PAWHUSKA (originally known as “Deep Ford” and established in 1872) is the County Seat of Osage County, Oklahoma, and was named after an 1800s Osage Indian Chief, PawHiuSkah, which translates to “White Hair” in English! The town’s first newspaper (Wah-Sha-She News) was established in 1875 by George Edward Tinker, an Osage who was the father of Clarence L. Tinker, highest ranking Native American Officer in the U. S. Army.
The Osage Tribal Government was established there in 1872 and continues to be based there today. By the time Statehood was established in 1907, the little town established in Indian Territory had reached a population of 2,407, and the Midland Valley Railroad had been running through there since 1905.
During the Osage Oil Boom and the coming to Pawhuska of the Atchison-Topeka-Santa Fe Railroad, the population soared to about 6,500, but the decline of the oil boom and the Great Depression caused the “people count” to drop and drop, and the decline has continued until recently, when tourism has renewed the interest in this amazing town, called on more than one site the place that is “still the REAL WEST!”
About 25 to 30 percent of the town’s population is still estimated to be NATIVE AMERICAN.
The 1st American Boy Scout Troop is claimed to have been organized in 1909 in Pawhuska by John F. Mitchell, a missionary priest from England and sent to St. Thomas Episcopal Church by the Church of England. (We toured amazing exhibits in the museum and read all about the troop’s history!)
But our story starts out with the initial stop at Okarche, Oklahoma, to wish a “Happy 100th Birthday” to Don’s Aunt Dorothy Schroeder, who became a Schroeder when she married Alvin Schroeder, son of the Grandpa Schroeder to whom I quite often allude when writing my stories. Aunt Dorothy now lives in Countrywood Assisted Living in Kingfisher (birthplace of Sam Walton of Walmart fame in 1918—My Dad, Paul, was born there in 1916 and knew Sam!), Oklahoma, about ten miles south of Okarche. My Aunt walked to meet us in the “social-distancing” area and is still pretty mentally acute!
We were house-guests of Don’s cousin, Allen Schroeder, son of Alvin and Dorothy, and we enjoyed two meals together with him and other family members, there for the celebration. A famous place we ate before continuing on with our trip was Eischen’s Bar (actually now more a restaurant), specializing in “world,” or at least “United States,” famous fried CHICKEN. But we will discuss this restaurant more at a later date!
We said our “good-byes” and were off to Pawhuska, about 155 miles from Okarche and 325 from our house in Forney, if you decide to take the trip and go directly from our town.
On the way, we saw many cattle ranches, wildlife, and great scenery, stopping to use our Sonic App to get drinks at the happy hour price many times! We also saw smoke from fires in California and Colorado when the wind was in the right direction.
Arriving at downtown in the dark, we walked from the hotel to eat Pioneer Woman wood-fired pizza in a restaurant, called “P-Town Pizza,” using Pioneer Woman recipes for their items, as did the restaurant in the Mercantile (next morning).
In 2016, PIONEER WOMAN, Ree Drummond, opened “The Mercantile on Main Street” in Pawhuska, and it has become famous, which was why we initially visited the town.
The store, pronounced “Mur—Kun—Tyle” (long i) and its restaurant, which serves up to 6,000 per day at busy times, was a focal point of the town. We ate breakfast there, and I liked my “skillet,” which Vivian now says she wishes she had ordered. They had very nice menus, designed to be taken home as souvenirs. Plain iced tea/ lemonade was only $0.25 (unlimited) with the meals, which shocked us, since the food was a little “upscale” priced. We did save room so that we could buy bakery items from the upstairs store, in case we became hungry later, and they were “scrumptious.”
Some other places to visit were as follow: Boutique Hotel—THE PW BOARDING HOUSE; COOKING LODGE at/on nearby Drummond Ranch; FRONTIER HOTEL—originally housed more than 100 lawyers and other businessmen and retail/professional offices—1st fireproof building in Oklahoma and one of only five in the entire U. S. in the early 1900s—marble staircase, large windows— We stayed two nights there and loved looking out the big windows of our “top floor” room onto the streets below, and we loved the “antique character” of the “historic offices,” converted into hotel rooms.
Our FAVORITE site was the TALLGRASS PRAIRIE PRESERVE, north of town—39,000 acres and more than 3,000 bison (buffalo, as we called them) and other birds and mammals—all on a caliche road that will “guaranteed” turn your car white if you drive the entire route through it in rain like the Themers did!
Another “must see” was the Osage County Historical Museum and old railway depot and real one-room schoolhouse. This is where we found much information about the Boy Scout Troop and about the movie star (films and television), Ben Johnson, and a movie, Killers of the Flower Moon, telling of the Osage murders in 1920 (Martin Scorsese, director) being filmed there. Ben Johnson’s father was a rancher and rodeo champion in Osage County. Ben was a “team roping” World Champion and took time off from well-paid film work (stunts and acting) to compete and was inducted into Pro Rodeo’s Hall of Fame in 1973.
Drive until you find the SWINGING BRIDGE— built in 1926 and crosses Bird Creek (longer than any other swinging bridge I have ever traversed). It is a woodplank suspension bridge that was, for a long time, the only way to get across the creek and into Pawhuska from that direction. (I had to coax Vivian across, while pretending I was not one bit afraid of some of the old timbers!)
And, before you leave, don’t miss the Constantine Theatre—the Immaculate Conception Church—the Osage County Courthouse with its amazingly steep concrete steps to the doorway; the original building has changed very, very little since being built—the Drummond Home in Hominy, Oklahoma.
Finally, keep in mind that there is Historic DOWNTOWN SHOPPING—86 buildings on the National Register, most from early 1900’s and still giving a good sampling of the original Pawhuska. (un-paid advertisement by Don)
I will close by saying that this trip was the choice of Vivian, and I was ready to go with her, since I like travelling with her and visiting new places—but, I was afraid I might be bored with what I thought would be the selections of activities; however, I was the first one who suggested that we go again so that we can see all the things we missed or cut short due to COVID restrictions and also needing to be back in Forney—those BISONS/ buffaloes were MAJESTIC and awe-inspiring, as were the deer on the Preserve!
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