Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma

Pottawatomie County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 69,442. Its county seat is Shawnee.Pottawatomie County is part of the Shawnee, OK Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Oklahoma City - Shawnee, OK Combined Statistical Area.HistoryPottawatomie County was carved out of land originally given to the Creek and Seminole after their forced removal from Georgia and Florida. After the Civil War, the Creek and Seminole were forced to cede their lands back to the federal government, and the area of Pottawatomie County was used to resettle the Iowa, Sac and Fox, Absentee Shawnee, Potawatomi and Kickapoo tribes.Non-Indian settlement began on September 22, 1891 when all the tribes except the Kickapoo agreed to land allotment, where communal reservation land was divided and allotted to individual members of the tribes. The remaining land was opened to settlement.During the land run, Pottawatomie County was organized as County "B" with Tecumseh as the county seat. In 1892, the voters of the county elected to rename County "B" as Pottawatomie County after the Potawatomi Indians.