The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1911-10-24
TELLS HOW FORT SILL,
OKLAHOMA, GETS NAME
Early History of Army Posts of SCap Marcy Writes of Manner
and Customs of Indians in Hills and Mountains.

MS cnllfe QlNlSlON Ot volunteers anu
while in pursuit of General Bragg $
army December 3l 1862, in the sub
sequent battle of Stone Riyer, he was
killed
in connection with the fact may
also be recalled the fact that tde city
OF Lawton received it's name in hon
or of an army officer General Henry
w Lawton, who during the early
/ history of the Sill was post adjutant
and who as inspector general of the
army in 1887, had much to do with
the dropping OF the plan to abandon
Fort Sill. General Lawton, too, as o
captain in the army in company with
Gen Nelson A. Miles, was largely in.
lstrumental in the capture of Geroni-
ma, the famous Apache chief, who
was held prisoner OF war at sill for
twenty years and who finally died
their last winter
The fist official record OF the visit
of white men to the territory sur
rounding Fort Sill, now embraced in
the Kiowa-Comanche country. opened
10 settlement August 6, 1881, or, in
fact. the whole country in southwest
Oklahoma abo the mouth of Cache
creek on Rel river, Is the story of
the Red River Exposition" of 1852
conducted by Gen. r. b. Marcy then
captain in command OF a company OF
The 'ifth infantry
Gen R. B. Marcy waa accompanied
by Cept. Gorge B. Mcclellan of the
engineering corps later commander
in chief OF all the federal troops Of
the Civil war
AT very early period, officers had
been sent out by the French govern
ment to explore Red river. but their
examinations seem TO have ex ended
no further than the vicinity Of the
present town Of Natchidoches, La. On
May g. 1906, after the Louisiana
Purchase by the United States gov
ernment "a sman party known as the
exploring exposition of Red river
consisting of Capt. Sparks. Mr.. Free
man, Lieut. Humphrey and DE-. Cur
tis, with seventeen privates. started
to ascend the Red river of MississiD-
pl but, after overcoming numerous
natural obstacles and reaching a
point above the great raft, were fore
ed to abandon the exposition by
Spanish troops. Still another expeli.
ton was fitted out in 1906 at the in
stance Of General Wilkinson, in com
mand of Lieut. Pike, but after wan
dering over the plains for several
months. suffering many privations and
finally mistaking the Rio Grande for
Red river was barely able TO reach
home through the kindly assistance
OF the governor of New Mexico
Hence 1t is seen that up to the time
OF the Marcy-McClellan expedition,
no record was in existence OF any
traveller having reached the source Of
Red river or having gone any dis
tance above the mouth of the Cache
Expedition of 1852
The expedition of 1852 started out
Iof Fort Belknap, Tex, on May /. and,
overcoming all obstacles, including
the then formidable one of threaten
ed attacks by hostile Indians and de-
privations for want of water, the
sources Of the Red river were located
tine entire southwest Oklahoma coun-
ltry trayersed and many interesting
facts discovered concerning the lands
and the Indians inhabiting the re-
lgion,
One of the most interesting points
in the report written by capt Marcy
lis description Of the exact spot up
on which Fort Sill is now located,
evidently showing that the we'll
known leaders OF this first expedition
visited the present site both of Fort
Sill and Lawton The report indi-
Gates, too. that Captain Marcy would
have ranked we'll with present real
legtate boosters in this part of Okla
loma.
Our camp is upon branch OF
Cache creek, writes Captain Marcy
about a mile above the village last
occupied by the Wichetaws, before
they left the mountains Here they
lived and planted corn for several
years. and they exhibited must taste
and Judgment in selecting this site