LEAVENWORTH, the largest city in the State of Kansas, and chief town of Leavenworth county, is situated in an amphitheatre formed by the bluffs of the right bank of the Missouri, in the midst of a rich agricultural country. The distance from St Louis by river is 496 miles, and by rail 309 miles. In 1853 the site of the city was covered with thick hazel brush, without a trace of human habitation. The following year saw the laying out of the first streets, and by 1864 the value of the taxable property, real and personal, amounted to $4,103,562. Among the principal buildings are a large Roman Catholic cathedral, a State penitentiary, and a State normal school. Its position on the river, and an extensive railway system, have given Leavenworth a flourishing trade. It possesses two practically inexhaustible mines of bituminous coal, and has more large manfacturing establishments than any other town on the Missouri, including grist mills, foundries, and manufactories of waggons, carriages, furniture, and shoes. About 2 miles above the city is Fort Leavenworth, the military headquarters of the department of the Missouri. The Government reservation has a river frontage of 6 miles, with a depth of 1 mile. The population was 7429 in 1860, 17,873 in 1870, 16,546 in 1880. At this last date the reservation contained 1115 individuals.