Tonwantonga

Known to the Umóⁿhoⁿ (Omaha) as Ton'wontonga, Big Village, the town on Omaha Creek was lived in from about 1775 to 1845. Between 1939 and 1941, University of Nebraska archaeologists dug Umóⁿhoⁿ cemeteries and dwelling sites near Homer, and the remains of about a hundred people went into university storage, where they lay for three decades with little study. John O'Shea's 1992 book with John Ludwickson reported the work. Federal notices of 1998 and 2006 listed remains from two Omaha cemeteries in Dakota County, dug in 1939 and 1940, for return to the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska.

What the plaque says

Tonwantonga An important Omaha Indian village called Tonwantonga (Large Village) by the Omaha stood on Omaha Creek in this area. Ruled by the great chief Blackbird, an estimated 1,100 people lived in this earthlodge town about 1795 and it played an important role in Indian and exploratory history. Many explorers and fur traders visited this spot before 1800. Near it the Spanish built a fort, armed it with heavy guns, and named it Fort Charles honoring Charles IV. The Lewis and Clark expedition visited the village August 13, 1804, finding it deserted, as the Omaha were away on an extended buffalo hunt. The explorers stayed near the site for a week and held a conference with three chiefs of the Oto tribe who had come to make peace with the absent Omaha. In 1800 disaster had struck the village as smallpox killed an estimated 400 including the famous Chief Blackbird. After Blackbird's death the village ceased to play so important a role in the struggle for control of the Missouri Valley and the Plains beyond. Historical Land Mark Council

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Blackbird Scenic Overlook — 18 mi
  A pull-off on US-75 at Macy on the Umóⁿhoⁿ reservation, looking over the Missouri valley toward the hill where Wazhiⁿga' sabe, Blackbird, was buried after the smallpox of 1800.
• Ponca State Park — 21 mi
  Oak ravines and bluffs at the downstream end of the Missouri's last unchannelized reach in Nebraska, with a three-state overlook and the river's resource and education center.

More markers nearby

• Combs School, Built 1857 - Closed 1964 — 4.3 mi
• Territorial Church — 4.7 mi
• Winnebago Scouts — 7.5 mi
• St. John's, 1856 — 8.3 mi