He left for New York City at age 16 and clerked for a Produce Exchange Commission firm while attending night school.

[4][5][6] In the winter of 1882, Osgood was sent to Colorado to research that state's coal resources for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad.

He began to obtain huge tracts of coal land, and formed the Colorado Fuel Company in 1887.

[8] Osgood decided to try welfare capitalism, which was becoming a popular program to eliminate the need for unions and improve the company image.

The Crystal River Railroad was constructed to facilitate transportation of the coal from the mines at Coalbasin just over four miles to the west, and the coke to the foundries in Pueblo.

Osgood constructed 84 Craftsman-era Swiss chalet style cottages (for married workers) and a 40-room dormitory (for bachelors), all with indoor plumbing and electricity.

A school was constructed to educate the children of workers, and the Redstone Club was completed in 1902 at a cost of $25,000 ($880,000 in modern dollars[10]).

It contained reading rooms stocked, according to a New York Times article, "with papers in different languages, the best of the weeklies and magazines".

[4] Other community facilities included an irrigated garden with a couple of acres available to each employee to grow vegetables, a public barn for worker's livestock, and a wash house for laundering clothes and linens.

Construction of the 24,000 ft2 residence, which was designed by New York architects Boal and Harnois, began in 1897 and was completed in 1901 at a cost of $50,000[4] ($1.76 million in modern dollars[10]).

[12] The Castle was part of a 72-acre (29 ha) estate that also included servants' quarters, a gamekeeper's lodge, a carriage house, and a greenhouse.

The adjacent game preserve had abundant deer, elk and bighorn sheep; a stocked pond was available for fishing.

[4] A collier strike at other Colorado mines left CF&I financially weakened, and Osgood successfully defended a takeover bid by John W. Gates of Chicago.

His principal residence became New York City, but he traveled frequently, spending time at Palm Beach and cruising to Europe.