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.