History Oswego is located on the site of an Osage village called No tse Wa spe, which means "Heart Stays" or more loosely translated, "Quiet Heart."Burns, Louis Francis, A History of the Osage People, pages 58-59. Jesuit Missionaries from Osage Mission (now St. Paul, Kansas) who worked among the Osages called the village "Little Town," probably because the band of Osages who lived in the village were of the "Little Osage" division of the Osage People. More specifically, the Osage Village of Little Town was described as "Little Town Above" by the Jesuits, to distinguish it from another village, which was sometimes located just to the east of Little Town, called "Little Town Below."Burns, Louis Francis, A History of the Osage People, page 58-59. See, also: Burns, Louis Francis, Osage Mission Baptisms Marriages and Interments 1820-1886; and, White, W.W., Annals of Osage Mission. While Osage villages were moved quite often (according to weather, hunting conditions, and sanitary conditions)See Rollings, William H, The Osage: An Ethnohistorical Study of Hegemony on the Prairie-Plains. Pages 20-22.; See, also. Mathews, John Joseph, The Osages: children of the middle waters. Little Town Above was generally located on the bluff overlooking the Neosho River, where Oswego sits today. Little Town Below often sat near Horseshoe Lake, in the Neosho River Valley about a mile due east of Oswego.Burns, Louis Francis, A History of the Osage People, pages 58-59. See, also: O'Connell, Wayne. Centennial History: The Story of "Little Town" (Oswego, Kansas) and Its Founder John Mathews. Oswego, KS: Oswego Independent, 1961. During the 1850s, Little Town was often referred to as "White Hair's Town," in honor of a resident of the village named Iron Hawk. Iron Hawk was named Grand Tsi Shu Chief (or Peace Chief) of the Osage Nation (through the 19th Century, it was traditional for the Osage Chief to take the name "White Hair".)Jenk Jones, jr. "Osage County History" , 06 April, 2003; accessed 27 January 2010).
History Oswego is located on the site of an Osage village called No tse Wa spe, which means "Heart Stays" or more loosely translated, "Quiet Heart."Burns, Louis Francis, A History of the Osage People, pages 58-59. Jesuit Missionaries from Osage Mission (now St. Paul, Kansas) who worked among the Osages called the village "Little Town," probably because the band of Osages who lived in the village were of the "Little Osage" division of the Osage People. More specifically, the Osage Village of Little Town was described as "Little Town Above" by the Jesuits, to distinguish it from another village, which was sometimes located just to the east of Little Town, called "Little Town Below."Burns, Louis Francis, A History of the Osage People, page 58-59. See, also: Burns, Louis Francis, Osage Mission Baptisms Marriages and Interments 1820-1886; and, White, W.W., Annals of Osage Mission. While Osage villages were moved quite often (according to weather, hunting conditions, and sanitary conditions)See Rollings, William H, The Osage: An Ethnohistorical Study of Hegemony on the Prairie-Plains. Pages 20-22.; See, also. Mathews, John Joseph, The Osages: children of the middle waters Little Town Above was generally located on the bluff overlooking the Neosho River, where Oswego sits today. Little Town Below often sat near Horseshoe Lake, in the Neosho River Valley about a mile due east of Oswego.Burns, Louis Francis, A History of the Osage People, pages 58-59. See, also: O'Connell, Wayne. Centennial History: The Story of "Little Town" (Oswego, Kansas) and Its Founder John Mathews. Oswego, KS: Oswego Independent, 1961. During the 1850s, Little Town was often referred to as "White Hair's Town," in honor of a resident of the village named Iron Hawk. Iron Hawk was named Grand Tsi Shu Chief (or Peace Chief) of the Osage Nation (through the 19th Century, it was traditional for the Osage Chief to take the name "White Hair".)Jenk Jones, jr. "Osage County History" , 06 April, 2003; accessed 27 January 2010).