Throwing Around the Myth

Hollywood/Cinema gets plenty of things wrong. We’re not even a month past the latest attempt at depicting the 18th century frontier with “Young Washington” and the bad taste still won’t leave my mouth. Nevertheless, they sometimes are closer to the truth than people might sometimes believe and those pearls end up getting lost in a pool of filthy water called entertainment. It doesn’t take long for individuals with critical thinking skills to start having a wholesale rejection of anything that smacks of fantastic or bravado.

Take throwing tomahawks for example and you might think of anything from Last of the Mohicans to the Magnificent Seven remake. Is there any truth to the idea? Was it desperate last ditch attempts at staying alive or was it a tactically foregone conclusion to a mode of fighting now foreign to us. A modern trained martial artist or even a practiced keyboard warrior might immediately say “ That’s so dumb! Why would you throw away your only melee weapon???!!!!” In the scheme of historical research it is sometimes easier to see the evidence without first trying to formulate the “why”. Ultimately we find ourselves coming back to a 21st century mindset and in many cases this presents an unfathomable gulf when trying to interpret the past.

So for now, put the “why” on the back burner and enjoy some videos.

https://youtu.be/or0AoV1NQt8?is=VUorLgYTKEKOvEJ1

https://youtu.be/7eKLGnQnrH0?is=L6UsJCRM63q2634E

Matt Easton is a well known UK based historical martial artist who took his own dive into tomahawk usage, combat, and techniques. The videos are a great look at their use during the 18th century based on accounts published in British papers. Pay close attention to the 25 minute mark of the first video and the latter half of the second video for his findings.

https://youtu.be/Et1oRWpOsCk?is=Dhre_0wOtO4jyJQI

Wingard Wearables is a company that creates modern tactical tomahawks inspired on period patterns. Here their founders discusses primary documentation for throwing tomahawks.

Now we’ll dive into some written quotes in narratives. I have skipped adding any newspaper quotes muself as those would start proving too numerous. Continue to leave your 21st century mindset at the back of your mind and enjoy some light reading.

“I threw myself backward into the Snow, and it being very deep, sunk so low that I broke my Snowshoes (I had Time to pull 'em off, but was obliged to let my Shoes go with them) one Indian threw his Tomahawk at me, and another was just upon seizing me; but I happily escaped and got to the Centre of our Men, and fix'd myself behind a large Pine, where I loaded and fir'd every Opportunity”

“As I was one Day in the Interpreter's Lodging, there came in 10 or 12 Indians, with the Scalps they had taken, in order to have a War-Dance:

They set me on the Floor, and put 7 of the Scalps

on my Head while they danc'd; when it was over, they lifted me up in triumph: But as I went and stood by the Door, two Indians began to dance a Live-Dance, and one of them threw a Tomahawk at me, to kill me, but I watch'd his Motion and dodg'd the Weapon.”

A plain narrative of the uncommon sufferings and remarkable deliverance of Thomas Brown, of Charlestown, in New England; who returned to his father's house the beginning of Jan. 1760, after having been absent three years

“They came within the reach of a tommahawk; had we had one, and the skill to throw it, we could scarce have failed of killing.”

“This is one of their most useful pieces of field-furniture, serving all the offices of hatchet, pipe, and sword; neither are the Indians less expert at throwing it than using it near, but will kill at a considerable distance.”

The memoirs of Lieut. Henry Timberlake 1765

“The men are expert in the use of fire-arms, -- in shooting the bow, -- and throwing the feathered dart, and tomohawk, into the flying enemy.”

James Adair 1775

“Their instruments of war are a musket, hatchet and long sharp-pointed knives; these they always carry about with them. The hatchet in war time they stick in their girdle behind; and they have the art of directing and regulating its motion, so that though it turns round as it flies, the edge always sticks in the tree near the place they aim at.”

Ebenezer Elmer,  journal kept during an expedition to Canada 1776

“This instrument they make great use of in war, for in pursuing an enemy, if they find it impossible to come up with them, they with the utmost dexterity  throw, and seldom fail striking it into the skull or back of those they pursue, by that means arresting them in flight. The toma¬ hawk is nothing more than a small hatchet, having either a sharp spike or a cup for tobacco affixed opposite to the part that is intended for cutting”

Thomas Anburey, 1777

“Their costume was a shirt of coarse linen down to the knees, long trousers also of linen down to the feet, on which they wore shoes of deerskin, and the head was covered with a hat made of bast. Their weapons were a rifle or musket, a quiver with some twenty arrows, and a short battle-axe, which they know how to throw very skillfully.”

Johann Von Ewald 1778

“… the first thing they do in a fight is to throw this pipe [tomahawk] at their opponent.  The skill which they exhibit when making use of this instrument is almost inconceivable, for they hit the smallest mark with the point of the keen-edged hatchet at a distance of twenty and more paces. ”

   Diary of Jäger Captain Johan Hinrichs in Bernard A. Uhlendorf, The Siege of Charleston, With an Account of the Provence of South Carolina 1779

“Whenever they met to practice, their training was directed to both methods of warfare. Besides going through with the regular exercises of the militia service, they accustomed themselves to those maneuvers which they knew were suited to Indian artifice. They met en his chosen ground, in the thicket and in the wood; they threw the tomahawk and drew the knife.”

“We also used to throw the tomahawk at the figure of an Indian marked out on a tree, and would take him in the forehead-between the eyes, or in any other part we chose and hardly ever missed our aim; we were almost always successful with the hatchet and with the gun."

“They first stripped him of his clothing, then tied him to a sapling, where the Indians gratified their fiendish tastes, by throwing the tomahawk at him so as to strike a little above his head”

Sketches of border adven-tures, in the life and times of Major Moses Van Camp-en, a surviving soldier of the revolution

“The expertness of the Indians in throwing the tomahawk is well known. At the distance of ten yards they will fix the sharp edge of it in an object nearly to a certainty. I have been told, however, that they are not fond of letting it out of their hands in action, and that they never attempt to throw it but when they are on the point of overtaking a flying foe, or are certain of recovering it. Some of them will fasten a string of the length of a few feet to the handle of the tomahawk, and will launch it forth, and draw it back again into their hand with great dexterity; they will also parry the thrust or cuts of sword with the tomahawk very dexterously.”

Travels through the states of North America, and the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, during the years 1795, 1796, and

1797. By Isaac Weld,

“While on the wing, he had been fighting for about two hours with one of the Indians behind trees, until at length another Indian came up, hid in the forks of an old blown down tree, he was undiscovered until he threw his tomahawk at him. He then had to move from the danger, and shortly after this, the other man came up.”

“They shot Spohr and Bennett both pretty dead and then sprang upon Cassidy. In the struggle Cassidy contrived to get hold of his tomahawk and then they let him go loose. Cassidy had been nearly overcome in the struggle, but as he ran they threw a war club or something and struck him in the back, after his breath came back, the blood gushed out of his mouth and he experienced immediate relief and acquired strength.”

“When they got asleep, say 10 or 11 o’clock, we all crept up. My gun was within twice its length of the Indian I shot at, and waited on Stucker’s fire as the signal. Everyone was killed but one, who ran within 10 steps of me. Leaving blanket, moccasins and all, I threw my tomahawk at him. Next morning we looked, but if he was wounded we couldn’t see any trail of blood. The nineteen all lay there in death.”

“John Wade was killed at the Beaver Pond, right on the way that we always went to trap. The path went between the butts of two large White Oaks that had fallen in opposite directions. Two Indians from what we could judge had hid behind these trees and sprang up as he passed by and caught at the reins of his bridle. He had a desperate contest with them as it appeared for his tomahawk was found locked into the ground up to the pole about ten steps ahead where he had flung it so hard.”

“She was so glad she jumped up to run before the men were in sight. An Indian threw his tomahawk at her while another picked up the next to her”

Frontier memories III : Rev. John Dabney Shane interviews

“In this affair, I had an opportunity of witnessing the cruel dexterity and despatch with which the Indians use the  tomahawk and scalping knife. A Kentucky rifleman, who had been dismounted within a few yards of the spot where I stood, — and the light company, to which I was attached, touched the left flank of the Indians — was fired at by three warriors of the Delaware tribe. The unfortunate man received their several balls in his body, yet, although faint from loss of blood, he made every exertion to save himself. Never was fear so strongly depicted on the human countenance, and the man's hair (for he was uncovered) absolutely seemed to me to stand on end, as he attempted to double a large fallen tree, in order to elude the weapons of his enemies. The foremost of his pursuers was a tall powerful man — a chief whom I well knew, having, only a few days before we commenced our retreat, obtained from him a saddle in exchange for a regimental coat, purchased at the sale of the effects of Lieut. Sutherland, wounded at Maguaga. When within twelve or fifteen paces of the rifleman, he raised and threw his tomahawk, and with such precision and force, that it immediately opened the skull, and extended him motionless on the earth”

The War of 1812 first series : containing a full and detailed narrative of the operations of the Right Division, of the Canadian Army, 1842

“The other, being a poor runner, was pursued by an Indian who after a smart chase came close to him. The man then wheeled round and snapped his gun at the Indian. This he repeated several times. The Indian then  threw his tomahawk at his head but missed him; he then caught hold of the ends of his belt which was tied behind in a bow knot. In this again the Indian was disappointed, for the knot came loose so that he got the belt but not the man”

“Throwing the tomahawk was another boyish sport, in which many acquired considerable skill. The tomahawk with its handle of a certain length will make a given number of turns in a given distance. Say in five steps it will strike with the edge, the handle downwards ; at the distance of seven and a half, it will strike with the edge, the handle upwards, and so on. A little experience enabled the boy to measure the distance with his eye, when walking through the woods, and strike a tree with his tomahawk in any way he chose.”

Joseph Doddridge 1845 Notes on the settlement and Indian wars of the western parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania from 1763 to 1783, inclusive

“They also when there opponents were 15 to 20 yards in advance of them threw their tomahawks with unerring aim and great force bury the hatchet up to the eye in the body of their opponents.

 I afterwards requested the Chief to show me how he threw the tomahawk. He accordingly cut a small chip out of the bark of a tree, and standing some fourteen yards off, and taking his tomahawk with its pole to the front, he threw it, and it was buried some inches into the oak, with the handle upmost, it having turned round in its flight.”

Tiger Dunlop's Upper Canada : comprising Recollections of the American war 1812-1814, and Statistical sketches of Upper Canada for the use of emigrants by a Backwoodsman

“Throwing the tomahawk, and shooting with the bow, are practised with great perseverance and zeal, and form no inconsiderable or unimportant part of their amusement. In regard to the first, the whole art consists in strength and precision, and in accommodating the motions of the arm and land to the distance, so as invariably to cause the edge of the tomahawk to strike the mark, and it is at-

tained to an astonishing degree of perfection by the Indians.”

“He then desired the little boy, son of Mr. Duke, the owner of the house, to run and fetch the tomahawk, as he was without his own. Having greased and dusted the handle, he threw it against a post with much accuracy and force.”

Memoirs of a Captivity Among the Indians of North America, from Childhood to the Age of Nineteen ... John Dunn Hunter

“The advance body was composed principally of Senecas, at that time the wildest and most ferocious of the Six Nations. Col. Alden made his escape fromthe house, and was pursued down the hill, toward the fort, by an Indian; when challenged to surrender, he peremptorily refused so to do; several times he turned round and snapped his pistol at the Indian; the latter, after pursuing some distance, threw his tomahawk, and struck him on the head, and then rushing up, scalped him. He thus " was one of. the first victims of this most criminal neglect of duty.”

“He seized the blade in his hand and wrested it out and then retreated into the house.

Not a gun was fired or a tomahawk thrown at him in this sortie. The Indians now commenced firing through the door and into the windows, which was returned by Mr. S. though with no effect on the part of the Indians, and with little on his.”

Annals of Tyron County 1831

" Those who have been any length of time in the country become very expert in throwing the hatchet; which from constant practice, they perform to such nicety, that they are not only able to secure many of the smaller quadrupeds, but partridges and other birds. That art has been taught them by the Indians who are so dexterous  in the use of the instrument, that they have been known to kill in one day, with no other arms, two deer, a hawk, a curlew, and several sturgeon.

Mr. Annance who ranks in the country as a first-rate shot , had made himself so great an adept, that at a distance not exceeding twenty yards, he even preferred the hatchet to the rifle, and on several occasions he had handled it with great success against marauding parties of Stone Indians , who inhabit the extensive plains of the Saskatchiwine."

"Narrative of a journey to the shores of the Arctic  Ocean, 1833,,,," Richard King vol.1"

“The Indians fired upon Sy-monds and wounded him. He escaped them by reaching

the river and swimming. The black boy was scalped. An Indian, armed only with a tomahawk, motioned Mr. Meigs to surrender. Instead of surrendering, he advanced upon the savage with his gun presented, but which happened not to be loaded. As they came in contact, the one struck with his gun and the other with his tomahawk Mr. Meigs was stunned by the blow; but recovering, he fled from the Indian, who pursued without being able to overtake him. Seeing his victim like to escape him, he fired his tomahawk upon him, which narrowly missed his head. The Indian raised his customary war cry, and gave up the pursuit.”

Indian wars of the West : containing biographical sketches of those pioneers who headed the western settlers in repelling the attacks of the savages, together with a view of the character, manners, monu-ments, and antiquities of the western Indians 1833

“Two of the tomahawks that I have named, marked e, are what are denominated “pipe-tomahawks,” as the heads of them are formed into bowls like a pipe, in which their tobacco is put, and they smoke through the handle. These are the most valued of an Indian’s weapons, inasmuch as they are a matter of luxury, and useful for cutting his fire-wood, &c. in time of peace; and deadly weapons in time of war, which they use in the hand, or throw with unerring and deadly aim.”

My Life Among the Indians: George Catlin's Memoirs of the American West and Plains Tribes,George Catlin

“In October, 1793, while a detachment of Wayne's troops were at Fort Recovery, John Shaw, a Serjeant in the company of Captain Hasker, narrowly escaped being killed or taken by the Indians. Contrary to orders, he ventured into the forest near the fort to gather hickory-nuts, and had set his musket against a tree. While busily engaged, with his head near the ground, he heard a slight rustling of the leaves close to him. Rising suddenly from his stooping posture, he saw an Indian within a few yards, his tomahawk ready for a throw, while at the same, he called out, in broken English, " prisoner ! prisoner !" Shaw had no particular liking for captivity. So he sprang to his gun, cocked it, and faced around, just as the Indian hurled his hatchet at his head. It missed its aim, but made a deep wound in the muscles of the loins”

”Kennan, as far as he was able, kept his eye upon the motions of his pursuer, lest he should throw the tomahawk, which he held aloft in a menacing attitude, and at length, finding that no other Indian was immediately at hand, he determined to try the mettle of his pursuer in a different manner, and felt for his Eomahaw in order to turn at bay. It had escaped from its sheath, however, while he lay in the grass, and his hair had almost lifted the cap from his head, when he saw himself totally disarmed.”

“A bloody conflict now ensued. The Indians stabbed him in several places.

Their spears, however, were but thin poles,

hastily prepared for the occasion, and bent whenever they struck a rib or a muscle. The wounds they made were not therefore deep, though numerous, as his scars sufficiently testified. At last one them threw his tomahawk

It struck him  upon the  cheek, passed through his ear, which it severed, laid bare his skull to the back of his head, and stretched him upon the prairie. The Indians again rushed on: but Higgins recovering his self-possession, kept them off with his feet and hands.”

“taking the advantage of Morgan's empty gun, advanced, and put him to flight a second time, and being lighter of foot than the old man, soon came up within a few paces, when he fired at him, but fortunately missed him. On this Mr. Morgan faced about again, to try his fortune, and clubbed his firelock. The Indian by this time had got his  tomahawk ready for a throw, at which they are very dexterous. Morgan made the blow, and the Indian the throw, almost at the same instant, by which the little finger was cut off Morgan's left hand, and the one next to it almost off, and his gun broke off by the lock”

Border wars of the West : comprising the frontier wars of Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee, and Wisconsin; and embracing individual adventures among the Indians, and exploits of Boone, Kenton, Clark, Logan, Brady, Poe, Morgan, the Whetzels, and other border heroes of the West

As you can see, there were a whole array of times various combatants felt it was proper or necessary to discard their weapon, some even at the very onset of a fight. It is even worthy to note that most all the descriptions of fighting equipment are similar with recounting only one singular tomahawk, and not a secondary one for throwing or having an additional war club. The quotes here certainly give food for thought when compared to modern conventional wisdom.

I want to thank Gerry Neilands, Nathaniel Kolbuck, John Hastings, Jerry Berg, Tom Sasso for helping compile the quotes you have just read. If anyone has any other additional quotes please post them in the comments. but for now see y’all down the trail!