Oklahoma Journeys

Week of August 8, 2009

Kiowa, Comanche, Apache Land Lottery and Fort Sill Gets a Name

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August was an important month in the history of Lawton and Fort Sill. That month holds a name change for the biggest employer in Southwest Oklahoma, and it’s the month that largest city in Southwest Oklahoma came into being. A lottery and a new name this week on Oklahoma Journeys from the Oklahoma History Center.

From the Oklahoma History Center, this is Oklahoma Journeys. I’m Michael Dean.

In January 1869, Col. Benjamin Grierson, commander of the 10th Cavalry, rode to the proposed site of a new fort to be nestled in the foothills of the Wichita Mountains. Arriving at a location on the banks of the Cache Creek, he studied the site, dismounted, took the saddle from his horse, threw his harness to ground, and told his troops, "We’ll build the post here." General Phil Sheridan later visited the site and approved of Greirson’s selection. It was called Camp Wichita. Phil Sheridan, on August 1, 1869, renamed it Fort Sill, in memory of Brig. General Joshua Sill, a West Point Classmate of Sheridan’s.

By 1901, the land that adjoined the fort was a Reservation for the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache Indians. In August of that year, the decision was made to parcel out that land. The territory had already experienced land runs and other forms of openings. Sure they were impressive to witness, but as far as a practical way to fairly distribute land, maybe there might have been a better way to go. At least that’s what territorial and national officials were thinking at the end of the last chaotic run into the Kickapoo Territory in May 1895. The next major land opening in Indian Territory were lands near Fort Sill. This land opening was to be unusual and the first of its kind in the history of the United States but without so much chaos, bloodshed and violence as the earlier runs. To give away the more than two million acres, the government decided to use a lottery system.

Those desiring land in this opening first had to qualify, meaning they had to be of the correct age and have no other land holdings, and register at either the El Reno or Lawton land offices. Once officially entered into the drawing a contestant was free to travel about the country to see which quarter section he might want if their name was drawn. There were around thirteen thousand homesteads to be given away in this opening, but more than one hundred fifty thousand people had qualified and registered for the drawing. With those odds the chances were slim of receiving a claim, much less the one that they were actually hoping to get.

It was on August 6th, 1901, that those lucky people whose names were drawn began claiming their land. The process worked like this: one by one, in the order in which they were drawn from the hopper, names were called out and those people marched up to a giant map of the area and marked through the quarter section of land they claimed. According to eyewitnesses, crowds around the maps were so great that many used telescopes or opera glasses in order to see which land was now no longer available and cheers or groans were audible with almost every land claim marked on that map.

You can learn more about the various land openings and our military history by visiting the Oklahoma History Center on NE 23rd, just east of the state capitol. Oklahoma Journeys is a production of the Oklahoma History Center, dedicated to the collection, preservation, and sharing of our state’s past. I’m Michael Dean.