Offered for sale is one of the finest “Missouri War Axe” war club’s from circa 1800. The war club tomahawk is attributed to the Hidatsa Native American Indian tribe along the upper Missouri River basin in South Dakota. The thin, forged iron head measures 10 inches in length and is triangular-shaped featuring cut outs of a half-moon, star and sunburst. The war club head is secured onto the old hardwood haft with poured lead and square head iron nails. The haft features a serrated staircase-style cut bottom end, an art feature only documented on early Missouri War Axe tomahawks (other war clubs and tomahawks from American Indians did not show this unique attribute as it was exclusive to the Missouri War Axe). The total length of the piece is 20.5 inches. Examples of this style of early Missouri War Axes with sun, moon and star cutouts in the blade (some inlaid with silver or brass) have been documented by Woodward, Peterson, Baldwin, Francis, and Hartzler & Knowles. Examples can be seen at the Oklahoma State Museum, and the Museum of the American Indian Heye Foundation, New York. The term "Missouri War Axe" was coined by American Indian weapons collectors to describe this particular style of tomahawk. They were first discovered by Lewis & Clark on their 1804-1805 expedition financed by Thomas Jefferson, which sent them exploring up the upper Missouri River basin. Meriwether Lewis wrote about these weapons and sketched one in his journal, stating that the local Indians were fervently requesting the expedition blacksmith to make additional examples for them. He went as far as to state that it was the only item the Indians were willing to trade corn, grain and other expedition necessities for and that manufacture and trade of additional axes is what solely got the explorers through the winter of 1805. Only a small handful of tribes were known to have used this style of tomahawk and in only one specific region. They were made in small numbers, making early surviving examples such as this extremely rare and historically important. This piece has been pictured on the cover of the 2010 book/publication "The Missouri War Axe: War Tomahawk of the Plains and Prairies", and in "The Mark Francis Collection of American Indian Art" (2009) page 117 figure 184. This is truly one of the finest Missouri War Axe tomahawk made available for public purchase in many years, and is truly one of the finest Hidatsa War Clubs offered. References: "American Indian Tomahawks" (1965) by Harold Peterson "The Missouri War Axe: War Tomahawk of the Plains and Prairies (2010) by Mark Francis "The Mark Francis Collection of American Indian Art" (2009) by Mark Francis "Indian Tomahawks and Frontiersmen Belt Axes" (1995) by Daniel Hartzler & James Knowles "Tomahawks & Pipe Axes of the American Frontier" (1995) by John Baldwin "Indian War Clubs of the American Frontier" (2001) by John Baldwin "Tomahawk: A Bulletin of the Fort Ticonderoga Museum" Janaury 1946 by Arthur Woodward "Native American Weapons" (2001) by Colin Taylor

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