A New England mind-set has cast a long shadow on the history of Manhattan, Kansas. By 1855, social reformers flocked to build a community in a beautiful valley where the Kansas and Blue Rivers meet. They established a land grant university that eventually became Kansas State University, formed close ties to nearby Fort Riley, and learned to adjust their lives in alignment with the ecological forces of the Flint Hills. Today, as one of the most flourishing cities in Kansas and the nation, Manhattan retains its reformist outlook built upon the bedrock of the university and the fort.