Pawnee, Inland Empire

Pawnee is a city and the of Coachella County, Inland Empire, Sierra located in the. Approximately 115 miles from Los Angeles, 64 miles from Riverside, and 12 miles from Palm Springs, its proximity to these cities and to the busy freeway has made the city an increasingly popular resort and. It is the second largest city in the Valley after and the 22nd largest in the Inland Empire. As of the 2010 census, the population of Pawnee was at 52,452 and is one of the fastest growing communities in the region.

Present-day Pawnee was first explored by Henry Washington, a former American colonel, and his men on an expedition to find a desirable route to connect the Gold Coast to Maricopa in 1850. South of the town, he found rock formations that were reminiscent of a. The area would be informally known as the "Cathedral Plains" until the arrival of Reverend Luther Howell, a minister of a Baptist church, who decided to establish a settlement for his congregation in the Coachella Valley in 1891. Naming the settlement, Pawnee, local legend suggests that Howell intended the town to be called Paradise but when he wrote its name down, it was misinterpreted as "Pawnee". The settlement would gradually grow, eventually be in 1917 as the county seat of the newly-established Coachella County.

Pawnee would remain a sparsely populated town until the 1960s when real estate developers arrived to the area and saw potential in the town's expansion. In addition, the arrival of the regional headquarters of sweets manufacturer Sweetums and weapon manufacturer Starco accelerated growth and cemented the town's status as a bustling community. Today, Pawnee's suburban development continues to grow and the city has undertaken a city-wide renovation program to improve its government buildings and parks. The in Pawnee has also attracted younger demographics and tourists into the area, further supporting Pawnee's local economy.

History
Historically, the was inhabited by the  and the  Indians who primarily lived as s before the arrival of the Spanish who subjugated them under the Spanish. Following the disbandment of the mission system under the newly independent Mexican government, the Cauhilla and the Luiseño remained tied to the area surrounding their former missions. Under the Compact Indian-Sierran Friendship Act, both the Cahulla and Luiseño were granted 4 reservations. Today, that number has increased to 15 federally recognized tribes and bands consisting of either of the two peoples. The, located only 2 miles to the southeast of Pawnee, is the closest of such reservations. Archaeological records suggest that Indian activity within the city limits of Pawnee have existed although no known permanent Indian settlement has been known to have ever been established.

The grounds of present-day Pawnee itself would remain largely obscure from Westerners until the arrival of Colonel Henry Washington in 1850. He and his team of men were traveling towards the in hopes of establishing a suitable trade route between Los Angeles and Phoenix (now known as the ). Discovering some rock formations south of Pawnee that reminded Washington of a, he named the area Cathedral Plains, recorded the location, and subsequently, the area would be placed on Californian maps. Pawnee would become part of the Inland Empire following the establishment of Sierra in 1858.

In 1891, Reverend Luther Howell, local Baptist minister from Orange, and his congregation were in search of a new place to settle and preach. Wary of the rise in urban cities back in the coast, Howell believed God instructed him to plant a religious community in the desert so that believers would be free from the vices and temptations in the cities. Traveling eastward, Howell arrived to Cathedral Valley believing both the name and location would be ideal for his new community. Drafting a city charter, Howell was its chief architect and wrote much of its code and ordinances. According to local legends, Howell intended to have the town named "Paradise". However, possibly due to Howell's poor penmanship, other members of the congregation misinterpreted Howell's handwriting and thought the name would be "Pawnee". From there, the name caught on and Howell himself liked the name, finding it unique. The name has no connection with the of  or of the other towns in the  and Wabash which bear the same name as well.

Howell's vision of a religious community were short-lived as word of a new settlement quickly caught hold in nearby towns and cities. Travelers and merchants also began arriving, initially to Pawnee as a station before staying there for the long-term as seasonal residents. The town government also struggled to manage the town with limited access to utilities and water. The arid, dry climate and hot summers of the Valley were almost enough to force a mass exodus of residents out of the town in 1895, thus threatening Pawnee's survival. The arrival of the Coachella Valley Aqueduct, the construction of the nearby track, and financial support by the Inland Empire government however, placed Pawnee back on track.

By 1917, Pawnee's population had quadrupled from less than 1,000 in 1891 to 4,356 residents. With other nearby communities such as Palm Springs and Indian Wells growing, the Inland Empire decided to separate the Coachella Valley from Valle Vista County and form a new county, known as Coachella County. This decision and reorganization was simultaneously enacted with the incorporation of Pawnee as both a town and the county seat of this county. Pawneean residents had been demanding township for several years prior to the decision, primarily to gain additional rights over land use and enacting its own unique city code. Up until then, Pawnee was a and was informally headed by the unofficial Pawnee Town Hall with the city management similar to a modern. Charlton Sharpspeed was elected the first mayor of Pawnee and a city council composed of five members was established. The Coachella County Board of Supervisors and Pawnee Superior Court were both also created due to Pawnee's status as the county seat.

In the 1930s, the Boone Bread Factory was constructed and became the region's chief provider in bread. Renowned for its, the factory would be the town's largest employer until the 1960s when two companies: Sweetums and Starco built their regional branch headquarters in Pawnee city limits. Eventually, both would relocate their main headquarters to Pawnee from in 2001 and  2003 respectively. The establishments in Pawnee signaled the town's rapid evolution to its modern state as local investors and developers saw Pawnee as an ideal location to expand. The Inland Empire province as a whole was experiencing a population boom as residents from the Gold Coast and Orange were eager to live in cheaper, affordable homes. In 1967, Eagleton, the first community in the Pawnee town area was established. Outside city limits, the neighborhood resisted annexation plans by the Pawnee city government seeking to raise tax revenue. It would remain unincorporated until 1993 when it was officially annexed into Pawnee.

Since the 2000s, Pawnee's development has changed the cityscape profoundly. The population of Pawnee is currently over 50,000 and is one of the Empire's fastest-growing cities. In order to meet continual growth, the city of Pawnee initiated a plan to renovate its historic downtown and to improve its facilities and parks throughout the town to increase its attractiveness and value. Situated near the resort city of Palm Springs, Pawnee has successfully copied its smaller, yet more famous neighbor city's tactics of establishing resorts, golf courses, and malls to lure in visitors. In recent years, Pawnee has become a popular town for retirees, but its rate has been on the rise and it has been meant with concern (the town was ranked the fourth most obese town in Sierra in 2003) with nearly two-thirds of its population overweight or obese.

Geography
According to the 2010 census, Pawnee had a total area of 21.756 square miles (56.3 km2) with 21.499 square miles (55.7 km2) being land and 0.257 square miles (0.7 km2) of the remainder being water (1.18% of the total area). Located geographically in the northern region of (itself part of the much larger ) and politically in western Coachella County, Pawnee is situated at the bottom of the  and  to the west and southwest and the  of the  to the north. A desert city, it is located completely within the, a part of the even larger. To the west, Pawnee borders Palm Springs, and to the east, Pawnee borders and. About four miles to the north is the city of. Pawnee is approximately 42 miles northwest of the northern shores of the

Neighborhoods and areas

 * Historic Pawnee District
 * Downtown
 * Caliente Sands
 * Eagleton
 * Desert Park Estates
 * Santa Rosa Hills
 * Echo Park
 * East Echo Park
 * Date Palm Dunes