Before settlement by European-Americans in the 1850s, Native American tribes lived in the area. From 1780 to 1830 it was where the Kaw people (also known as the Kansa) lived. The Kaw settlement was called Blue Earth Village (Manyinkatuhuudje). It was named after the river the tribe called the Great Blue Earth River. It is known as the Big Blue River. The river intersected with the Kansas River by their village. Blue Earth Village was the place of a large battle between the Kaw and the Pawnee in 1812.