tree for its wood, which is yellow, fine grained, takes a high polish, and is very durable. It is used for posts, paving-blocks and railway ties. The Osage and other Indians used it for their bows and war-clubs. The bark is used in tanning leather, that of the roots yields a dye. The leaves are used for feeding silkworms in place of the mulberry, with a difference of opinion as to the result. The fruit, large and round, with a rough skin, has a woody pulp and bitter juice, and is not eaten. The tree has been largely used in America as a hedge plant, for which its rapid growth, thorny branches and freedom from disease adapt it. It thrives in rich bottom lands, and is found at its best in Red River Valley, in Indian Territory.
Osages, a tribe of American Indians of the Dakotah family. They were found by Marquette on the Missouri in 1673, but were driven by their enemies to the Arkansas. They fought with the French against the English and against the Chickasaws. They ceded their lands at different times to the government, and in the Civil War about 1,000 of the tribe went south. In 1870 the tribe was removed to Indian Territory and placed in charge of the Quakers, where they have grown more civilized, having a school and cultivating about 2,000 acres of land.
Osaka (ō′sȧ-kä) or Ozaka (ō′zȧ-kä), the second largest city in Japan, at the head of the Gulf of Osaka. It covers about ten square miles, and is crossed by canals with more than 1,000 bridges. The fine castle, built of enormous stones in 1583, and the palace, which was destroyed in 1858, were perhaps the handsomest buildings in Japan. The city is one of the open ports, the headquarters of the rice and tea trade and the commercial center of the empire. The harbor does not admit very large vessels. There is a foreign settlement, occupied mostly by missionaries. Population 1,226,590.
Os′car II, Frederic, king of Sweden and Norway, was born at Stockholm, Jan. 21, 1829. He was the great-grandson of Napoleon I's famous general, Marshal Bernadotte, the first king of the now independent kingdom of Norway; he succeeded his brother, Charles XV in 1872. He followed the policy of his brother, carrying out reforms and reorganizing the army and the railroads. He published a volume of poems, a translation of Goethe's Faust and a sketch of Charles XII. He died on Dec. 8, 1907. See Norway and Sweden.
Osceola (ŏs′sḗ-ō′lȧ), a chief of the Seminole Indians, was born in Georgia in 1804. His father was an English trader, and his mother the daughter of an Indian chief, who took him to Florida when a child, where he became influential among the Indians. His wife, the daughter of a runaway slave, was taken from him, and for his threats of revenge he was seized and imprisoned for six days by General Thompson, whom he killed, with four others, six months afterward. This was the beginning of the second Seminole War. At the head of a band of 200 or 300 Indians and runaway slaves, he carried on the contest for nearly two years, in the almost impenetrable Everglades. On Oct. 21, 1837, while holding a conference under a flag of truce, he was treacherously seized and imprisoned at Fort Moultrie, S. C., where he died on Jan. 30, 1838. He is the hero of Mayne Reid's Osceola.
Osh′kosh, Wis., the county seat of Winnebago County, is situated at the confluence of the upper Fox and Lake Winnebago in a thickly-settled and fertile region. Being naturally the center of the lumber interests of Fox and Wolf Rivers, it early became commercially important, and now has a population of 33,062. Besides its numerous sawmills, it is noted for its extensive manufactures of sash, doors, blinds, matches, carriages, sleighs, farm wagons, trunks, furniture, agricultural implements, flour, beer, logging tools, grass-twine goods and canned goods. It has fine public schools and churches, several large parochial schools, a state normal school, a state fish hatchery, and three miles north are the northern state hospital for the insane, a county hospital for the incurable insane and the county almshouse. The city has three hospitals, four parks, a beautiful library building of classic design, six banks, one daily paper, three railroads, a line of steamers for lake and river commerce and an electric railway system connecting the city with Neenah, Menasha, Appleton and other places. Near by is Lake Winnebago, 30 miles long and 12 broad, famous for fishing and for beautiful summer resorts.
O′sier. See Willow.
Osiris (ṓ-sī′rĭs), the greatest of Egyptian gods, is the son of Set (the earth) and Nut (heaven). He was slain by Set, his father, and avenged by his son, Horus. He judges the dead in the lower world. He is represented usually in human form, and always with the head of a man. His symbols are the evergreen and the tamarisk, and a kind of ibis, with long plumes. See Horus, Isis and Set.
Os′kaloo′sa, Ia., county-seat of Mahaska County, on the Chicago Burlington and Quincy; Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific; and Iowa Central railroads, about 60 miles southeast of Des Moines. It is a commercial center of a large agricultural district, and has a number of manufacturing interests. It has good public schools, a public library and churches. It also is a seat of two small colleges, Penn College under the auspices of the Society of Friends and Oskaloosa College under the auspices of the Disciples of Christ. It was settled in 1843, and incorporated 10 years later. Population 9,466.
