This 280 acres secured the nation’s first Federal Land Bank loan, made on April 10, 1917, to farmer-stockman A. L. Stockwell. At that time, farmers and ranchers often struggled to obtain credit, and when it was available it could cost as much as 10 percent per month. After Congress passed the Federal Farm Loan Act, signed into law by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson in 1916, the Federal Land Bank became the first of the three lending institutions that make up today’s cooperative Farm Credit System, providing long-term real estate loans to farmers and ranchers. Wichita received the first of 12 Federal Land Bank charters in the nation and was charged with developing lending programs in Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and New Mexico, then issued the first local association charter to the Pawnee County National Farm Loan Association of Larned. Begun with seed money appropriated by Congress, the Farm Credit System later repaid all government funds and is now owned entirely by the farmers and ranchers it serves.