Oswego in Labette County, Kansas — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
Riverside Park
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., August 14, 2016
1. Riverside Park Marker
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.
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Location. 37° 10.541′ N, 95° 6.097′ W. Marker is in Oswego, Kansas, in Labette County. It 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.
Regionally, this marker is in Eastern Kansas. It is also in the American Midwest, in the Corn Belt, on the prairies, and on the Southern Plains. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain and also the Louisiana Purchase.
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
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., August 14, 2016
2. Riverside Park Marker
Also see . . . Historical Riverside Park. (Submitted on August 15, 2016, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.)
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr.
3. View of Neosho River Valley from Riverside Park Overlook
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr.
4. Riverside Park View
Credits. This page was last revised on September 14, 2020. It was originally submitted on August 15, 2016, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. This page has been viewed 567 times since then and 15 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on August 15, 2016, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
