TULSA TRAILBLAZERS
Tulsa fortunate to have
Thomas Gilcrease Museum The next chapter for priceless collection lies ahead Michael Overall // Tulsa World Magazine
T
COURTESY, TULSA HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM
Thomas Gilcrease, at age 35, stands along the banks of the Avon River with the steeple of Holy Trinity Church standing in the background. 62 Tulsa World Magazine
homas Gilcrease once posed for a snapshot along the banks of the Avon River with the steeple of Holy Trinity Church standing in the background on the opposite side of the water. William Shakespeare has been buried there since the 17th century, the church tower casting a long shadow across the small graveyard. The landmark inspired Gilcrease, then only 35 years old, to ponder his own mortality, according to an inscription he wrote on the back of the photo itself, now preserved by the Tulsa Historical Society. “Mr. Gilcrease stands upon the east bank,” the caption says, “facing the rising sun with the realization that he too will soon cross over to the west bank and join that endless march of numberless folk gone.” Born in Louisiana, Gilcrease was 5 years old when his family moved to what is now Oklahoma in anticipation of receiving allotments in the Muscogee Nation, where he qualified for citizenship thanks to his mother’s tribal heritage. Fortuitously, Gilcrease’s 160-acre tract sat within the famous Glenn Pool, where the Tulsa oil rush began in 1905. He was just 15 when he began receiving royalties from oil production, and Gilcrease eventually had 32 productive wells on his property, which was enough to accumulate a small fortune. Not satisfied to sit back and collect easy money, he began his own company in 1922 and set out to find TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM
