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   alt.old-west      Discussing the wild west, frontier life      1,275 messages   

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   Message 802 of 1,275   
   Al B. Traus to All   
   Re: Indians and tomahawks   
   15 May 05 07:45:57   
   
   From: birdbrain@dontemailme.com   
      
   In article , firstinitiallastname@texas.net   
   says...   
      
   >Well, yes and no. A stone hatchet or tomahawk requires considerable time   
   >and effort to make, doesn't throw very well with any hope of doing much   
   >damage and is not to be thrown away lightly. Most references to Indians   
   >throwning tomahawks recounts them doing it more as a game or just to be   
   >destructive, rather than in battle.   
      
   I think that "war clubs" were far more common than   
   were tomahawks, for the reason you mention - the   
   labor and time involved in making a tomahawk versus   
   shaping a tree limb or root into a war club.   
      
   In either case, a combatant would be foolish to throw   
   them in a fight/battle. They were used in close   
   combat, and to let go of the weapon meant being   
   at the mercy of your enemy.   
      
   And to throw a tomahawk in a playful manner would   
   not be conducive to long usage since it was probably   
   difficult enough to keep the stone tightly bound to the   
   handle (stick) in the first place. Leather bindings   
   were the norm and leather isn't an ideal binding by   
   any means. To say nothing of the propensity for the   
   rock used for the head to shatter.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)   

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