Fort Sill is a United States Army post near Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles southwest of Oklahoma City. The United States Army is the largest branch of the United States armed forces and has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... Lawton is a city located in Comanche County, Oklahoma. ... Official language(s) None Capital Oklahoma City Largest city Oklahoma City Area  Ranked 20th  - Total 69,960 sq mi (181,196 km²)  - Width 230 miles (370 km)  - Length 298 miles (fBlack Mesa Mountain]][2] km)  - % water 1. ... Nickname: Capital of the New Century, OKC, O-City Location in Oklahoma County and the state of Oklahoma. ...

Today, Fort Sill remains the only active Army installation of all the forts on the South Plains built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a national historic landmark and serves as home of the U.S. Army Field Artillery and the Field Artillery School. Combatants Native Americans Various (see text) Indian Wars is the name used by historians in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between the United States and Native American peoples (Indians) of North America. ... USS Constitution. ... This article describes U.S. field artillery. ...

As of early 2005, Major General David P. Valcourt was the Commanding General at Fort Sill. As of late 2005, Major General David C. Ralston is the Commanding General, U.S. Army Field Artillery Center and Fort Sill, Commandant, U.S. Army Field Artillery School. Insignia of a United States Air Force Major General German Generalmajor Insignia Major General is a military rank used in many countries. ...

History

Old infantry barracks at Fort Sill.

The site of Fort Sill was staked out on January 8, 1869 by Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan who led a campaign into Indian Territory to stop hostile tribes from raiding border settlements in Texas and Kansas. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x960, 87 KB) Fort_Sill_infantry_barracks; http://sill-www. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x960, 87 KB) Fort_Sill_infantry_barracks; http://sill-www. ... January 8 is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1869 (MDCCCLXIX) is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Philip Sheridan Philip Henry Sheridan (March 6, 1831 – August 5, 1888), a military man and one of the great generals in the American Civil War. ... Indian Territory in 1836 Indian Country redirects here. ... Official language(s) See: Languages of Texas Capital Austin Largest city Houston Area  Ranked 2nd  - Total 268,581 sq mi (695,622 km²)  - Width 773 miles (1,244 km)  - Length 790 miles (1,270 km)  - % water 2. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Sheridan's massive winter campaign involved six cavalry regiments accompanied by frontier scouts such as Buffalo Bill Cody, Wild Bill Hickok, Ben Clark and Jack Stilwell. Troops camped at the location of the new fort included the 7th Cavalry, the 19th Kansas Volunteers and the 10th Cavalry, a distinguished group of black "buffalo soldiers" who constructed many of the stone buildings still surrounding the old post quadrangle. Soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback in combat are commonly known as cavalry (from French cavalerie). ... A regiment is a military unit, consisting of a group of battalions, usually four and commanded by a colonel. ... Buffalo Bill (February 26, 1846 – January 10, 1917) was born William Frederick Cody in the American state of Iowa. ... James Butler Hickok (1837–1876) Gravesite James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837 – August 2, 1876), better known as Wild Bill Hickok, was a legendary figure in the American Wild West. ... Ben Clark is a mountain climber and native of Clarksville, Tennessee who on May 22, 2003 at age 23 became the second youngest American to climb to the summit of Mount Everest, via the North-Northeast Ridge Route. ... 7th Cavalry Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia The 7th United States Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army cavalry regiment, whose lineage traces back to the mid-19th century. ... The 10th Cavalry Regiment was a unit in the United States Army. ... Buffalo Soldiers was the name given by the Plains Indians to the United States Army regiments composed of African-American soldiers that served on the American frontier after the Civil War. ...

At first the garrison was called "Camp Wichita" and referred to by the Indians as "the Soldier House at Medicine Bluffs." Sheridan later named it in honor of his West Point classmate and friend, Brigadier General Joshua W. Sill, who was killed during the American Civil War. The first post commander was Brevet Maj. Gen. Benjamin Grierson and the first Indian agent was Colonel Albert Gallatin Boone, grandson of Daniel Boone. The United States Military Academy, also known as West Point, or simply USMA (or Army, for NCAA purposes), is a United States Army fort and military academy. ... A Brigadier General, or one-star general, is the lowest rank of general officer in the United States and some other countries, ranking just above Colonel and just below Major General. ... Joshua Woodrow Sill (December 6, 1831 – 31 December 1862) was an officer in the United States Army, before and during the American Civil War. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert Edward Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... Brigadier General Benjamin Henry Grierson (July 8, 1826, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - August 31, 1911, Omena, Michigan) was an American army officer. ... Colonel (IPA: or ) is a military rank of a commissioned officer, with the corresponding ranks existing in nearly every country in the world. ... Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (November 2, 1734 – September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer, frontiersman and Indian-fighter, who blazed the trail known as the Wilderness Road and founded Boonesborough, Kentucky (also known as Boonesboro). ...

Peace policy

Water tower at Fort Sill.

Several months after the establishment of Fort Sill, President Ulysses Grant approved a peace policy placing responsibility for the Southwest tribes under Quaker Indian agents. Fort Sill soldiers were restricted from taking punitive action against the Indians who interpreted this as a sign of weakness. They resumed raiding the Texas frontier and used Fort Sill as a sanctuary. In 1871 General of the Army William Tecumseh Sherman arrived at Fort Sill to find several Kiowa chiefs boasting about a wagon train massacre. When Sherman ordered their arrest during a meeting on Grierson's porch two of the Indians attempted to assassinate him. In memory of the event, the Commanding General's quarters were dubbed Sherman House. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1200x1600, 260 KB) Water tower at Ft. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1200x1600, 260 KB) Water tower at Ft. ... Ulysses Simpson Grant (April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) was an American Civil War General and the 18th (1869–1877) President of the United States. ... The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, or Friends, is a religious community founded in England in the 17th century. ... General of the Army, or less formally five-star general, is historically the second most senior rank in the United States Army. ... William Tecumseh Sherman (February 8, 1820 – February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. ... The Kiowa are a nation of Native Americans who lived mostly in the plains of west Texas, Oklahoma and eastern New Mexico at the time of the arrival of Europeans. ... A wagon train is a long chain of wagons, each moving together and forming a line. ...

Red River War

In June 1874 the Comanches, Kiowas and Southern Cheyennes went on the warpath, and the South Plains shook with the hoofbeats of Indian raiders. The resulting Red River War, which lasted a year, was a war of attrition involving relentless pursuit by converging military columns. 1874 (MDCCCLXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... For alternate meanings, see Comanche (disambiguation) Pre-contact Comanche territory. ... The Kiowa are a nation of Native Americans who lived mostly in the plains of west Texas, Oklahoma and eastern New Mexico at the time of the arrival of Europeans. ... Cheyenne lodges with buffalo meat drying, 1870 For other uses, see Cheyenne (disambiguation). ... A Kiowa ledger drawing possibly depicting the Buffalo Wallow battle in 1874, one of several clashes between Southern Plains Indians and the U.S. Army during the Red River War. ...

Without a chance to graze their livestock and faced with a disappearance of the great buffalo herds, the hostile tribes eventually surrendered. Quanah Parker and his Kwahadi Comanches were the last to abandon the struggle and their arrival at Fort Sill in June 1875 marked the end of Indian warfare on the south Plains. Binomial name Bison bison (Linnaeus, 1758) Subspecies B. b. ... Quanah Parker Quanah Parker (c. ... 1875 (MDCCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

Until the territory opened for settlement, Fort Sill's mission was one of law enforcement and soldiers protected the Indians from outlaws, squatters and cattle rustlers.

Geronimo

In 1894 Geronimo and 341 other Chiricahua Apache prisoners of war were brought to Fort Sill where they lived in villages on the range. Geronimo was granted permission to travel for a while with Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show and he visited President Theodore Roosevelt before dying here of pneumonia in 1909. The rest of the Apaches remained on Fort Sill until 1913 and they were taught by Lt. Hugh L. Scott to build houses, raise crops and herd cattle. 1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Geronimo Geronimo (Chiricahua Goyaałé One Who Yawns; often spelled Goyathlay in English) (June 16, 1829–February 17, 1909) was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who long warred against the encroachment of the United States on tribal lands. ... Seal of the Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma Chiricahua (also Chiricahua Apaches, Chiricagui, Apaches de Chiricahui, Chiricahues, Chilicague, Chilecagez, Chiricagua) refers to a group of bands of Apache that formerly lived in the general areas of southwestern New Mexico, southeastern Arizona, and in northern Sonora and Chihuahua, Mexico (it... Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. ... 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Hugh L. Scott (1853-1934) was Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1914 to 1917, including the first few months of American involvement in World War I. Categories: Military biographical stubs | U.S. Army generals ...

Scott also commanded Troop L of the 7th Cavalry, a unit comprised entirely of Indians and considered one of the best in the west. Indian scout I-See-O and other members of the troop are credited with helping tribes on the South Plains to Avert the Bloody Ghost Dance uprising of the 1890s in which many died on the North Plains. The Ghost Dance by the Ogalala Lakota at Pine Ridge Noted in historical accounts as the Ghost Dance of 1890, the Ghost Dance was a religious ritual incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems beginning in 1889. ... The 1890s were sometimes referred to as the Mauve Decade, because William Henry Perkins aniline dye allowed the widespread use of that colour in fashion, and also as the Gay Nineties, under the then-current usage of the word gay which referred simply to merriment and frivolity, with no...

The frontier disappears

Old and captured artillery at Fort Sill.

The Last Indian lands in Oklahoma opened for settlement in 1901 and 29,000 homesteaders registered at Fort Sill during July for the land lottery. On August 6 the town of Lawton sprang up and quickly grew to become the third largest city in Oklahoma. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1200x1600, 388 KB) Cannon walk at Fort Sill, OK -taken by user:pschemp File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1200x1600, 388 KB) Cannon walk at Fort Sill, OK -taken by user:pschemp File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The Homestead Act is a piece of U.S. legislation which gave one quarter of a section of a township (160 acres, or about 65 hectares) of undeveloped land in the American West to any family head provided he lived on it for five years, or allowed the family head... August 6 is the 218th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (219th in leap years), with 147 days remaining. ...

With the disappearance of the frontier, the mission of Fort Sill gradually changed from cavalry to field artillery. The first artillery battery arrived at Fort Sill in 1902 and the last cavalry regiment departed in May 1907. This article describes U.S. field artillery. ... In military science, a battery is a group of artillery guns or rockets, so grouped in order to facilitate battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion. ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

The School of Fire for the Field Artillery was founded at Fort Sill in 1911 and continues to operate today as the world renowned U.S. Army Field Artillery School. At various times Fort Sill has also served as home to the Infantry School of Musketry, the School for Aerial Observers, the Air Service Flying School, and the Army Aviation School.

Prison for deserters

Several soldiers who left the military for reasons of conscience and were later convicted of various charges (including disobeying orders and desertion) have been imprisoned at the Regional Confinement Center (military prison) at Ft. Sill including Camilo Mejia, Blake LeMoine, Dale Bartell and Neil Quentin Lucas. Camilo Mejia is a former member of the Florida National Guard charged with desertion after failing to return to his unit after an October furlough. ...

External link

• Fort Sill official web site

United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC)

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