In the 1700s and 1800s, the Otoe and Missouria people living in this area built villages of small groupings of earth lodges. Like the Omahas, Poncas, and Pawnees in Nebraska and Kansas, and the Mandans, Arikawas, and Hidatsas in the Dakotas, they used earth lodges as permanent structures. Heavy timber posts formed the framework for circular, dome-shaped buildings covered with poles, prairie grass, and sod that provided strength and insulation from heat and cold. In summer, they built arbors for shade and scaffolds for drying meat, vegetables, and firewood. Nearby family garden plots were tended by women and children, who sowed and harvested corn, beans, watermelon, tobacco, and pumpkins. For brief spring and summer trips and during buffalo hunts, they traveled in tipis made of poles and animal skins. Earth lodges such as the replica lodge constructed here would have housed 20 to 25 people, along with a few prized ponies.