“ It is the commercial centre of a region in whose fertile valleys great quantities of wheat, Indian corn, oats and hay are grown and live stock is raised, and whose uplands contain extensive beds of limestone, which is quarried for building purposes. ”

“ Excellent water-power is available and is partly utilized by flour mills. The municipality owns and operates the water-works. At the confluence of Smoky Hill and Republican rivers and connected with the city by an electric railway is Fort Riley, a U.S. military post, which was established in 1853 as Camp Centre but was renamed in the same year in honour of General Bennett Riley (1787–1853) ; in 1887 the mounted service school of the U.S. army was established here. Northward from the post is a rugged country over which extends a military reservation of about 19,000 acres. ”