American Indian Trade and John Shields' Hatchet

Photo:  Karl Bodmer’s 1834 hand-colored print of the Mandan chief Mato-Tope (Four Bears), holding a classic Missouri River war hatchet. 
The work is titled “Mato-Tope Adorned with the Insignia of his Warlike Deeds.” 

Long before the Corps of Discovery traveled through, the trade economy of the Native peoples of the northern plains was firmly established and abundant. For centuries French and British goods were traded between people groups from as far north as Hudson’s Bay to as far west as the Rocky Mountains.

This was evident to the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

During the 1804-05 winter at Fort Mandan, John Shields' blacksmith work became a coveted commodity among the Mandan and Hidatsa people – especially the unique war hatchets he created.

On the Corps’ return journey, the men spent a night with the Pahmap Nez Perce band in early May 1806, in today’s northern Idaho. It was 13 months after leaving Fort Mandan, and nearly a thousand miles west, but John Ordway noticed something that astonished him.

According to Elizabeth Fenn in her book, “Encounters at the Heart of the World – A History of the Mandan People,” the Nez Perce were enjoying a gambling game and the bettors sat with their stakes piled by their side. Ordway discovered among the items in play were war hatchets made by John Shields during the Fort Mandan winter. He wrote in his journal for May 6, “…the war axes these Indians have they got from the Grousevauntares [Hidatsas] on the Missourie & they got them from us at the Mandans.”