FRENCH TOMAHAWK HEADS		John Baldwin
		West Olive, Michigan

Close-up view of the 'Sun' with missing fleur-de-lis and cut designs on 1760 French tomahawk pipe axe. Excavated in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1911. John Baldwin collection.

    The metal tomahawk was introduced into the American frontier by the early fur trade companies. These trade-good items were some of the highest in demand and high in profit and were created by the French, English, Dutch and Spanish blacksmiths. These heads were sometimes offered with drilled hafts (handles) and were then shipped to America and offered in trade. Blacksmiths in America working as independents or for the fur-trade companies were loyal to and likely to belong to these four nationalities. The metal heads made in America often retained the cultural art influence of the nationality of the maker. Buried, lost in battle or just separated from their hafts over the years, these metal heads have become one of the highly sought artifacts of the fur-trade collectibles. Iron cutting axes were the first items to be introduced. They were followed by the spike axe, and then in about 1710 the term "pipe axe" (axe with a pipe bowl opposite the cutting blade) identified the pipe tomahawk. A metal trade axe of unusual shape was called the Missouri war axe. It became popular along the Missouri River area beginning about 1760. After the American Revolution blacksmiths, now American nationals, continued to create tomahawks for private sale, under contract with the government or as trade goods for the American fur trading companies both here and in Canada. Anything French is often regarded as something special and held in high esteem: French women, French wine. French-made metal tomahawks are no exception. The only problem is correctly identifying said artifacts as being of French origin. The three examples are positively identified as being French. It is hoped that this article and observations about each head will shed some light on their French art-form features. These observations can now be used to establish art traits that are French, as they appear on all three examples. Recognizing the small number of examples studied here, let it be said no artifact rule is 100% true. This study did include a hands on and visual comparison with other photographed and documented French tomahawk heads. 

   One photo is of a Louis XIV cast-brass pipe tomahawk head. Louis the XIV was born in 1638 and ascended the throne of France at the age of five. He ruled for 73 years until the time of his death in 1715. Native American Al Smith excavated this head at the Powerhouse Site in 1927. This Seneca-Iroquois site was occupied from approximately 1640 to 1660, the time of King Louis's reign. The site is located in the town of Lima in Livingston County, New York. History tells us that it was heavily influenced by the French and French trade goods. Was this tomahawk taken from a fallen French officer? Was it a presentation piece to a Seneca-Iroquois chief for considerations? We will never know. Given its time frame, this pipe axe is one of the very first of its kind. Was this the first pipe axe? It has very little early art features. Louis XIV was called the Sun King and liked shiny trappings. He surrounded himself with gold and shiny objects, furniture, tapestry, and fancy clothes. This axe head is monogramed with the "L XIV" over a crown on one side, and on the opposite side is the bust of a Frenchman with a long nose, reported to be the image of Louis. Only one other similar example, also from New York, is known to exist. It has a broken bowl. The time frame of the head is Phase I, pre-1800. It displays the classic Phase I features: a small acorn-shaped bowl, thin bowl neck, thin eye side walls, small overall size, and curved blade bit with no spur. Its two monograms establish it as French. Note the two rings around the bowl. This may prove to be an exclusive French feature. 

   The pipe tomahawk excavated in 1911 near Madison, Wisconsin, is dated 1760 on the left side just below the bowl. Four other examples believed to be from the same hand are also dated 1760. These heads all have the same Phase I features: a faceted acorn cap bowl design, long thin bowl neck, thin side walls, small overall size, small teardrop eye shape, and a curved axe blade bit with no spur. The fancy file work with many fleur-de-lis engraved designs, plus the engraved Sun Face with center inlay missing (Louis XIV-Sun King), and documentation of look-a-likes establish beyond doubt that this head is French. 

   Another tomahawk head featured here is the Missouri war axe type. It was found along the Missouri River in Kansas in the late 1800s and shows no signs of ever being buried. Its haft was a marriage of two old contemporary components. Many heads have been rehafted with new or old handles. I have no problem with this, as long as the truth is not misrepresented. In this case, a period (c. 1800) handle with a small forged pickaxe head was provided by an antique dealer. Observations told that the old haft would exactly fit the war axe, so the switch was made. I could now feel the swing and function of this weapon from a true hands-on experience. I had always wondered if the war axe was unwieldly. It appears that since this axe is heaviest at its blade, the blade would spin to the side or to the back when thrust forward. Not only is this not true, just the opposite happens. When striking downward, centrifugal force causes the blade to correct to a central forward-striking position. The 24-inch-long bird's-head end shape, oak wood haft is compatible to a two-handed thrust. I was surprised at how well I liked the feel of this weapon. This observation would not have been possible had it not been hafted. The head can always be easily removed from the haft. The blade of this axe bears the cartouche of the Pierre Chouteau Trading Company (P.S.C.), c. 1760-1790, St. Louis. It is decorated along each edge of its blade with ten-pointed stars and punch dots. This axe was blacksmith-forged to perfection at the Chouteau trading post in what is now St. Louis, Missouri. Lewis and Clark in 1805 encountered Indians along the Missouri River who would only trade the food that the expedition needed for Missouri war axes. These axes are simple thin metal, round eyes with a long triangular thin blade. This axe's Phase 1 features are the medium sized round eye; the long, thin, curved blade; and no spur on the blade. Although this head was made in St. Louis, then part of the French-held Louisiana territory, it was made by Frenchman Pierre Chouteau, establishing it as French. These early war axes are very rare in any condition. Its shape and form lasted well through Phases I, II and III time periods into the 1880s. It was a contributing shape factor for the 1850 Phase III triangular blade Western pipe tomahawks blade shape. 

Top: forged Pierre Chouteau Missouri war axe. It is 7 1/8 inches long and 3 3/4 inches wide. Center: forged brass, inlayed and engraved Louis the 14th tomahawk pipe axe. It is 6 1/8 inches long, 2 3/8 inches wide. Bottom: a cast-brass Louis the 14th presentation pipe axe. It is 5 1/4 inches long, 1 9/16 inches wide.

   These are the accepted shapes for Phase I eyes: squared oval on the Louis XIV brass head, a small flat-backed tear drop on the 1760 head and a medium-sized round eye on the early Missouri war axe. A final observation on all of these heads is the repeat of two lines that were filed as decoration on all three. The war axe has two file lines around each edge of the eye. The Louis XIV has two filed lines around the bowl. The dated 1760 head also has two filed decorative lines, one at top and one at the bottom edges of the bowl. Although this feature may not be exclusively French, I did not find it on my other tomahawk heads. Viva-la-France. 

© 1990 C.S.A.S.I. Last modified:
January 31 2004