The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1911-10-24


elevated plateau, directly, along the
south bank of the creek, and com
mands an extended view of the coun-
/ try to the north, south and east. From
its commanding position it is well Sc.
cured against surprise and is, by ma.
ture, one OF the most defensible
places | have ever seen.
The landscape here presented TO
ithe eye has a most charming diversity
of scenery, consisting of mountains,
woodlands, glades, water courses and
prairies, all laid out and arranged in
such peculiar order as TO produce Il
most charming and delightful effect
upon the senses.
This must have been favorite
spot for the Indians and why they
have abandoned it | can not imagine,
unless 1t was through fear of the Co
manches
The sun mere. IN point Of fertility.
surpasses anything we have before
seen, and the vegetation in the old
corn fields, consisting Of rank weeds
twelve feet high, was so dense that
it was difficult to force aorse
through it,
The creek just above the village
flows directly at the base of perpen-
dicular walls of porphyritic rock, 300
feet high, anl studded with dwarf
cedars, whic taking shallow root in
the crevices of the formation receive
their meagre sustenance from the
scanty decomposition Of the rock
This interesting escapement has a
Icolumnar structure. With "a parallel
fluting traversing the face in a YER
tical direction from top to bottom
and aas appearance OF being the YER
Itical section Of a round hill that has
been cleft asunder, and one-half re
moved
This later description is of Medi-
cine Bluff, a mile above Fort Sill, and
precisely fixes the location of tie old
Wichita village, which as Camp
Wichita" formed the later location Of
the Southwestern military post
Capt. Deans Review
Capt Warren Dean, troop G, Fif-
Iteenth United States cavalry. had
Gently concerning the change to be
made.
There is no reason" he said, why
the work OF removing the fort the
short distance away to the south,
nearer Lawton. necessary for the ac-
commojation OF the new barracks and
the increased number OF men ana
horses to be stationed there, should
not proceed with little delay.
Fort Sill was established many
years ago., during the Indian trouble
in this section At that time the
barracks were sufficient for holding
the Apache Indian prisoners and have
served the armys purpose ever since.
The enlargement and the necessity
for brigade post in this territory
nas been recognized by the war de-
partment for some time, however,
and the army officials, as we'll as the
citizens OF Oklahoma are gratifiei at
the change that is to take place.
New grounds two miles north OF
Lawton have been chosen for the site
of the post, which was necessary
owing to the lack of sufficient space
within the present limits OF the post.
A splendid elevation about two miles
south of the old Fort Sill has been
selected for the brigade headquart-
ers, and, in my judgment, the new
location is a good one for post,
even of greater dimensions than
brigade headquarters The benefits
to Oklahoma will be considerable A
goodly portion of the salaries of the
three siments Of the soldiers will
be spent in the state, which runs into
thousands every month and mems
Just that mucn more money put III
circulation in Oklahoma than is now
circulated,