Bird Creek is a stream in northeast

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. The main creek is formed from the waters of North Bird Creek, Middle Bird Creek, and South Bird Creek, all of which rise in Osage County. The South and Middle branches of the creek converge at Bluestem Lake. Outflow from the lake is called Middle Bird Creek. North Bird Creek joins Middle Bird Creek northwest of

Pawhuska Pawhuska ( osa, 𐓄𐓘𐓢𐓶𐓮𐓤𐓘 / hpahúska, ''meaning: "White Hair"'', iow, Paháhga) is a city in and the county seat of Osage County, Oklahoma, United States. It was named after the 19th-century Osage chief, ''Paw-Hiu-Skah'', wh ...

, and from that point on is simply Bird Creek. From Pawhuska, the creek flows southeastward and eastward through the north side of the Tulsa metropolitan area, before reaching its mouth at the

Verdigris River The Verdigris River is a tributary of the Arkansas River in southeastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma in the United States. It is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, ...

near Catoosa.geology.com Oklahoma Lakes, Rivers and Water Resources
/ref> Major tributaries include Birch Creek, Hominy Creek and Mingo Creek. There are numerous minor tributaries, both named and unnamed, that have contributed to historical flooding problems in the Tulsa area. Birch Creek is impounded by Birch Lake, south of Barnsdall, Oklahoma. Hominy Creek is impounded by Skiatook Lake dam about above its confluence with Bird Creek.
"Skiatook Lake." Accessed July 20, 2016.

History

Two relatively small battles occurred in

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...

along Bird Creek during the Civil War: the

Battle of Chusto-Talasah The Battle of Chusto-Talasah, also known as Bird Creek, Caving Banks, and High Shoal, was fought December 9, 1861, in what is now Tulsa County, Oklahoma (then Indian Territory) during the American Civil War. It was the second of three battles ...

and the

Battle of Chustenahlah The Battle of Chustenahlah was fought in Osage County, Oklahoma, (then Indian Territory) on December 26, 1861, during the American Civil War. A band of 9,000 pro-Union Native Americans was forced to flee to Kansas in bitter cold and snow in wh ...

Significance in Tulsa's flooding history

Historically, Bird Creek was a frequent site of flooding in the Tulsa area. However, flood control did not seem to be considered a serious problem until Tulsa's population growth spilled out into the Bird Creek watershed east and north of downtown Tulsa. The city issued its first land-use plan after a serious flood along the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...

in 1923, but this plan was aimed more at preventing flooding along the Arkansas than in the Bird Creek watershed. Not until three floods in August, September and December 1971, did angry residents demand that the problem be fixed. Tulsa responded by joining the National Flood Insurance Program, adopting a new definition of the 100-year flood standard and promising to regulate flood plain use. In 1974, disastrous floods occurred on Bird Creek in April and May, then on June 8 along Mingo, Joe, Fry and Haikey creeks. Finally, a flood of Mingo creek on September 19 was enough evidence for the residents to show that the city's previous actions had been wholly insufficient.City of Tulsa. "Flooding History." City of Tulsa. Undated.
Accessed April 8, 2017.

Salt water contamination

In August 2016, an oily sheen, along with several dead fish and turtles, was reported on North Bird Creek, about from the Tall Grass Preserve in

Osage County, Oklahoma Osage County is the largest county by area in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Created in 1907 when Oklahoma was admitted as a state, the county is named for and is home to the federally recognized Osage Nation. The county is coextensive with the Os ...

. After looking at the site, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), added that warm salt water was bubbling up through the creek water.Laden, Logan. "EPA Pledges Bird Creek Clean-Up." State Impact. National Public Radio. May 30, 2017.
Accessed January 25, 2017. After trying to locate a cause for the continuing contamination, EPA officials felt that the most likely cause would be water that had been used in

secondary recovery Petroleum is a fossil fuel that can be drawn from beneath the earth's surface. Reservoirs of petroleum was formed through the mixture of plants, algae, and sediments in shallow seas under high pressure. Petroleum is mostly recovered from oil dri ...

of petroleum. Sam Coleman, Regional Administrator for U.S. EPA Region 6, and Kenneth Wagner, scientific advisor to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, visited the Coleman Ranch, which surrounded the contamination source, and agreed that responsibility for cleaning up the problem belonged by law to the EPA and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).Bostian, Kelly. "EPA administrators eye Bird Creek, lay out plans to find contamination source." ''Tulsa World''. May 7, 2017.
Accessed January 25, 2018. As of December, 2017, no solution to this issue had been found. The EPA continued monitoring Bird Creek and had threatened to close some of the oil wells nearest the site.

Notes

References

{{authority control Rivers of Oklahoma Tributaries of the Arkansas River Rivers of Osage County, Oklahoma Rivers of Tulsa County, Oklahoma Rivers of Rogers County, Oklahoma