In 1841 the U.S. government sent fur trader John Mathews to this area to serve the Osage Indians as a blacksmith. Mathews also owned a trading post, race track, stables, and tavern near this site. The well, which Mathews dug in 1841, is the only remnant of the Osage village, commonly known as Little Town. Mathews would later take the Confederate side during the Civil War and be killed by Union troops. A plaque and sign at the well recounts this area's early history.