A person could be excused for thinking that in a town of just under 3,000, most days will produce little to talk about, much less chronicle. But in the case of the north-central Oklahoma town of Pawhuska, they couldn’t be more wrong.
Pawhuska, county seat of Osage County and the longtime location of the Osage Nation tribal headquarters, features a bevy of activity year-round. In between, several static attractions bring in visitors, too – not to mention that just last year, Pawhuska’s downtown became an outdoor movie set for a major motion picture.
Traffic into Pawhuska picked up over the last decade or so with the increasing popularity of the Pioneer Woman Mercantile, owned by television cooking show personality Ree Drummond and her husband, Ladd, and described by its website as “a destination restaurant, bakery and store.”
“Things have changed over the past ten years, that’s for sure,” says Mike McCartney, manager of the Pawhuska Chamber of Commerce, who says a downtown construction project currently underway is proving to be only a minor hindrance.
“We’re still open for business,” he says.
The downtown Streetscape construction project is a joint effort by several government entities.
“It’s kind of got things a little torn up,” McCartney says, “but things will be fine, and really nice, when it’s finished.”
Completion is expected by next spring, says Carol Jones, assistant city manager.
The construction might make things a bit confusing as the Christmas holidays approach, but McCartney says it shouldn’t interfere completely with the annual transformation of downtown into what he described as “kind of like a little Hallmark Christmas.”
The annual downtown Christmas Parade of Lights is set for 5:30 p.m. Dec. 7. Meanwhile, the community is looking ahead to the Ben Johnson Steer Roping event in June at the Osage County fairgrounds south of town.
“We’ve just had a lot of stuff going over the past few years,” McCartney says. “We’ve become a destination, to say the least.”
Not hurting that destination status was the western crime epic Killers of the Flower Moon, directed by Martin Scorsese and released in 2023. The film, set in Osage County, ushered in a bevy of production crews and actors to Pawhuska. And curiosity tourism spawned by the movie is ongoing, McCartney says.
Adding to Pawhuska’s draw are two noteworthy museums – the Osage Nation Museum that features art, artifacts and other tribal lore, and the Ben Johnson Cowboy Museum, dedicated to Oklahoma’s western heritage.
The latter museum is the namesake of a Pawhuska native who became a famed western actor and champion rodeo performer, while the former, according to its website, is the oldest tribally-governed museum in the U.S., opened in 1938.
Pawhuska lies at the entrance to the 39,650-acre Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, operated by the Nature Conservancy and proclaimed by its website as “the largest protected piece of tallgrass prairie left on earth.” Now only 4% of its original size, the fully-functioning ecosystem nevertheless holds more than 700 plants, 300 birds and 80 mammals, plus a herd of about 2,500 free-ranging bison.
For More Information
Pawhuska Chamber of Commerce
918-287-1208
City of Pawhuska
918-287-3040
pawhuska.org
Osage Nation Museum
800-320-8742
osageculture.com
Ben Johnson Cowboy Museum
918-287-9922
benjohnsoncowboymuseum.com
Pioneer Woman Mercantile
888-506-0078
themercantile.com
Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve
918-287-4803
nature.org
Osage County Historical Society Museum
918-287-9119
visittheosage.com
Pawhuska Western Swing Festival
580-761-5712
pawhuskawesternswingfestival.com
