Omaha
The Omaha (Umonhon) were a Siouan-speaking people who inhabited the eastern Nebraska prairies along the Missouri River, with their principal village near present-day Homer, Nebraska. Lewis and Clark sought to meet the Omaha in August 1804 but found their village largely deserted, as the nation was away on a bison hunt; the captains learned that the Omaha had recently been devastated by a smallpox epidemic that killed perhaps 400 people, including their chief Blackbird, who had been buried sitting upright on a bluff overlooking the Missouri. The Omaha were historically powerful traders who controlled commerce along the middle Missouri, but by 1804 they were weakened by disease and under pressure from the expanding Teton Sioux.
Biography
The Omaha people occupied territory along the Missouri River in present-day eastern Nebraska. Although the expedition passed through Omaha territory in August 1804, they did not manage to arrange a council — the Omaha were away hunting buffalo on the plains.
Clark visited the grave of the recently deceased Omaha chief Blackbird, who had ruled his people through intimidation and was said to have used arsenic obtained from traders to poison rivals. Blackbird had been buried sitting upright on his horse atop a bluff overlooking the Missouri — Clark paid his respects at this dramatic grave site.
The expedition noted the Omaha’s recent population losses from smallpox and expressed interest in future trade relations. The Omaha would later maintain a complicated relationship with American settlers and the U.S. government throughout the 19th century.
