As the very name implies, the history of Broken Arrow is linked forever to the saga of the American Indian.  As a result of the movement of the Indian tribes from the Southern States, the Creek nation was settled in this part of what is now Oklahoma.

     The Creek Indians lived in towns, with each town selecting its own leaders who represented it at the Grand Council of the entire tribe.  Whenever a town became too large to gather around one campfire the people divided and some of them would found a new town in a new location.

     One year, some of the Indians of the Muskogee town in Georgia made a long journey to the Chattahooche River, where grew a particular tree suitable for arrow making.  They stayed there several months gathering arrows for the whole town.  Since the branches of the trees were broken off and not cut, they were called broken arrows.

     Later, after returning home, this group decided to return to the river and establish a new town.  It was customary among the Creeks to use something descriptive of the area as a name for their towns, so it was natural for them to name the town Thikachka, or Broken Arrow.

     The first party of Creeks emigrated to Oklahoma in 1818 and settled at the Three Forks of the Arkansas, Verdigris, and Grand Rivers a few miles north of the present Muskogee, Oklahoma.  Most of these immigrants came from Broken Arrow, Coweta, Big Springs, and other Lower Creek towns in Georgia.

     White settlers moved into the area after the Civil War, engaging primarily in farming and grazing.  Today's city is located on popular pasture lands where thousands of cattle grazed during the Spring before being driven to market. Such activity naturally led to the establishment of the first trading posts and other facilities for the growing population.

     The railroads began to snake across the Oklahoma landscape, leading to more permanent development of townships, including Broken Arrow.  The actual township platting took place in 1903.  Rapid growth followed within months, helped along by area coal mines as well as the successful farming and cattle activities.  Most of the early day settlers of Broken Arrow came from Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, and Kansas.

     Some historical highlights include the opening of the first post office on December 17, 1902, the first phone company March 2, 1904, a volunteer fire department in 1906, the first Church in 1903, which was also the start up year of schools.