Lt. Hugh L. Scott commanded Troop L of the 7th Cavalry, a unit consisting entirely of Indians and considered one of the best in the west. Kiowa scout I-See-O and other members of the troop are credited with helping tribes on the South Plains avert the Bloody Ghost Dance uprising of the 1890s in which many Indians were brutally murdered by the US Army on the North Plains. Fort Sill Post-Allotment The federal government allotted the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache Reservation in 1901, opening much of the land to non-Native settlement. 29,000 homesteaders registered at Fort Sill during July for the land lottery. On 6 August the town of Lawton sprang up and quickly grew to become the third largest city in Oklahoma. The decline in Indigenous military resistance during this time shifted the mission of Fort Sill from cavalry to field artillery. During the 1890s, the post declined in importance, and was considered for closure, with the land being given to the Chiricahua Apaches, The first artillery battery arrived at Fort Sill in 1902 and the last cavalry regiment departed in May 1907. The artillery units required more facilities, so plans were made to replace the original structures with modern buildings. However, William H. Taft, then Secretary of War, intervened to save the original buildings. He ordered the fort to expand to the south and west. The School of Fire for the Field Artillery was founded at Fort Sill in 1911 and continues to operate today as the world-renowned U.S. Army Field Artillery School. At various times Fort Sill has also served as home to the Infantry School of Musketry, the School for Aerial Observers, the Artillery Officers Candidate School (Robinson Barracks), the Air Service Flying School and the Army Aviation School. In 1917, the Henry Post Army Airfield was constructed for artillery observation and spotting. During World War I, Montgomery M. Macomb, a brigadier general and career artillery officer who had retired in 1916, was recalled to active duty to command Fort Sill and oversee the schools and training programs that prepared soldiers for combat in France. Fort Sill was once the site of a large Boot Hill cemetery. Many soldiers who were killed during the Indian wars were buried there as were multiple outlaws or their victims. Early aviation at Fort Sill Fort Sill also contains the birthplace of US combat aviation, located at the parade field