Riverside Park
This point overlooks the historic Neosho Crossing for "The Old Indian Trail" between Missouri and the Osage buffalo hunting grounds in central Oklahoma. The ford was located about eighty yards above the present dam. Two hundred Union soldiers of the 6th Kansas Cavalry, from Ft Scott, Ks., under the command of Col. J.G. Blunt, collected at this ford to rest their horses and plan their raid on John Mathews' trading post located nine blocks south, September 17, 1861.
After the Civil War, the Osages sold the east twenty five miles of their Kansas reservation to the government, and David Branson purchased the patent to the tract which comprises this park for $1.25 per acre. This landscape was neglected for nearly twenty years while scrub oak and brush flourished and made it useless wilderness. About 1885 a group of eighty far-sighted Oswego housewives concluded that this bluff area could be developed into a park and one of the beauty spots of Kansas. They organized "The Ladies Entertainment Society of Oswego", purchased this 26 acres for $900.00 and raised the money to pay for it by conducting food sales and ice cream socials. The society deeded this park to the City of Oswego in 1901.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Native Americans • Parks & Recreational Areas
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Location. 37° 10.541′ N, 95° 6.097′ W. Marker is in Oswego, Kansas, in Labette County. Marker is on the park's north perimeter road west of Oregon Street, on the left when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: Riverside Park, Oswego KS 67356, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 10 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Historic Riverside Park (within shouting distance of this marker); The Little Town Well (approx. 0.6 miles away); John A. Mathews Park (approx. 0.6 miles away); Sulky Plow (approx. 0.6 miles away); Osage Indian Village (approx. 0.7 miles away); KATY Caboose Number 109 (approx. 0.8 miles away); Veterans Memorial Auditorium — Gymnasium (approx. 9˝ miles away); Parish of Sacred Heart - Chetopa (approx. 9.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Oswego.
Also see . . . Historical Riverside Park. (Submitted on August 15, 2016, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.)
Credits. This page was last revised on September 14, 2020. It was originally submitted on August 15, 2016, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania. This page has been viewed 384 times since then and 5 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on August 15, 2016, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
