Manutahi was briefly General Duncan Cameron’s headquarters during the military occupation of the district in 1865. When his forces moved north, Manutahi, with its redoubt and blockhouse, became a post in the line of communication with Whanganui.

North-west of Manutahi, near the mouth of the Manawapou River, are the remaining earthworks of the Thacker’s or Manawapou redoubt, constructed by Cameron in 1865. It was from this redoubt, in 1865, that Private Kimble Bent – an American drifter who had enlisted in England – deserted from the 57th Regiment to Māori forces.

On the headland overlooking the river mouth is the cliff-top pa of Manawapou. The large meeting house Taiporohēnui was erected here in 1855 for a meeting of tribes to discuss land sales to Pakeha.