[3] It was named after the 19th-century Osage chief, Paw-Hiu-Skah, which means "White Hair" in English.

The town, originally known as Deep Ford,[6] was established in 1872 with the reservation for the Osage Nation, part of Indian Territory.

During the Osage oil boom of the 1910s and 1920s, Pawhuska was the site of big-money public auctions of oil and gas leases under the so-called “Million Dollar Elm” next to the Osage Council House.

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad extended its line from Owen, a community in Washington County, to Pawhuska in 1923.

[5] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.8 square miles (9.8 km2), all land.

[5] [12] Pawhuska is in the Tulsa metropolitan area, which includes part of Osage County.

Other than cattle ranches nearby, local employment consisted primarily of a brick plant, a creamery, an ice factory, and a rock crusher.

[5] The Osage Nation has opened a gaming casino here, hoping to generate revenue for the tribe.

In 2016, "Pioneer Woman" Ree Drummond opened The Mercantile on Main Street.

[15] Drummond also operates a boutique hotel,[16] The PW Boarding House.

She offers tours of her cooking lodge on nearby Drummond Ranch, the base for her TV show, The Pioneer Woman.

[20] Oklahoma State University has an Osage County Extension Office near Pawhuska.

[23] Additionally, St. Louis School for Osage Indian Girls, created by the Roman Catholic Church, began in 1887 and closed at a point up to 1949.

[25] Its roots go back to two papers which subsequently merged: The Capital and The Journal, each established in 1904.