History of Lawton, Oklahoma
The History of Lawton, Oklahoma refers to the history of the southwestern Oklahoma city of Lawton, Oklahoma. Lawton's history starts with opening of American Indian reservation lands in the early 1900s and has seen population and economic growth throughout the 20th Century due to its proximity with Fort Sill. Establishment through WWII Southwest Oklahoma was the home for many Native American tribes due to the natural resources provided by the nearby outcropping of ancient granite now called the Wichita Mountains, with water, wildlife, vegetation, in abundance. This area is now the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Refuge. Lawton's history is inextricably tied to Fort Sill, established in 1869 during the hostilities in the Indian Territory. This land was granted to the Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache tribes by the Medicine Lodge Treaty of 1867, which continued warring against the military until Comanche Chief Quanah Parker and his Quohada Comanches abandoned the struggle and arrived at Fort Sill in June 1875. In 1891 the United States Congress appointed a commission under David H. Jerome to meet with the tribal leaders and come to an agreement allowing white settlement. Under pressure from the commission, Quanah Parker and the other Native American tribal leaders initially agreed to give the government control of the lands for $1.25 per acre. Each tribal member would receive a allotment, with reserved for grazing land for white cattle ranchers. After years of controversy and legal maneuvering on both sides, President William McKinley issued a proclamation which gave the government control over for less than $1 per acre. Upon completion of a survey, three sites were designated as the town sites for the county seats for the Kiowa, Caddo, and Comanche Counties. Lawton was the Comanche County site, named for General Henry W. Lawton, who had been quartermaster at Fort Sill and part of the pursuit and capture of Geronimo. The Apache leader was moved with Chiricahua prisoners of war to Fort Sill in 1894, under the direction of Captain H.L. Scott. Geronimo was jailed at the Old Post Guardhouse, and he remained in the area until his death on February 17, 1909. Few American cities have sprung up overnight. The five land runs in Indian Territory from 1889 to 1895 led to violence, fraud, and legal disputes. It was decided to open El Reno and Lawton with lotteries. On July 10, 1901, a lottery began in El Reno, Oklahoma and Fort Sill to determine the order for filing the homestead claims with 29,888 potential homesteaders filed claims at the Fort Sill land office. The town itself was divided into 66 blocks, to be sold at auction. Two of the original homestead claims directly south of the for Lawton were filed by James Woods and Martha Helen Beal, known as the Woods Addition and Beal Addition to the original Lawton plat. On August 6, 1901, the auction of town lots began, ending sixty days later. A tent city had grown up in anticipation of the