Real TOMAHAWK Combat!..from historical accounts 

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Native American here. You're fine. I'm Cayuga from Six Nations and we always called ourselves indians. I don't really care what you call me. I know who I am. Awesome video, dude :D thanks for the attention on something historically relevant to me and my family!

So, basically, the Tomahawk was basically the American equivalent of the Bollock Dagger; "does everything, everyone has one, some are nicer than others"

I think "take to the tree" might mean to seek cover behind a tree (remember in this time you were meant to stand your ground in the open) much like "took to ground" means to hide in the low points of the ground in this time.

Simon Kenton was famous for loading his long rifle while in flight. The Indians knew him as "The man who's gun is never empty" for his skill of running and reloading his flintlock at the same time. He was a main factor in the settlement of Kentucky.

Here's a crazy fact about scalping. In Nova Scotia Canada there is still a bounty of thirty pieces of silver for Mikmaq Native scalps. Every treaty Day we celebrate, on October 1st each year we tried to get them to repeal this law but the Nova Scotia government refuses to

The British and Cherokee have an interesting historical relationship. There was conflict as in the first account, but they also fought for the Crown during the American Revolution. That's when my family's diaspora originated. The land where my Cherokee ancestors lived was ceded to the fledgling US during the Chickamauga Wars. Rather than move with fellow Cherokee, they stayed and assimilated. I am not an enrolled member of any of the 3 Cherokee bands, but I study the language and culture to honor those ancestors. I'm thrilled to hear Matt discuss tomahawks, and urge him to go further into warclubs. I have some resources that may help, if desired.

Ritualistic torture of captured enemies was a very real thing, and why wouldn’t people be terrified of it? Aren’t you? I certainly am.

US History teacher here: the torture ABSOLUTELY happened all the time, but it's important to understand the cultural context. Many Native American cultural groups, such as the Algonquian and Iroquoian (and other) peoples engaged in "mourning" wars. When a person in your family or village was killed, it was believed that the spiritual power (also referred to as "medicine) of your family and community was diminished, and it was necessary to replenish that power. Mourning wars were conducted as raids with the intent of capturing enemies to be brought back to one's village, and through ritual and ceremony, use their spiritual power to replenish that of your family and community. There were 2 common ways of doing this. 1 was adoption and integration into the family and village, where the captive literally replaced the person who was killed. The other was to ritualistically torture the captive to death. A captive's fate was determined, in part, by their conduct. When a captive was brought to the village, they were often stripped down and examined by the women of the tribe to determine if they were strong and healthy. Then, while naked, they would be forced to run the gauntlet into the village. "Running the gauntlet" was a ceremony in which the villagers would line up in two rows, forming a kind of tunnel into the village. Then the captive had to pass through this tunnel, enduring taunts, insults, slaps, punches, cuts, and blows from sticks and clubs. If they conducted themselves bravely, they were more likely (not guaranteed, mind you) to be adopted into the tribe, as they had shown themselves to be strong and courageous. Those who ran the gauntlet with fear or timidity were more likely to be ritually tortured to death. The methods of torture varied, but there is one account I read of a French captive of the Mohawk in what is today Northern New York, who witnessed another captive be tied to a post in the middle of the village, and all members of the tribe came by to take turns sticking burning sticks to his skin, cutting him, and rubbing hot ashes and embers into his wounds. Apparently he endured this for over a day before succumbing to his wounds. None of this is meant to depict Native Americans as stereotypical, "bloodthirsty savages." I simply mean to explain that, if one was captured by Natives, there was a fair chance that they would endure horrific torture. The European settlers certainly had their own fair share of cruelties and atrocities that they committed against the Natives (and one another), and this does not excuse that.

Colonial history studies guy from the Midwest America here. You did a good job pronouncing "Potawatomi" and I am certain they fought from trees, which were very abundant and very large prior to the eastward expansion of large populations of American settlers. It's mentioned pretty frequently in frontier sources. Great video!

Going for a proper scholarly beard, I see. Noice.

Just want to confirm that, during my decade or so as a Boy Scout adult leader, I taught Scouts how to throw the tomahawk. The lightest belt hawks are, indeed, very accurate to fifteen yards and the heavier hawks to twenty yards. With practice, sticking every throw into a target the size of a paper plate is normal. (Yes, this is true, although most tomahawk throwing is probably best done at ten to fifteen yards with all sizes.) The body of most forged hawks is iron with an angled, forged edge of hard steel, generally sharpened to a fine edge. Throwing at closer range is done with the edge forward, but at greater range with the edge facing backward. Twenty yard throws will generally require a double-rotation throw with the edge once again toward the target. The technique is more sophisticated than one might at first imagine.

I'm a Cherokee subscriber of your channel. Thanks for mentioning us. Also, it's OK to call us Indians, bro 😂 Some tribes have the word "Indian" in their official name in English. Thanks again, Your Cherokee/Chickasaw Fan.

Here's an account of an incident which occurred during the American Revolutionary war in which tomahawks were used as throwing weapons. "Now, whilst the troops were stationed at Springfield, Elerson on a certain day, thought he would go to a place where he had observed a quantity of mustard growing around a deserted old house, a small clearing having been made at this spot a year or two before, his object being to gather a dinner of herbs for himself and men. The place was distant from the camp about a mile, where he had been busily employed till his haversack was nearly half full. Round about this house the weeds and sprouts had grown thick and high. As he was stooping to gather the mustard, he thought he heard a rustling in the weeds behind him, when, looking around, he saw ten or a dozen Indians just ready to spring upon him, and take him prisoner. That they chose to take him prisoner, rather than shoot him, he inferred from their not having done it, as the most ample opportunity had been afforded. The nearness of the fort might have detered them, or they may have wanted him alive as a victim of torture. As he sprang to seize his rifle, which stood against the house, their hatchets were hurled sufficiently swift and numerous to have cut him to pieces, if they had all hit him; however, he sustained no injury, except the middle finger of one hand, which was nearly cut off." The account goes on to describe the long pursuit that followed in which he was chased over 20 miles through the mountains and, after killing one of his pursuers, had to spend three days hiding in a hollowed hemlock with a musket ball lodged in the flesh above his left hip. The man in this account (Elerson) is my direct patrilineal ancestor and was a rifleman on the colonial side in the American Revolutionary War and prior to that he fought in Lord Dunmore's War. He also fought at Monmouth and was present at Burgoyne's surrender. One of his more famous exploits was stealing the coach of general Henry Clinton in order to catch up with his unit after being separated on foot. Here is another account of an incident he was involved in that featured the use of an ax. "The first service on which they were sent, was to take, dead or alive, a person strongly suspected of Toryism, living on the Charlotte river, by the name of Service, who was not only Torified in principle, but was an active agent of the British in aiding, victualing, and secreting the enemies of the Revolution." The interim that I cut out describes their capture on the way of a man holding a letter from a British Captain Smith to Service detailing the movement of smiths troops and that he was travelling to Service's house and would arrive shortly. After setting up an ambush Captain Long and Ellerson both fired on and hit Captain smith in the chest killing him immediately. "This work finished, Captain Long and his men changed their course for the Charlotte, in pursuance of their first intention (ie to arrest Service for colluding with the Tories), where they arrived and silently surrounded the house of the person sought for, gathering closer and closer, till at length two or three entered the room where he was, before they were discovered. He instantly stepped out of the door with them, when he was informed that they had orders to take him to the forts at Schoharie. He appeared somewhat alarmed, while he strenuously objected to the proposal, pleading innocence, etc., but in the meanwhile was evidently working his way along from the door to a heap of chips lying between Elerson and Murphy. The reason now appeared why he had so cautiously approached the chips, for on coming to the spot, be seized in a moment a broad-ax, which lay there, and made a desperate stroke at Murphy, which, however, he eluded, as the keen eye of that veteran was not asleep, but the fruitless attempt rolled back in vengeance on its author, as a bullet from the rifle of Murphy stretches him a lifeless corpse, with the ax in his hand."

Taking to a tree usually meant using one for cover. The trunks could be quite large. It was still mostly old growth forest with little undergrowth.

Sorry again. I'm just trying to clear up American history. Rifled muskets and smooth bore muskets were used concurrently. Rifles were not an invitation over smooth bore as most people think. Militaries used smooth bore as the ball fits looser allowing for faster reloads and more shots before fouling. Hunters used rifles as the ball must fit tight to engage with the rifling this makes for more accuracy but with slower reload and faster fouling. Contrary to popular belief the colonial army did use smooth bore military muskets and Eurasian tactics. I was the local militia that used their hunting rifle because that's all they had and acted as snipers because that's how the hunted and all they new how to do. Hunting rifles would not of hat bayonet lugs so militia men had to have tomahawks as they had no way to mount a bayonet.

Matt, no critics, but the "bucket" in case of cavalry force could also apply for watering the horse and/or feeding it with grain/oats, I think.

At the 30:00 mark, there is reference to the "savages" being employed by General Burgoyne. This was prior to the Battle of Saratoga, and there's an interesting story to come of it. The bands of Indians terrorized the countryside, targeting mostly Patriot's homes and towns. In one instance, a group of Native Americans raided a cabin and took two women prisoners before scalping them. When they brought the scalps back to the British army, an officer recognized one of the scalps as that of Miss Jane McCrea, a young lady he was engaged to. The other woman was Mrs.McNeil, the cousin of a British General Simon Fraser. The event caused great tension between the British and their native allies and was heavily propagandized by the local Patriots, who saw an increase of volunteers once word got around.

Awesome video Matt. First hand accounts can be very revealing. The account of the riflemen throwing their tomahawks at the charging bayonets reminded me of a story involving a friend back when we did 1812 reenacting. The group of regulars always wanted to charge us with their bayonets which had proven, time after time, to be dangerous. My friend, being of rather large build, went to the commanding officer and told him if they charged, he would throw his large, heavy tomahawk. There were no further bayonet charges.

I've always thought that the term "tomahawk" caught on with Europeans the way it did not only because for a native word it's quite easy for a European to pronounce, but also because it seems somehow appropriately descriptive of the object itself. Not onomatopoeic exactly, but suggestive of that. The word has assosance and consonance in the right places for a weapon, particularly a weapon that for a long time struck terror into the hearts of European and American settlers. "Evocative" is probably the right word for it.

Martial pistols of the day, especially those with a brass ball end on the grip, became an ideal close quarters weapon when empty, wielded as a club held by either end.

The term 'Indian' is still commonly used, and isn't viewed as derogatory or wrong. Yes, we know native Americans aren't from India, but America is a European name after all. Many call themselves Indians today. In the US, It's kind of like African American vs black.

"tactical tomahawks" became VERY popular with US troops during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, especially in the mid 00s-early 2010s. They were not standard issue of course, but lots asked for them to be sent over by their families. Never read accounts of them being used in combat, but I bet it happened at least once! Very handy camp tools regardless alongside the standard issue knife.

I'll bet "treed" means to take cover behind a wide tree trunk in anticipation of a firefight. Climbing a tree is too involved, requires two hands, and probably exposes you to getting shot while you attempt it.

I always think of hatchets as having shorter handles and tomahawks as having longer handles

Great video! It is always great to see you branch out to explore weapons and combat from different parts of the world!

I really loved this, just reading and talking about various historical sources. Soul food for the history buff!

A Swede at sea, having a coffee, swinging a one handed axe... Yeah, as a swede, I believe it haha

I believe what is meant by "Treed" is to be taking cover behind trees, not necessarily climbing one. Although in some instances they could climb a tree I suppose, but then you'd be trapped. Your enemy only need shoot you out of the tree whether with arrow or ball. The Eastern woodlands of Appalachia were dense with wide mature trees. I'm thinking they were exchanging shots from behind or between tree trunks.

I've thrown a few tomahawks, and I definitely don't want one thrown at me. Injury would seem almost certain, but l still can barely believe that it was alway "death" at 20 yards. As you said, Matt, historical sources often lean hard one way.

Slight correction: “Native American” is not universally preferred over Indian, or is “indigenous,” though both are fairly common misconceptions among Europeans/European-descent Americans. My maternal grandmother was Eastern Band Cherokee and considered Native American perhaps not offensive but incredibly annoying because everyone born in America is a “native” American. If you don’t know the name of the tribe/band - which is always preferred because there is a lot of heterogeneity - while there are differences in preference among individuals “American Indian” is generally the preferred term.

In regards to provincial cavalry units being issued swords or tomahawks. It could be very likely they were used more as dragoons vs mounted cavalry depending on unit composition.

Love to see Tomahawk content. Here in Canada, tomahawks are still used often.

As far as I'm aware, "fell in" with someone means joining up - fell in to their company. Maybe not in the instance in the report, but generally spontaneously meeting up with with someone.

The french were using savages(plural most of the time ) not in a negative way, it came later, but to indicate that they were living in a natural state like savage animal. the word savage was use for the native of North America and the word indian was for South American and caribbean unless they were living in a forest. Indigenous did not came until the 18th century and was pejorative. American was also used sometimes not for people of the USA but the natives. Barbarian was used for the ennemy of the french. Redskin was never used in New France. When we read those old text we tend to assume that an insult today was an insult at that time.

As well as its inherent value to military history, I think this sort of look is also instructive for any historian. First hand accounts, technology, frontier and home dynamics, racial relations, and so forth. Great stuff.

I was talking to a friend once and we were discussing throwing tomahawks. I didn't think it was practical but he pointed out that IF you do land a hit the fight is basically over even if the person doesn't die.

I find it fascinating that they threw the tomahawks first, then used pistols etc. I think it was a psychological affect, seeing your man next to you are ahead of you get their head split open must be terrifying.

Interesting to note with the "burying the hatchet" phrase being pre-metal: the Haudenosaunee (aka Iroquois) Tree of Peace, which symbolizes the unification if the Six Nations, is a symbolic white pine which is usually depicted with a broken warclub/hatchet/tomahawk and arrow buried beneath it

I can remember reading something about Daniel Boone in which ‘took to tree’ referred to placing yourself behind the tree, while using the tree to shield your body while simultaneously bracing against it to shoot.

I imagine it's possible that "taking to a tree" might simply mean taking cover behind one. With the added option of climbing up it, if necessary. Very cool trip down History Lane! Cheers!

Always nice to see military history content on stuff outside the usual Europe, Near East, and Asia. If you ever wanna do a similar video on Mesoamerican combat, weapons, etc, I'd be happy to help out with that, scheduling permitting: I've worked with a number of history and archeology channels on Mesoamerican videos before!

In 1757 Major Robert Rogers wrote his Rules of Ranging. Number 13 was as follows: "XIII. In general, when pushed upon by the enemy, reserve your fire till they approach very near, which will then put them into the greatest surprize and consternation, and give you an opportunity of rushing upon them with your hatchets and cutlasses to the better advantage." I seem to remember a version that said "Finish them off with your hatchets." but I could not find that version.

I read a book in the 60s about early American weapons which linked the European made metal tomahawk to the Francesca (sp-1). Natives certainly carried stone hawks which were extremely sharp but the durability of iron won out and the classic metal 'hawk was quickly adopted by all, native and European alike. Having carried one for years camping, they are great choppers for small to medium wood and much lighter than any hatchet I have ever owned.

RE: "Bury the hatchet," which is used as a phrase to signify letting go of ideas of vengeance, I once heard a preacher use the saying, "Don't bury the hatchet but leave the handle sticking up," -- so that you can grab it again. After listening to this account of actual buried hatchets, it makes even more sense!

Story time with Matt Easton is the best!

I am so pleased that I came across your channel. This is only the third or fourth video of yours that I have seen, but I am already a huge fan. I just love the lens in which you relate; a fantastic combination of intellect (without being smug), practical application, and genuine enjoyment of the subject. I only regret that I hadn't found your channel sooner. Please, keep doing what you are doing. Take care and be well. - Slim

"Tree" as a verb comes from raccoon hunting. The raccoon runs up a tree to take refuge and is then cornered there by the hunting hounds, unable to get down. The hunter than finishes it off. You can see it used that way throughout Wilson Rawles' "Where the Red Fern Grows".

Love that you go to lengths to point out various forms of bias

Simon Kenton was known for being able to reload while running, as was Daniel Boone. It was a skill learned on the frontier from long practice and necessity.

Regarding the pistols at closer range, I'm willing to bet after discharging both pistols, they'd turn them around and use them like double clubs, maybe one to parry the bayonet and the other the strike. Those pistols weren't all that short. Most were almost as long as the tomahawks. So, basically, they were tomahawks as well, more like the original wooden/stone tomahawks.

Tomahawks were also symbolically painted red as a sign of war. “Treed” can mean up a tree (the modern term) or hiding behind a tree’s trunk (the archaic frontier term). During the F&I or Seven Years War, British irregulars under Robert Rogers carried tomahawks when they attacked the Abenaki villages in Canada. American long hunters of the frontier adopted tomahawks both as weapons and camp tools. People can reload flintlocks while running. Daniel Boone could do it as could Simon Kenton (as can modern day re-enactor Mark Baker, who taught it to Daniel Day Lewis in Last of the Mohicans). Interestingly, it was a tomahawk that started the Seven Years War when an Indian guide working for a young British officer named George Washington tomahawked and killed the French commander Jumonville during a parley, forcing Washington to fight the French at Fort Necessity. Usually a junior officer who starts a world war does not fare well, but Washington later fought under Braddock at the Monongahela before fighting as an American general and becoming our first president.Tomahawks are a part of American history that continues today. Tomahawk throwing is still a sport among American woodsmen and is gaining popularity as a recreational activity. It was a standard tactic to throw a tomahawk if your rifle was empty against an opponent with a loaded musket-not to kill the opponent, but to get them to duck and buy time to charge them with your long knife. It worked in days of single-shot guns.

There are remains of small Native American mines copper are all over the Appalachian mountains, so I imagine copper tomahawks were hardly unknown, by the time Europeans arrived.

Loading on the run was quite common on the frontier, easier with a smooth bore than a rifle. Black powder maniac shooter on RU-vid has attempted it in one of his videos as well.

Tomahawk and billhook (roncola in Italian) are two examples of tools used as weapons from down of humanity to the modern Era. Still effective as they were for our ancestors.

Theres a little more to the torturing of captives thing than one may initially think. It was actually a widely practiced and accepted part of tribal warfare in North America. There was also an interesting practice of taking captives and then exchanging them for the casualties of the captors tribe, the decision was given to the deads family, wheather to kill or to make the captive assume the identity of the lost loved one. Either way as a form of retribution. So in other words the looser either gets his fingernails pulled out, or he's adopted as a lost loved one, up to the family. Seems odd by todays standards, but different cultures and times.

16:54 - It's pretty easy to lose someone in dense forest cover, especially if you're at all hesitant about the possibility of getting shot. 17:40 - It may just mean that he stood behind a large tree for cover/concealment.

When I head to the wild, I always carry a tomahawk with me. Light, fast, sharp, and very handy for chores or last ditch combat if needed.

My family was saying they're part of the historical Society here and worked with many different colleges around here and we have Indian artifacts on our homestead property which has been in our family for 220 plus years, as that it came from the Algonquin originally and the rest, Abenaki. Missiquoi. Pennacook. Arapaho. Beothuk. Blackfoot. Cheyenne. Chowanoke. Cree. tribes they had a stone or wooden headed variation that they all refer to as tomahawk, along with the incorporation of the European style metal headed hatchet AKA (tomahawk the name) just stayed because it's the same kind of weapon as what we refer to as a hatchet or axe, (the trides called a tomahawk) so the specific shape and style has always been referred to as tomahawk from that native language.

Not gonna lie. This has me wanting a Townsends/scholagladiatoria crossover.

Former Arizona resident here (lots of Native reservations in the state) virtually all natives I've met refer to themselves as Indians and not in the same way some groups try to 'own' their perjoratives. They take no offense to the term when used directed towards them. Only ivory tower whites take offense to it ie the perpetually offended.

The truth is, Native American tribes often didn't have any qualms against attacking non-combatants, even outside of warfare. Just before and during the first half of the American Revolution Native Americans in what is today New York - except the Oneida who maintained peace - attacked and killed or enslaved vulnerable people regularly enough to inspire multiple fortifications and for settlers to gather to fortified towns and forts. The British successfully secured the alliance of the Iroquois - again, aside from the Oneida - and the Iroquois engaged in total warfare against settlers. Farms and homes were burned and looted. Most of the settlers in that area were German immigrants, most of whom were pacifists. Their men were often incompetent with or completely unfamiliar with how to use firearms. Their wives and children would be murdered or taken as slaves by the raiding Iriquois. It took years of this before most isolated farms were abandoned and the people of the area began banding together and drilling as militia. Again, let me drive this point home: The settlers were most often noncombants who had, prior to this period, lived in peace along side or even among the Iroquois and other local native tribes, and they were attacked, unprovoked, by Native Americans for YEARS before responding with a military force. Again, many of the settlers in that area were pacifist German immigrants, or descended 1 or 2 generations from such. Few of them had familiarity with firearms at all. They did not possess swords, spears, or any means of defending themselves outside of axes. The Oneida tribe refused to join the British cause and were nearly wiped out by the British and other Iroquois tribes for it. The Oneida and the German settlers had gotten along well, especially in the Mohawk Valley, before the conflict.

Loading on the run under duress was a common skill with frontiersmen. The bullets at that time was simple round balls, sometimes also called shot. On the run that would put several balls in their mouth and spit one down the bore after dumping in powder from the horn. Then prime the pan and shoot. Simon Kenton is was well known by the Indians to use this tactic and identified him as, "the one who's rifle is alway loaded."

As someone who grew up in the woods around where Last of the Mohicans took place I can tell you we have a lot of trees that are really easy to climb. Lots of scraggily pines with branches all up you can be up in a few seconds. Getting back down will, hopefully, take a bit longer.

In the naval story, the part that mentions 'throwing double-headed shot about' probably refers to the habit of sailors to start 'shot rolling' when they were pissed off by the officers. There were shot garlands near all the guns and once a shot was rolled it was heard rumbling throughout the ship, but it would be very hard to pinpoint where it was rolled from. Perhaps they were rolling bar shot, which is, literally double-headed shot and would roll very handily I would guess.

"Boarding axes" were a common weapon on warships in the age of sail, and they typically had a spike opposite the blade.

As to use of tomahawks on horseback it was noted by smiths who were asked to make the Missouri Battle Axe that it was weirdly balanced ,having a large but very thin triangular iron head(the tribes didnt want steel bits included) that was mainly used from horseback.The tribes had a fixed idea of what it should look like before they encountered any metal workers to make them.

Taking to a tree seems to mean it was used as a ground level shield while standing behind it to load and shoot. Common practice with units like Rogers Rangers and most natives. The Lobster backs took offense at this sort of behavior when they first came up against it as it was not gentlemanly behavior to hide rather than to stand in the open shooting at each other. Four relatives answered the Lexington alarm, took part in the siege of Boston and other events as part of the Continental Line under Washington.

Treeing is, taken in context of North-East American tactics in wooded areas, frequently understood as the action of shielding oneself behind a tree for observing or shooting a musket, hiding completely to reload. Oops, I worte this after the first question about this, Matt made the correct IMHO deduction.

I think perhaps that scene you used for the thumbnail from Last of the Mohicans deserves a little video of its own. It has its flaws, but it has always been my favourite movie fight scene, more because of the story behind it.

I don't know what it is but combat by tomahawk is one of the most unpredictable and exciting forms of combat. Its just so colonial and "Cowboys and Indians", I am so happy you brought up the topic. Thank you so much. Overall your channel is more professional than many other sword slayers on youtube.

When an eastern woodland native would go in for an all out final assault the hawk was to breach your enemy’s defenses and disable him while knocking him to the ground like a bird of prey and then us the scalping knife while upon him. Thus the use of the small maneuverable axe. The larger longer hawks from the photos are later versions used by the plains natives to be used mostly from horseback.

I love this type of reading videos! Primary sources with expert commentary... Great way to spend an hour!

Matt: Let's talk about tomahawk combat. Army Rangers: *Rage Boner Intensifies*

Can you do more episodes like this where you read to us Americans more bed time tomahawk stories? We love them. 👍🏼

So, loading a muzzle loading firearm while running is possible, but evidently requires twenty or so people chasing you with murderous intent. I would love to see a Napoleonic British Infantry drill for this...

Hi Mat, maybe the term "taking to a tree" doesnt mean to climb up but maybe to take cover behind the tree, especially given the slow reloading times of the guns at the time. Just a thought

Tomahawks were regularly mentioned in firsthand accounts compiled in the book "Frontiersman" by Allan W. Eckert

Super well done and backed up by period source documents is tough to bet. Very well done I will share this with my fellow 18th century re-enactment mates the research is worthy of any history classroom.

In my reenacting days I had learned that loading a musket while running is easy. Priming it and firing... not so much.

The designation Tomahawk was used for the Piper PA-38. Most people might associate it more with the Tomahawk Cruise Missile - (TLAM) Tomahawk Land Attack Missile.

I'm from what used to be called Minisink! In the eighteenth century, some S's are written using an F. Also, "treed" is very likely them hiding behind trees, which were very large. Also, at that time, there was a string of small defensive forts along the Pennsylvania frontier in that region, and the Delaware and Shawnee raids were pretty fierce. Edit: Having gotten further into the video, I wanted to add that Rogers Rangers record double-loading with buck and ball. They were fighting from behind trees and from within arm's length of one another. I really doubt they're talking about climbing trees, though, because the trees were so large it would have been hard to get a low branch. The forest was mature enough at that time that you could ride light cavalry through because the canopy was high and dense enough to block out light to the understory and discourage growth. Also also, a lot of the British-allied natives at that time had sworn off cannibalism (it was part of the Iroquois religion to do so) and were actually relatively Anglo in their way of life in some places. Whereas a lot of the French-allied tribes were still openly cannibals; many of them had come in from the French trading posts in the far west. There's a lot of nuance to all of this, of course, but that's some broad brushstrokes.

I can tell you from experience that you can throw a Tomahawk accurately and effectively at distance and have it be lethal. I practice with multiple American Vietnam era Tomahawk heads that I’ve modified by replacing the wooden handles with steel ones. Wood has a tendency to break after a while when being thrown. These Tomahawks have a bladed head and a spike on the opposite end. I’ve consistently thrown these and stuck them in a wooden target at 18 yards. I am 7% “Apache”American Indian though..😀

"Took to a tree" could mean hid behind a tree. Being up in a tree offers little advantage when being fired upon. Hiding behind a tree of sufficient girth offers protection while reloading.

This is fascinating. Youre the man for unearthing stuff like this, Matt.

This was incredibly fascinating! I have read all of the Leatherstocking tales( last of the Mohicans being a part)and find the stories you related so in keeping with information gleaned from those tales...More tales please sir 😏...also,in reference to your mentioning about the throwing of the tomahawk,this practice..correct me if I'm wrong...went back even to the days of the Gauls/Celts fighting the Romans,where they threw hatchets...and the Romans riposted with plumbatta😏

Great historical video, sir. Your approach to content, by means of researching the word, "tomahawk", and drawing out actual historical references to share is brilliant!

The tomahawk is an aggressive, offensive weapon meant to keep your opponent constantly on the defensive. It works, really well.

I’m only halfway through, but so far this is my favorite episode.

As an American these stories just make me think everybody was a bit of a Florida Man back then.

I'm half native & to us "treed" means to take cover behind the trees. This was a staple fighting technique of our people.

I really love the videos about historical accounts of fights, really interesting!

The only metal technologies the natives had was soft metals, gold, silver, and copper. Rocks on a stick was a faster made weapon. Trade goods sent to settlers were steel and iron tools and weapons.

My ancestor William Ketcheson was in Sir Banister Tarleton's British Legion and was granted land next to the Mohawk Reservation near Bellville, Ontario. The Mohawks came to Wiiliam's aid in the search when his 5 year old daughter became lost in the woods. She was unexpectedly found alive almost a week later eating berries and was said to have slept with a forest animal. William had been wounded at Cowpens and all the wounded there were given a battlefield parole by General Morgan.

A long time ago, I read a book that described how (possibly during the First Indian War) English soldiers would be forced to enter these enormous, almost prehistoric forests in pursuit of their enemies and that sometimes, they would not see daylight for over a month, with the canopy etc being so dense and untouched that they existed in a perpetual twilight for weeks at a time, constantly under threat of being sniped and ambushed. Wish I could recall the title or author. Anyway. As you were.

I live in Nova Scotia, Canada. If you want to get an idea of how prevalent scalping was then check out our history. In 1756 a scalp bounty was placed on Mi'kmaq and was still on the books as late as the year 2000. I'm pretty sure that's the tip of the iceburg. These types of laws/bounties were prevalent all across North America. Governments of the time used this type of tactic to pit the native tribes against each other. Tribes could collect bounties for scalps of other tribes. I think if anything the prevalence of scalping is most likely understated...

I've only known "treed" in the context of hunting. The animal you're after ran up a tree to hide. Unless it's meaning changed over time I'd assume it's the same here.

Oh my goodness, Matt, you are spoiling me pulp-rotten with these last two videos! Thank you so much! Where to even start!!...😃 As a Hoosier, I could literally just type a mini book here about accounts of tomahawk usage on the Indiana frontier! But I will restrain myself, and just mention three things: When George Rogers Clark besieged the British-held fort at Vincennes in 1779, a hunting party of American Indians (probably Delaware and/or Kickapoo) unwittingly fired their rifles as they returned just to signal to their British allies that they were back. Well, they were promptly captured by Clark's militia. The British, which were mostly comprised of Native allies, plus about 30 regulars, were under the command of Governor General Henry Hamilton. He, and this garrison, had been sent down from Detroit to take Vincennes back from the American garrison who had already taken it over previously. Vincennes was actually a French town, but had come under nominal British control following the French and Indian War in the 1750s and '60s. Well, long story short, in a typically dark example of frontier violence, Clark ordered the Indians to be tomahawked right in front of the British garrison. Of course this seems gratuitous, and it was. I won't get into the political nuances of Clark's decision other than to say that is was also a calculated one. Following this gruesome execution, the men's bodies were thrown into the Wabash. Regarding the aforementioned governor general, Henry Hamilton, he is also an interesting character. He was actually Anglo-Irish (probably Protestant), and I don't believe that he even held any official title in the British military. I'm pretty sure he was just a civilian commander, hence the "governor general". But he was also a very talented artist, and sketched many pictures, including some portraits of Native Americans whom we would never have known what they looked like were it not for Hamilton. He was also given the dubious nickname "Hair Buyer" Hamilton due to the rumor among the Americans that he was paying Indians for American scalps. However, even though I believe you are erroneously "both-sidesing" the torture issue, especially when it comes to burning at the stake, I do believe that this is nothing more than anti-British/anti-Hamilton propaganda. Nonetheless, after capturing the fort, and taking Hamilton's sword, due to this belief on the part of the Americans, Clark had him put in irons like a common criminal, and taken back to Virginia. Speaking of the tomahawk again: Hamilton was well-known for being very engaged with the Native American population, very friendly with them, and very interested in learning their ways. It's said that he took part in two different ceremonial dances (again, knowing the area, I would assume Kickapoo or other Wabash tribes) in which he, as the honored guest, was obliged at the end to strike the (already-severed) head of an animal with a tomahawk. At one dance, it was the head of a black bear, and at the other, the head of a buffalo. And he did it. Finally, as a Midwesterner, I was very honored that you mentioned the Battle of the Wabash in 1791. Like you said, it was the worst defeat of American forces in history, even worse than Little Bighorn in 1876, yet very few Americans are aware of it. Well, there was actually a precursor to that battle right here in Indiana the previous year in 1790. It is known as the Battle of Pumpkin Field because the cold weather caused the freshly scalped heads of the dead Americans to emit steam, and to the Indians this looked like pumpkins in a pumpkin patch. Dark stuff. By the way, the young American government would exact revenge on the Indians in 1794 at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, which, like St. Clair's Defeat, took place in present-day Ohio.

Hi Matt love last of the Mohicans film, although the book is hard going. Strangely just sharpening my little Prandi. Thank you for your research and sharing with us. Happy Christmas/Yule/saturnalia.

So from my understanding as an American who grew up with a dad who was part of a historical society and re-enactments. Tomahawks are specifically a small axe that is pressure fitted to the shaft using a loop attachment rather than a tear drop or hammer style fitting. Making a tomahawk easier to fit with out wedges to keep the head in place. And caught on quickly with the settlers because of the obvious advantages or something like that being easier to fix maintain and carry for longer distances.