The lot features a fantastic Dunlap & Florer Trading Post attributed, blacksmith forged American Indian Tomahawk, referred to by the collecter as a “Missouri War Axe”. This example is attributed to being made at the Osage Indian Reservation at Pawhuska, Oklahoma by the Dunlap & Florer Trading Post and sold to the Osage Indians in the 19th Century. Missouri War Axes that were made by Dunlap & Florer for the Osage have been documented by Baldwin, Francis, and Peterson from Pawhuska in the 1850-1860’s era. Some Dunlap and Florer war axes have been known to originate from the Pawnee, Sauk & Fox, and the Comanche in northern Texas. This example shows a forged iron traditional Missouri War Axe head with a weeping heart cut out in the center, an old Osage orange wood haft that is adorned with brass trade tacks, and a frilly fringe wrap drop hanging. 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. For more information regarding Dunlap & Florer Osage tomahawks, see “The Missouri War Axe: War Tomahawks of the Plains and Prairies” (2010) by Mark Francis, John Baldwin’s 2001 book “Indian War Clubs of the American Frontier”, and “American Indian Tomahawks” (1965) by Harold Peterson. This example is very similar to the piece shown in Harold Peterson’s 1965 book, “American Indian Tomahawks”, in figure 50 page 92, referred to as an Osage Missouri War Hatchet with Bleeding Heart cutout. It is also similar to the piece sold in our April 2019 sale, which was attributed as a Dunlap and Florer Osage Missouri War Axe and documented in Museum of the Fur Trade Newsletter Volume 44 issue #4 Winter 2008, "Indian Tomahawks and Frontiersmen Belt Axes" by James Hartzler & Daniel Knowles (1995), "The Mark Francis Collection of American Indian Art" by Mark Francis (2009), and "The Missouri War Axe: War Tomahawk of the Plains and Prairies" by Mark Francis (2010). This pieces measures 7 ¾ inches long, with an iron head that is 4 ¼ inches long across the blade and overall 20 inches long with the wood haft.