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While we often imagine tomahawks being thrown in battle by the early residents of our country, American Indians and mountain men rarely threw their tomahawks, or \u2018hawks, in combat. Even if a warrior successfully killed his target with his throw, it meant surrendering a weapon mid-fight. Instead, the tomahawk was primarily used in hand-to-hand combat.<\/p>\n
When folks in the 19th century did throw their tomahawks, they largely did it for fun. Once a year, mountain men would gather at a rendezvous to trade the pelts they’d collected and resupply. These gatherings became massive camps where the men held contests of all kinds, including tomahawk throwing. Some native tribes (who originated the first tomahawks) held similar contests of skill for their men to take part in and would also come to the frontiersmen\u2019s camps to engage in trading and throw some tomahawks with the buckskin-clad mountain men.<\/p>\n