Pawhuska is a city in northeastern Oklahoma and the county seat of Osage County, which is coextensive with the Osage Nation Reservation. With a population of 2,984 at the 2020 census, it is the largest community in a county defined by tallgrass prairie, ranchland, and the Flint Hills. The city lies in the heart of what was once the original tallgrass region of the Great Plains, and it remains the capital of the federally recognized Osage Nation. The city's origins reach back to 1872, when it was settled and named for Osage chief Paw-Hiu-Skah, whose name translates to White Hair. An Indian Agency was established the following year, and Pawhuska became the Osage County seat at Oklahoma statehood in 1907. The early 20th century brought an oil boom that enriched the county and shaped the city's built environment, including the historic brick commercial buildings that still line its downtown. That legacy of Osage governance and mineral wealth is central to the area's history. In recent decades, Pawhuska has become known to a national audience through Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman, whose Mercantile retail and restaurant destination anchors downtown and helped spark a broader revitalization of local storefronts. Tourism now complements the city's traditional ranching and county-seat economy, with visitors drawn to the Osage Nation Museum, cowboy and pioneer heritage sites, and the nearby Tallgrass Prairie Preserve. For residents, Pawhuska offers a genuine small-town lifestyle with unusual cultural depth. Children attend Pawhuska Public Schools, and community life revolves around rodeo, church, and civic events. The Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, the largest protected tract of tallgrass prairie in the world, lies just outside town, offering bison viewing and open-landscape recreation, while Osage Hills State Park provides camping and trails. Pawhuska is a place where Native American heritage, ranch tradition, and a modern tourism revival coexist.