The plot revolved around the Tulsa, Oklahoma Petroleum boom of the 1920s and detailed how obsession with accumulating wealth and power can tend to corrupt moral character.<ref name="all">[http://www.allmovie.com/work/1:51201 Tulsa Plot Synopsis] (accessed June 7, 2010).</ref> The story begins with the death of rancher Nelse Lansing, who is killed by an oil well blowout while visiting a well operated by Tanner Petroleum to report that pollution from the oil production has killed some of his cattle.<ref name="tcm">[http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=26005 Tulsa (1949) Synopsis] (accessed June 7, 2010).</ref> The plot thickens as Lansing's daughter, Cherokee, acquires drilling rights and meets Brad Brady, a geologist who wants the oil drillers to limit their drilling in order to minimize oil field depletion and to preserve the area's grasslands.<ref name="tcm"/>