic center for eastern Oklahoma, and is home to several industrial activities. Georgia Pacific has a tissue, paper towel, and napkin manufacturing plant in Muskogee. The 2.9 million square foot facility is Muskogee's largest employer with 800 workers.

Muskogee is home to Honor Heights Park, a World War I memorial park. It is planted with azaleas and hosts the annual Azalea Festival each April. During the winter, Honor Heights is transformed into the Garden of Lights, a Christmas lights display. Muskogee has six museums. The Five Civilized Tribes Museum preserves the art and culture of the Five Civilized Tribes. The U. S. S. Batfish and War Memorial Park's major attraction is the submarine Batfish. The Three Rivers Museum chronicles the history of the Three Rivers area and the railroads that helped create it. The Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame has been honoring Oklahoma musicians since 1997. The Thomas Foreman Historic Home, aka the Grant Foreman House is an 1898 farm house preserved with the furnishings of the Indian Territory Judge John R. Thomas and his daughter and son in law Grant and Carolyn Foreman, Oklahoma historians and authors. The Ataloa Lodge is on the campus of Bacone College. Two feature films were shot in Muskogee through a tax incentive program offered by the state: Salvation (2007) and Denizen (2010). Writer and director J. A. Steel produced both films. The local paper, the Muskogee Phoenix, was founded in February 1888 when Oklahoma was still a territory, and continues to be published today.

Muskogee is governed by a council–manager form of municipal government. The city manager is the administrative leader of the government and is appointed by the city council. The city's ceremonial head is the mayor, who is a voting, at large member of the council with limited administrative power. The city is divided into four wards, with two members of the city council elected from each. Each member of the council is elected by the city as a whole but must reside in a specific ward. Elections are held on the first Tuesday in April in each even numbered year. All elections are non partisan; the mayor and the members of the city council receive no salary or compensation for their services.

Since 1995, crime rate has reduced by 45 percent in Muskogee. According to records by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, in 2002, 2008 and 2009, no murders were committed for the entire year. However, on April 10, 2010, a deadly shooting broke out at the Arrowhead Mall, injuring at least five people and leaving one dead; witnesses say that the shooting was gang related. On February 2, 2021, a mass murder occurred when a gunman opened fire at a home, killing six people, including five children, and one woman was seriously injured.

Muskogee Public Schools includes the vast majority of the city limits and a large portion of Muskogee County. Hilldale Public Schools covers a small southern portion of the city limits and some parts of the County south of Muskogee. Fort Gibson Public Schools includes some areas in the east. Muskogee is also home to the Oklahoma School for the Blind, a special institution for meeting the educational needs of blind and visually impaired students residing in the state of Oklahoma. Previous Institutions that where located in the city where Harrell International Institute, Spaulding Institute, and Nazareth Institute. Muskogee has four institutions of higher education: the public four year Northeastern State University, the public two year Connors State College, the public Indian Capital Technology Center and the private four year Bacone College, which is the oldest college in the state of Oklahoma. In 2004, civic rights lawyers took on the case of 11 year old Nashala Hearn who sued the Muskogee, Oklahoma, Public School District for ordering her to remove her hijab because it was violative of the school's dress code. She refused to submit and was subsequently suspended twice. The court ordered agreement reached by the Justice Department with the school board permits Nashala, and any other child in Muskogee whose religious beliefs and practices conflict with the school dress code, to receive an accommodation.

Muskogee was home to minor league baseball from 1905 to 1957. Changing monikers frequently, Muskogee hosted the Muskogee Reds (1905), Muskogee Indians (1906), Muskogee Redskins (1907 1908), Muskogee Navigators (1909 1910), Muskogee Redskins (1911), Muskogee Indians (1912), Muskogee Mets (1914 1916), Muskogee Reds (1917), Muskogee Mets (1921 1923), Muskogee Athletics (1924 1926), Muskogee Chiefs (1927 1932), Muskogee Oilers (1933), Muskogee Tigers (1934 1936), Muskogee Reds (1937 1942, 1946–1950) and Muskogee Giants (1951 1957). Muskogee teams played were members of the Missouri Valley League (1905), South Central League (1906), Oklahoma Arkansas Kansas League (1907 1908), Western Association (1909 1911), Oklahoma State League (1912), Western Association (1914 1916 1917), Southwestern League (1921 1923), Western Association (1924 1932), Western League (1933), Western Association (1934 1942, 1946–1954) and Sooner State League (1955 1957). Muskogee Country Club (Muskogee Golf Club) played host to the 1970 U. S. Women's Open golf tournament won by Donna Caponi.

On January 20, 2023, at 3:38 AM CST, a slow moving fireball lit up the sky over Eastern Oklahoma. An accompanying sonic boom was heard by many witnesses in the Oklahoma cities of Bixby, Broken Arrow, Coweta, Wagoner and as far away as Fayetteville, Arkansas. The resulting shockwave shook houses in the affected area, many people reported. Local television station KJRH stated, “Multiple surveillance videos captured the meteor's sights and sounds early Friday morning.” Numerous videos of the event were later posted to social media. The meteor survived to relatively low altitudes, breaking apart soon thereafter, raining down numerous meteorite fragments that ultimately reached the ground. Meteorite enthusiasts from around the country quickly converged on the strewnfield, which was scientifically determined to be in an around the Muskogee area. Reality television meteorite hunter Steve Arnold told reporter Jeanette Quezada of KJRH that “We’re out here hunting we’re finding rocks."