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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.〔(【引用サイトリンク】author=Global Security )〕 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.〔Kappler, p. 708〕 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.〔''Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock'', 187 U.S. 553 (1903).〕〔Kappler, p. 1012〕 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.〔(【引用サイトリンク】author=The California Military Museum )〕 Geronimo was jailed at the Old Post Guardhouse, and he remained in the area until his death on February 17, 1909.〔(【引用サイトリンク】author=History Today )〕 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.〔Kutchta, p.6〕 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.〔(【引用サイトリンク】author=Oklahoma State Digital Library )〕 The town itself was divided into 66 blocks, to be sold at auction.〔Kutchta, p.7,8〕 Two of the original homestead claims directly south of the for Lawton were filed by James Woods and Mattie Beal, known as the Woods Addition and Beal Addition to the original Lawton plat.〔(【引用サイトリンク】author=Oklahoma Historical Society )〕 On August 6, 1901, the auction of town lots began, ending sixty days later. A tent city had grown up in anticipation of the auction, and banks, saloons, stores and other service industries sprang up overnight. Within one year, there were 100 saloons. Gambling was epidemic. In 1902 deputy US marshal, Heck Thomas, was sent to settle things down and was elected as Lawton's first chief of police, a position that he held for seven years until his health began to fail. Gambling remained legal until outlawed on Nov 16, 1907, coincident with the establishment of the State of Oklahoma.〔Kutchta, p.14〕 The Rock Island Railroad expanded, rolling into Lawton on September 25, 1901, joined soon thereafter by the Frisco Line.〔Kutchta, p.10〕 There was also a city streetcar line that ran through downtown Lawton and several residential areas until the 1940s. Following the advent of the automobile, early Transcontinental Automobile Routes from 1916 to 1925 intersected Lawton. These early auto trails included the Bankhead Highway, Dallas-Canadian-Denver route, Southwast Trail Highway, Lee Highway, Ozark Trail, Indian Trail, Williams Highway and the Stapleton Road. In 1926, state highways were designated in all directions from Lawton initially including State highways 8 and 36 north and south (later U.S. 277 and 281), and State Highway 7 east and west (S.H. 7 still designated east of Lawton while same highway to the west of the city was co-designated U.S. 62 and S.H. 7 for many years but solely as U.S. 62 in recent years. S.H. 7 was entirely paved east of Lawton 24 miles to U.S. 81 at Lawton-Duncan "Y" north of Duncan by 1929, while U.S. 62 and 277 was paved north 7 miles through Fort Sill to near Medicine Park Y with S.H. 49 by 1930. By the late 1930s, Lawton was connected by completely paved highways to Oklahoma City via U.S. 62 and 277, U.S. 62 west to Altus on into the Texas Panhandle, and U.S. 277-281 south to Wichita Falls, Texas. The influx and rapid population expansion led to a series of public health crises, water shortage, and lawlessness. The first city elections were held October 24, 1901, and Leslie Price Ross was elected mayor, with voting restricted to the few who had resided in the area for over a year.〔Kutchta, p.15〕 One of the original two newspapers, the Lawton Daily Democrat, became the forerunner of the Lawton Constitution, which was established in 1911. In 1949, the Lawton Constitution acquired the Morning Press, and today the Constitution publishes only a morning edition that serves all of Southwest Oklahoma.〔 The history of the Bethlehem Baptist Church is a long and glorious one, spanning over a century and numerous generations. The early pioneers were faced with a myriad of hardships. They were enclosed with segregation where political rights were not for every man, and where few lines of communication existed between the races. But despite all these difficulties, the courage and faith in God by the founders and pioneers in the years past have helped to develop the foundation for the generations. The idea of a Baptist Church in the Black Community of Lawton, Oklahoma was conceived in the minds of the founders and organized in 1901 by William Scott Sr., C.D. Dewberry, George Williams, and William Garrett, G.W. Woods, Katie Garrett, Harvey C. Pride, and their families, in a barbershop. The church has been led by 19 pastors with the late Pastor Emeritus; Reverend O.B. Davis served 32 years (1950-1982). During the early years, most of the churches in Lawton were housed in tents, and few in small frame buildings. Bethlehem was one of the few that were in a small frame like structure (a shed type), which stood at the corner of First and “F” street. In 1907, the church purchased a lot at the corner of First and Gore and worshiped there, which was later sold to the Public Service Electric Company. The site at First and Arlington was purchased and the late Deacon J.S. Phillip created the edifice in 1939. In 2010, the original Bethlehem Baptist Church building at the corner of 1st and Arlington was torn down to make way for the downtown revitalization. The First Presbyterian Church of Lawton, at 8th Street and D Avenue, was constructed in 1902, and remains the oldest public structure remaining in Lawton. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. On January 2, 1902, four public schools opened. The first class of six graduated in 1903 from Lawton High School. Cameron State Agricultural School (now Cameron University) convened on November 16, 1909, in the basement of the First National Bank.〔(【引用サイトリンク】author=Cameron University )〕 In March 1911 classes were transferred to the current location on West Gore. The Mattie Beal-Payne mansion at Fifth and Summit was built in 1908, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.〔Kutchta, p.22〕 The United States entry into World War I accelerated growth at Fort Sill and Lawton. The availability of five million gallons of water from Lake Lawtonka, just north of Fort Sill, provided the impetus for the War Department to establish a major cantonment named Camp Doniphan, active until 1922.〔Kutchta p. 28〕 In 1911, The School of Fire for the Field Artillery was opened at Fort Sill and it continues to operate today as the U.S. Army Field Artillery School.〔 From the stock market crash of October 1929, through the end of the 1930s, residual dust from storms located further north and west,〔(【引用サイトリンク】author=Department of English, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign )〕 severe winter weather, unemployment and poverty created severe economic challenges for Lawtonians. The decision at the end of 1930 to permanently locate the U.S. Army Field School at Fort Sill ended 20 years of indecision and kicked off a round of construction. Fort Sill commanders played a vital role in the implementation of Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration projects throughout the 1930s.〔Kutchta p.48〕 Some of the major projects included work on dams and buildings at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, the County Courthouse, Roosevelt Stadium (Now called Ron Stephens Stadium), the road to the summit of Mount Scott, and the Holy City of the Wichitas, among others.〔Kutchta, pp. 49–52〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of Lawton, Oklahoma」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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