 Tulsa was a small town near the banks of the Arkansas River in 1901 when its first oil well , named Sue Bland No. 1 , was established . Much of the oil was discovered on land whose mineral rights were owned by members of the Osage Nation under a system of headrights . By 1905 , the discovery of the large Glenn Pool ( located approximately 15 miles south of downtown Tulsa and site of the present @-@ day town of Glenpool ) prompted a rush of entrepreneurs to the area 's growing number of oil fields ; Tulsa 's population swelled to over 140 @,@ 000 between 1901 and 1930 . By 1909 , seven years after the discovery of oil in the area , Tulsa 's population had sprouted to 180 @,@ 000 . Unlike the early settlers of Northeastern Oklahoma , who most frequently migrated from the South and Texas , many of these new oil @-@ driven settlers came to Tulsa from the commercial centers of the East Coast and lower Midwest . This migration distinguished the city 's demographics from neighboring communities ( Tulsa has larger and more prominent Catholic and Jewish populations than most Oklahoma cities ) and is reflected in the designs of early Tulsa 's upscale neighborhoods . 
