Fort Riley and Its Neighbors: Military Money and Economic Growth, 1853-1895

Dobak, William A.

ISBN 10: 0806130717 / ISBN 13: 9780806130712

Published by Univ. Of Oklahoma Pr., Norman, 1998

About this Item

xvi + 241 pp., maps, b/w photos & illus., notes, bib., index. Label affixed to the half title p. w/signed presentation to Dear Mr. Lewis:.William A. Dobak," dated 3/18/2000. Hardcover in fine cond., d/w fine cond.

Seller Inventory # 7015

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Fort Riley and Its Neighbors: Military Money and Economic Growth, 1853-1895
• Publisher: Univ. Of Oklahoma Pr., Norman
• Publication Date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0806130717
• ISBN 13: 9780806130712
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • American West
  • Business
  • Military History

About this title

Synopsis

Fort Riley and Its Neighbors is a story of soldiers trying to save money and civilians trying to make it.

Fort Riley stands today overlooking the Kansas River because army quartermasters in the 1850s thought that small steamboats could deliver supplies cheaply there. Civilians came to help build the fort and stayed to bid on the quartermasterâ s contracts for feed and fuel.

Army posts were often a magnet for settlers. Contracts for supplies and transportation brought hard-to-find cash to small western towns, replacing systems of barter and credit and integrating them into the national economy.

Townspeople kept a covetous eye on Fort Rileyâ s land and its resources, and they voted bond issues to build short-line railroads in order to get competitive freight rates from trans-continental carriers. These short lines put Fort Riley at the center of the nationâ s transportation system, assuring the fortâ s survival for the next century.

The history of Fort Riley and its neighbors typifies the relations that evolved between the American people and their government throughout the American West. The settlersâ approach to federal authority, at once supplicating and conniving, has persisted and thrived and become the national attitude.

This book won first place in the Dr. Edward Tihen Historical Research and Publication competition, November 5, 1999. This award is presented by the Kansas State Historical Society for Kansas books written by first-time authors.

About the Author

William A. Dobak, retired from the National Archives, Washington, D.C., is the author of Fort Riley and Its Neighbors: Military Money and Economic Growth, 1853–1895 and Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. Colored Troops, 1862-1867.