Tonwantonga, an important Omaha Indian village on Omaha Creek, was an earthlodge town of an estimated 1,100 people about 1795 under the rule of the great chief Blackbird, 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 in honor of Charles IV. In 1800, smallpox struck the village and killed an estimated 400 people, including Chief Blackbird. The Lewis and Clark expedition visited on August 13, 1804, and found the village deserted because 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. 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.