History of The City of Onaga.

Onaga sits on the upper reaches of the beautiful (Red) Vermilion River valley. Native Americans used the valley for millennia. Evidence of extensive habitation and use of the area by successive groups of indigenous people was documented by the Kansas State Historic Society in the 1950's and 60's.

More recently, in the 18th and early 19th centuries, the area was used primarily by the Konza Tribe. In the 1830's the area became part of the "Delaware Outlet" which afforded a route for the Delaware Tribe in Eastern Kansas to access the buffalo herds to the west. In 1847 the Pottawatomie Reservation was established, centered in St. Marys to the south. The northern boundary of this 900 square mile reservation was just south of Onaga. By 1870 the Delaware and Konza had been moved to Indian Territory (Oklahoma), while the Pottawatomie reservation was much reduced to its current size.

European settlement began in the Onaga area in the 1850's and was much increased after the Civil War. Many of the early settlers in the area were French, Irish, Swiss, German and "Pennsylvania Dutch". They were mainly engaged in ranching and agriculture on the surrounding prairies and valleys. Most of the land around Onaga remains in agricultural and ranching use today.

Direct descendants of many of the original pioneer families still live in the Onaga area. It is not uncommon for 5th and 6th generation descendants to still occupy the original lands homesteaded by their fore bearers in the vicinity of Onaga.

Onaga was platted in 1877 by Paul E. Havens, President of the Kansas Central (Railroad) Town Company. There was an additional plat added in 1878. At the time of the formation of Onaga, only two families lived on the site; the Hubbells and the Landons.

Onaga, like many rural Kansas towns, flourished as a regional agricultural support center for many decades, a role it still plays today.