Osborne County, Kansas

Coordinates: 39°21′N 98°47′W / 39.350°N 98.783°W / 39.350; -98.783

Osborne County (standard abbreviation: OB) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 3,858. The largest city and county seat is Osborne.

History

During the Civil War the Kansas legislature ordered the survey of western two-thirds of the new state in anticipation of future settlement. An escort of soldiers from Fort Riley accompanied U.S. Deputy Surveyors D. E. Ballard and E. C. Manning as they commenced the survey of what is now Osborne County on September 8, 1862. Early the next year, however, they had to suspend their surveying efforts due to the proximity of, and objections from, the natives of the area - the Indians.

At this time the Solomon River valley was rich with beaver, antelope, elk, and buffalo. Several Indian tribes had hunted in the valley for decades and were in no mood to share the land with settlers bent on decimating the abundant game, plowing under the lush grass for farming, and just generally changing the way things were.