Before cattle drives, Alliance Airport, oil production and defense industries, Fort Worth was home to the United States Army's Second Dragoons. They came in 1849 (and left less than four years later) and occupied the last outpost between the Brazos River and the Red River. They were followed to the banks of the Trinity by other elements of the army, forming the first U.S. military presence in North Texas. They were there to protect lands to the north and to the west, Indian lands coveted by the white men but controlled by the Comanche and Kiowa.