Fort Riley is an interesting spot for civilian and soldier alike.  Having been selected by the Government as the permanent training school for the two mounted branches of the service—­the cavalry and light artillery—­its 21,000 acres have been improved at lavish expense.  It seems really remarkable that so metropolitan a bit of ground could be found out on the plains, where, though civilization is making rapid strides, and the luxuries of wealth are being acquired by the advancing population, it is unusual to find macadamized streets and buildings that can harbor a regiment and still not be crowded.  Yet such are some of the characteristics of Fort Riley Reservation, and the newness of it all is the best evidence of the interest the War Department has taken in its development.  Many of the recently erected buildings would grace the capital itself.  Nearly $1,000,000 have been expended in the past four years in new structures, all of magnesia limestone, and built along the lines of the most approved modern architecture, and of a character which insures scores of years of usefulness.

The fort is situated on the left bank of the Kansas River, near the junction of the Republican and Smoky Hill Forks.  It was first laid out in 1852, and has ever since been one of the leading Western posts.  Located, though it is, far out on the Kansas prairies, it has, particularly in late years, been fully in touch with the social life of the East, through the addition of new officers and the interchange of post courtesies.

The post, as it stands to-day, consists of officers’ quarters, artillery and cavalry barracks, administration buildings, sheds, hospital, dispensary, etc., scattered over 150 acres of ground.  The Kansas River is formed just southwest of it by the union of the Smoky Hill and Republican Forks, and the topography for practice and sightseeing could not be surpassed in the State.  Five miles of macadamized streets, 150,000 feet of stone and gravel walks, six miles of sewers, four miles of water and steam heating pipes, leading to every room of each of the sixty buildings, make up the equipment, which is, of course, of the highest quality throughout.  All the stone is quarried on the reservation, and is of lasting variety, and makes buildings which bear a truly substantial appearance.  The Government has an idea toward permanency in its improvements.

The history of Fort Riley has been one of vicissitudes.  When it was laid out in 1852, it was at first called Camp Center, but was changed to its present name by order of the War Department in honor of General B. C. Riley.  In 1855, the fort suffered from Asiatic cholera, and Major E. A. Ogden, one of the original commissioners who laid out the reservation, who was staying there, nursed the soldiers with a heroic attachment to duty, and himself fell a victim to the disease.  A handsome monument marks his resting place.  He was a true soldier hero, and his name is still spoken in reverence by the attaches of the post.