Ranger Tomahawk Pics from Fort William Henry

Surprisingly tiny- and interesting they devoted so much metal to the spike (or hook?).
 
It was very tiny....but I bet it was very nimble and did not get stuck as much.

Would love to see a reproduction. The cutting edge was only about 1-1.5" inches
 
If the edge is 1.5", I get something like 5.7" OA.
Well, maybe somebody like Wolf Creek will pick up on it.
There are repros of a bigger hatchet with a straight triangular spike, based on a drawing or drawings of RRs. There ought to be some interest in a design with archaeological chops.
 
If that hook shape is intentional and not bent down by use then it's only function that I see is as a pickaroon.
 
dd, is that spike a tapering square cross-section, do you remember?
I won't argue about 'hawk fighting, since I know nothing about it.
I am curious how firmly they can attribute this one to the Rangers, since other people used the fort and the Rangers may have been expected to volunteer with their own musket, hatchet, and knife.
Russell (Traps Tools and firearms of the mountain men) says spike hawks were popular in Iroquois country, and illustrates some with wilder curves than this from digs.
Top paragraph refers to a. b is "Iroquois", #4210 in the same museum;c is a type "found in many Ir. sites", this one's at Fort Ticonderoga NY; d was found in Franklin VT; e from Ft Ticonderoga; f was found in Swanton VT and had a shank to be stuck in a haft; g was found near Lake George battlefield and resides at Ft Ticonderoga. h still has the shank for insertion and comes from Fort St Frederic (1731-1759) or Ft Amherst (1759-1781)
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Hey, how about if those long square spikes, curved or not, were auxiliary handles as well as secondary striking surfaces and/or grubbing tools?
 
dd61999 said:
It was very tiny....but I bet it was very nimble and did not get stuck as much.

Would love to see a reproduction. The cutting edge was only about 1-1.5" inches
Click to expand...


Just a tiny bit larger

head is 6.7 inches long, cutting edge 1.7 inches, forged from 1045 steel, the edge is hardened to about 58 Rc, weighs 7 ounces

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If that hook shape is intentional and not bent down by use then it's only function that I see is as a pickaroon.
Click to expand...

Actually, if done right the curved spike will follow the arc of the swing and penetrate better with less effort.
Lots of uses for that curved spike in hand to hand I would think, not just for striking.
 
Arathol said:
Actually, if done right the curved spike will follow the arc of the swing and penetrate better with less effort.
Lots of uses for that curved spike in hand to hand I would think, not just for striking.
Click to expand...

My guess is that heavily curved hooks like that were used to pull a rider off his mount.
 
Just got back from saratoga battlefield. I updated the original link with a tomahawk on display from the American Revolution
 
Ive done a lot of historical research on hawks and you all would be surprised at the sizes..Many hawks were not he brutes they are today..Ive seen a lot of historical representations that were that size .You'll also notice that the word "Tomahawk" wasn't seen much in print or used all that much in those time periods..They were often simply called "hatchets"..
Ive also seen a lot of spike hawks with those heavily curved spikes..The Iroquois were fond of overly curved spikes on their hatchets..Ive read in some literature that they were handy on horseback as well as "drawing in" a combatant after the blow to be finished with a knife.
 
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