What To NameThe New Fort
There had been considerable discussion over the selection of a name for the new post. The Seventh Cavalry wanted it called Fort Elliott, in honor of the young officer killed at the Battle of the Washita. The Nineteenth Kansas Volunteers suggested ironically that it be called Camp Starvation. The original Occupants of the site-the Indians-were not consulted. The Comanche’s called it Pu-hi-ti- pinab, and the Kiowas knew it as Tso-kada-hagya, both of which names mean, "Where the soldiers live at Medicine Bluff."
General Sheridan decided on Fort Sill, in honor of Brigadier General Joshua W. Sill, a West Point classmate who was killed leading the charge of a brigade of Sheridan's Division at the Battle of Stone River, Tennessee, December 31, 1862. Orders confirming this choice were issued at department headquarters July 2, and at Fort Sill on August 1, 1869.
