From the Lawrence Daily World for Dec. 6, 1908: “With wheat hovering around $1 a bushel, Douglas County farmers are reaping a golden harvest. Farmers read and hear a lot about $1 wheat but seldom does it reach that point. … Col. Wilder Metcalf of Lawrence is being boomed for the U.S. secretary of war post under new president William Howard Taft. His friends say there is a good chance he will be chosen.”