The name comes from the Ottawa tribe of Indians. The city was planned on their reservation. In spring 1864, the land was obtained from the tribe through a treaty connected to the creation of Ottawa University. The Ottawa had given 20,000 acres of land to create and fund a school for the education of Indians and non-Indians alike. The word Ottawa itself means “to trade”. In 1867, the Ottawa tribe sold their remaining land in Kansas, and they moved to Indian Territory in Oklahoma.