Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City): Osage Nation readies fourth casino near Tulsa

The Osage Nation plans to open its fourth casino on Wednesday on the north side of Tulsa.

The Million Dollar Elm Casino-Tulsa will have 560 employees - 400 for casino operations and 160 in three food venues.

The $16.5 million facility has 47,000 square feet and will operate 24 hours per day, 365 days a year.

Other Osage Nation casinos include the Million Dollar Elm Casino- Sand Springs, which opened in July 2004, and neighborhood casinos in Hominy and Pawhuska.

The goal of our tribe's investment is to use gaming revenues to better the lives of the Osage people and enhance education, health care and housing initiatives in our community, said Jim Gray, principal chief of the Osage Nation.

The casino occupies about 25 acres of a 100-acre site the Osage Nation owns. The facility was designed to allow expansion.

The Million Dollar Elm name is part of the tribe history. During the early 1900s, oil lease auctions were held in Pawhuska under an elm tree near the Osage tribal building. On Nov. 11, 1924, 18 oil leases were sold for more than $1 million.