The use of brass or iron tacks to decorate gunstocks, whether for religious or strictly decorative purposes, was a practice of the American Indian as far back as at least the early 1800s.
One colorful example of Indians using metal tacks to decorate weaponry comes from an 1860s Sioux war chief, Pawnee Killer. Eyewitnesses, who reported the chief stood “six feet four, broad shouldered, and [weighed] 240 pounds...,” stated, “For every Pawnee Indian he kills, a brass-headed tack is driven

January 2015
In This Issue:
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- Chief Iron Tail
- Goodbye Gus
- True West’s Best Firearms for 2015
- Cooke’s Canyon Ambush
- The Burden Basket Struggle
- Quanah Parker’s Second Act
- Dr. Jeremy Rowe
- True West’s Best of the West 2015 Winners
- True West’s Best Heritage Travel for 2015
- True West’s Best Western Books of 2014
- True West’s Best Movies, TV Series and DVDS of 2014
- A Brave New World
- The 100 Best Historical Photos of the American Indian
- True West’s Best Western Wear for 2015
- True West’s Best Art & Collectibles of 2014
- Why do we know so little about Crazy Horse?
- Why don’t we have any confirmed photos of Crazy Horse?
- Did the Apaches rape captives?
- Did Indians send smoke signals?
- Was Geronimo a real Apache chief?
- Who was White Apache?
- Who was Doc Carver?
- January Events 2015