History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/3/Counties/Osceola
OSCEOLA COUNTY, once a part of Fayette, was created in 1851 and named for an Indian chief. It lies on the Minnesota line in the second tier east of the western boundary of the State and contains twelve townships embracing an area of four hundred square miles, being the smallest county in the State. It was originally a gently rolling prairie without a tree. The east fork of the Rock River and the Ocheydan furnish water and drainage.
The first white man who settled within its limits was Captain E. Huff who in the fall of 1870 took a claim in the southwest corner in the valley of Otter Creek. In the spring of 1871 D. L. McCausland, C. M. Brooks, F. M. Robinson, W. W. Webb, A. M. Culver, Frank Stiles, R. O. Monroe and A. M. Churchhill came from the eastern part of the State and took homesteads.
The county government was organized in October, 1871, by the election of the following officers: F. M. Robinson, auditor; A. M. Culver, treasurer; C. M. Brooks, clerk; D. L. McCausland, recorder; and Delia Stiles, superintendent of schools. The election was held in the house of A. M. Culver. In the fall of 1872 the Sioux City and St. Paul Railroad was built through the town of Sibley which was laid out upon its line. The town was named for General H. H. Sibley of Minnesota. The first building was erected the same year by F. M. Robinson, and the first business house by H. K. Rodgers. Rev. S. Aldrich, a Methodist minister, organized the first religious society in June. The first school was taught in the fall of 1871 by Mrs. Delia Stiles.
The county-seat was located at Sibley in 1872 and the first term of court was held by Judge Henry Ford in July of the same year. L. A. Baker established the first newspaper, the Sibley Gazette, in July, 1872. During the same year a court-house was erected costing $5,000.