FRENCH TRADE HATCHET UPPER MISSISSIPPI DUBUQUE DUG #1

Description

Here is one of 4 ax heads I recently came across all from the Dubuque Iowa mining area from some years ago that are obviously dug, but in very good condition despite having been buried.  All items have a makers stamp but I do not know which maker they may represent, but they are typical of the rather inferior French iron forged hatchet and ax heads made in the St. Louis area between the Missouri and Ohio in the many French villages that sprang up along both the Illinois and Missouri side of the Mississippi.  You can check out a similarly made Buffalo Spearhead that was found in the old Fort Crawford out buildings in the 1930's by a Wisconsin University Professor.
This particular axe head is I believe the oldest of the bunch using a crude layered iron construction from the early 1700's.  It is maker marked as shown and a precursor to the birds head construction used during the French and Indian Wars.  Note the thickness of the few plates whereas from the late 1740's to 1770s welded plates became thinner and the craftsmanship more exacting.  It is about 8" long and the eye about 2" or so.  Neat piece.  Presumably used in the lead mining trade in the Dubuque Iowa mines worked primarily by native indians under contract with Julian Dubuque in what is known as "The Mines of Spain."