The Osage Nation used the area that contains present-day Pawnee County as buffalo hunting grounds.

In 1825, The Osage ceded parts of present-day Missouri, Arkansas, and most of the future state of Oklahoma to the US federal government.

After the Civil War, the Cherokee agreed to allow other American Indians to settle in the eastern portion of the outlet.

[3] The female bandit, Little Britches, companion in crime with Cattle Annie, lived for a time at Sinnett, site of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation in Pawnee County.

[5] The western third of the county is part of the Red Bed plains, while the remainder is in the Sandstone Hills region.

[9] A Pawnee resident was injured while shielding his child from debris falling from a chimney.

[10] State regulators in Oklahoma ordered 37 petroleum production wastewater disposal wells in the vicinity of the earthquake (see map in citation) to be rapidly closed while assessments were made.

The following sites in Pawnee County are listed on the National Register of Historic Places: