From this area where the Osage Indians were the first settlers and where the settlers who followed founded the city on the east side of the Verdigris River around 1869 came such celebrities as Wendell Wilkie, who taught in the city and later ran for President of the U.S.; Walter (Big Train) Johnson, one of the first inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame; Reb Russell, early western movie star; Johnny Rutherford, winner of the Indianapolis 500 and Gary Busey, movie and television actor. Murals depicting Coffeyville’s history, painted by one of the residents and artists, are located throughout the town. Some interesting places to go to in town are the Aviation Heritage Museum which has exhibits which display the history of early aviation and pioneer pilots of the area, the Brown Mansion a three-story, 16-room mansion circa 1904 and the historic Midland Theater with its crimson and gold cloth tapestries, and a ceiling decorated with filigreed molding and gold painted trim and now undergoing restoration.