Settlement of Polk County began in 1867 and advanced year by year as pioneers arrived by covered wagon, many with ox teams, across trails that served as roads while the nearest railroad lay 40 miles away. A vast prairie broken only by occasional smoke from sod houses on claims formed the landscape. Osceola, the county seat and geographical center of Polk County, is said to have been named after the Indian Chief Osceola of Florida. It was first located three miles southeast of the present site, and its present location was made permanent October 10, 1871. The post office was established in June 1872, the town was incorporated on August 26, 1881, and by then Osceola was the terminus of the mail route from Lincoln via Ulysses. The Union Pacific Railroad ran its first train into Osceola on June 23, 1879, giving direct communication with the outer world. Polk County was also the home of three governors, Albinus Nance, John H. Mickey, and Ashton C. Shallenberger.