On May 30th, 1921, an incident occurred between a young black man named Dick Rowland and a white woman, Sarah Page. What actually happened is not entirely certain but the assumption was that Rowland assaulted Page. Rowland was arrested the day after. word of the incident spread quickly and incited armed mobs of both white and black majority. Beginning on July 1st, 1921, the white rioters had outnumbered the black mobs that had gone back into the Greenwood district and proceeded to burn and loot the district. Martial law had to be instated as National guardsmen began locking up all black Tulsans that were not already ‘interned”. Over 6,000 people were held, and some for as many as 8 days. The Greenwood district had been destroyed in less than 24 hours, with reports of about 800 people with injuries and as many as 300 deaths.