Memoirs of a tomahawk? Weird! you say.

      Not really. Not when one is a highly esteemed tomahawk like I am. Not when one has had an extraordinary life like I have. Not when one is so closely identified with a man of great depth and character, a man who relied on me instead of a gun, who used me many times to bring danger to a screeching halt but always avoided using me to seriously injure a fellow human being.

      My story is one that comes out of the past, a story of life in a bygone era. It is a story of folks who lived and died only in the imaginations of other folks who inhabited the planet in a different time. Yet judging by the way some of those folks prize me and admire the man who owned me, one could easily be charmed into thinking my story was real. 

Real or not, my story is more than just one of the past. It is also a story of courage and honor, of valuing life and friendship and integrity. It is a story of standing for the right even when right is not popular, of helping the helpless, of trying to live at peace with one�s fellowman. It is the story of a man who was not afraid to be himself, to be one of a kind, to stand out in a crowd.

The man�s name was Byron Sully�but don�t you dare call him Byron! As far as he was concerned, he was just plain Sully, first and last, with the exception of a few folks who had occasion to call him Mr. Sully.

      Sully lived in the Colorado Territory in the stretch of time before it became a state. He could have lived much longer if he had not become a victim. No, he wasn�t a victim of the common enemies that threatened life in his time�Indian raids and other violence, diphtheria and other disease. Sully�s life was brought to an unexpected halt when he became a victim of something incomprehensible in a time far beyond his own. They called it �demographics� and �ratings.� Despite all the adversaries Sully and I had defeated together, despite all the victories we had accomplished, we were helpless in the face of those two faceless foes.    

      But I am getting way ahead of my story.

To the Rescue!

      I really enjoyed being Sully�s tomahawk because he often let me do the talking for him. It wasn�t just that he was a man of few words, mind you, but he understood that I could get some messages across in my way better and faster than he could with human words. Often there was no time for words, but only time for me to take swift, decisive action. I assure you, I was always more than willing, and Sully knew it.

      More than once I had to step in swiftly to save a life. One of the first times was when the town folks were going to hang a young fellow who had stolen and slaughtered a cow because he had no food for his family. It was a close call, I tell you. A moment later Sully and I would have been too late. Instead, he hurtled me straight as an arrow to sever that rope. Saving Jon�s life like we did gave the town a chance to think things through a bit better and get some things out in the open that needed to be cleared up.

      The same kind of thing happened another time when an Army general named Custer was about to hang a group of Cheyenne Indians who were Sully�s friends. Those folks had not done a thing wrong. Rather, they had become pawns in a power struggle between the white man�s army and Cheyenne dog soldiers who were trying desperately to hang on to their way of life.

      Now the dog soldiers had kidnapped Dr. Quinn, and Custer had said he would hang the Indians unless she was released. But when Sully showed up with Dr. Quinn, Custer still gave the order to go ahead with the hangings! Can you imagine? That�s when Sully zipped me into action. I was delighted to bring that whole proceeding to a halt!

      One of the challenges I took the most pride in was when Sully dispatched me to knock a gun out of the hand of someone who was about to use it. I tell you, that required his finest skills! A fraction off, and I would have been forced to send fingers flying with the guns! That, of course, would have gotten Sully into big trouble! It would have undermined his reputation as a man who took pride in making his points with as little damage as possible to the folks he was confronting.

      I think my favorite memory of that kind was right after Dr. Quinn came to Colorado Springs. She got into a standoff with some rough guys in Hank�s saloon. Mind you, she wasn�t turning tail or anything. She was standing her ground, but it was getting mighty tense. All of a sudden, Sully burst into the saloon and started taking on the guys, one after another. Then the guy Sully had already thrown out pulled a gun on him and announced he wasn�t afraid of him. That�s when Sully, quick as a wink, let me fly. Oh, that was a satisfying moment!

      I saw him grab Dr. Quinn, saying, �Come on!� They rushed right past me, lying there on the floor, and for one awful moment I thought I might just get left behind among those rowdies. Imagine what they might have done with me! But I should have known better than to worry! Before getting out the door, Sully swung back and in a flash grabbed me up. Whew!!

      I thought is was all over, but not quite. Dr. Mike ran for her wagon, hollering at the kids to get in. As soon as she sat down, she held out her hand toward Sully and thanked him. He reached out his hand, too, and almost like a caress their fingers brushed each others� as the wagon pulled away. While he stood gazing after her, Sully unconsciously transferred me to the hand that had just touched hers. No one else noticed, of course, but I smiled secretly to myself.

      The same kind of thing happened when Ethan Cooper showed up. He was the father who had walked out on Dr. Mike�s adopted kids and their mother. After sweet-talking everybody and getting the kids excited about being with him again, he up and stole the town�s collection of money. Took it right from the church! Sully, always sensitive in his ability to read people, caught him in the act. Before Sully could pull me out, Ethan threw the money box at him, then held his gun on Sully while he escaped out of the church.

      Of course Sully was not one to give up. He took off after Ethan on horseback, and out of town they raced. Sully took a shortcut and caught up with him, then threw himself from his horse onto Ethan and brought them both to the ground. Even as Sully was rolling to his feet, he was pulling me out. Ethan drew his gun, too, but I was already sailing through the air. I knocked the gun out of his hand so hard that it left him rubbing his wrist in shock and pain.

      And me? I went sailing on beyond him, end over end. When Ethan and Sully lit into each other, I was still catapulting along.

      One time I even got to knock a gun out of the hand of a real live horse thief! I have to admit that I felt pretty smug about that! A gunfighter named Kid Cole had captured a horse thief with a bounty on his head. He brought him to the Colorado Springs jail for temporary keeping. Then the guy�s brother showed up, also an unsavory character, demanding his brother�s release. Of course Kid Cole refused. Without saying a word, Sully popped me out and just held me suggestively in plain view. The guy eyed me, and that was all it took to convince him that it was too risky to make a move at that point.

      Later, he and one of his buddies again tried an assault on Kid Cole when he was walking down the main street of the town. He didn�t notice Sully and me, Matthew and Wolf, off to the side by the Cooper wagon. When he pulled a gun on Kid Cole, Sully took one look and then let me strut my stuff. Boy, was that horse thief surprised since he hadn�t even noticed I was nearby! In the scuffle that followed, Wolf saw that his services were needed, too, so he bared his teeth and growled to hold one of the thieves at bay. You have to admit, Sully, Wolf, and I did make a great team! Sully got Kid Cole away from there, and the two thieves mounted their horses and left.

      That wasn�t the end of the affair, but it was the end of my involvement in it. I was stunned when Sully used a bow and arrow to make his point with those guys the next time. I was a bit put out about that for a while, but after I thought it through, I figured out why a bow and arrow was a better choice for that job.

      Come to think of it, I got to knock something besides a gun out of someone�s hand once. In fact, I did more than knock it�I shattered it all over the saloon porch! Two rowdies coming out of Hank�s saloon were mocking and tormenting a little fellow who was trying to mop the porch. One of them had a big, brown bottle of liquor in his hand.

      They were being right nasty to the poor little guy until Hank came out and challenged them. He shoved the guy with the bottle backwards onto the porch before charging at the other. The guy with the bottle started to get up, but by then Sully had seen what was happening and stepped in to help. He sent me flying at that bottle�and you should have seen me explode it! Even if I do say so myself, it was a beautiful job, one of my best ever, and certainly something I didn�t get to do every day!

      One time Sully needed me but didn�t have me because he was all dressed up in his fancies. At Horace and Myra�s engagement party, Hank the barkeep started threatening Myra real serious with his gun. I heard about it later�Sully reached for me, but I wasn�t there. He had to settle for konking Hank on the head with a chunk of firewood. Hank ended up in a coma for a while as a result. Too bad, because if I had been there, Sully could have dispatched me to knock the gun out of his hand without doing him any serious harm.

Please, Not My Sully!

      I�m sure by now you�ve come to see that life as Sully�s tomahawk was sprinkled with unexpected adventures. But some of those adventures were downright frightening for me personally! In fact, a couple of my most vivid memories were nerve-wracking occasions when I had to save Sully�s own life. Not that Sully was careless or anything, and he didn�t exactly go looking for trouble. But, no doubt about it, trouble often had a way of finding him.

      One of those times was early in his friendship with Dr. Mike (which is what most folks called her). She thought something was wrong with the water in the area�suspected it was making folks sick. She and Sully were off on a trek through the back country trying to track down the truth.

      Sully was taking a break one day while Dr. Mike was freshening up. She came back to discover him, lying on his side on the ground, in a stare-down with a rattlesnake!! I was terrified for him and dying to get at that snake, but I knew Sully didn�t dare move a muscle. I was in the midst of a disturbing vision of how empty my life would be without Sully when�all of a sudden�a bright flash of light distracted the snake. Fast as lightning, Sully had me out, and with one swift blow I put that snake out of business�for good.

      I have to admit Dr. Mike was a mite proud of how she had put her mirror to use after Sully earlier had called it a piece of junk!

      That episode with the snake, however, was only one of the terrible scares I had with Sully. Another happened outside the mercantile when the town folks were all riled up. They were upset with the owner of a mine in the area because they said he wasn�t keeping safe working conditions for them.

      As he often did, Sully came along and tried to calm the folks down. In the process, one guy socked him good on the back of the head and knocked him to the ground. About that time, another guy lit a stick of dynamite and tossed it into the crowd. Everyone who saw it, including Dr. Mike and the kids, screamed and scattered, throwing themselves to the ground or behind whatever protection they could find.

      The next moment, only Sully was left, lying there dazed with his back to the dynamite. I wanted to shriek at him to make him see it, but of course I couldn�t. Then Dr. Mike�s scream cut through the air, and that got his attention! He rolled over and spotted the dynamite, just a couple of feet from him. You can�t imagine the relief I felt as he brought me down to slice the lighted tip off that fuse!

      One of the most awful events I remember was when I almost hurt Sully because of what others did to the two of us! I can hardly bear to reflect on it! Sully had taken the most torturous beating of his life�and I couldn�t do anything to help him. A heartless human named Rankin was killing buffalo for the railroad people. Sully tried to reason with him, but to no avail. When Sully turned to leave, Rankin whacked him across the middle of his back with the butt of his rifle. Sully dropped like a rock with no chance to defend himself. Rankin�s men kicked him over and over with their heavy boots while Rankin dealt him more blows with the rifle.

      You can�t imagine how distressed and helpless I felt! Not because I took a few of the blows myself, but because of what they were doing to my Sully. When they figured he was dead, the two henchmen hauled him to the side of a hill and dumped him over the edge. He rolled and rolled until he came to rest against the body of a Cheyenne they had killed earlier.

      I had fallen loose in the fracas. As a final insult, they tossed me over the hill after him. I gasped in horror as I realized I was headed straight for Sully�s head. By frantic maneuvering all the way down, I managed to miss him. Instead, my blade landed beside his head while my handle settled dejectedly on his shoulder.

      Lying there beside him in the silent hours that followed, I could hardly contain my sadness. When Sully�s Cheyenne brother, Cloud Dancing, came looking for him, I was relieved but not hopeful. He managed to get Sully to Dr. Mike. Apparently he wasn�t dead after all, but he sure came close. When he finally �woke up,� he couldn�t move his legs! For weeks he lay despondent and nearly helpless on Dr. Mike�s bed (psst! I know where she slept during that time�don�t you wish you did?)

      I got plenty lonely during those weeks. Because his ribs had been broken, it was a long time before he regained full use of his right arm. When he finally recovered, he had to practice and develop his skills with me all over again. And then he set out to settle the score with Rankin.

      But that�s a story for another time.

Making a Point

      As exciting as were the rescue operations that Sully and I accomplished, they were only an occasional part of what we did together. Sometimes he used me simply to make a dramatic point. Take the first time Dr. Mike ever saw him. She was in the mercantile with Mrs. Cooper posting a sign about needing a place to live. Sully walked in with his pet wolf and an Indian friend. Old Mr. Bray promptly directed their attention to his sign that said �No Dogs or Indians!�

      The lady doctor took the sign down, but a soldier standing there reprimanded her and put it back up. Without a word, Sully let everyone know exactly what he thought of that sign! He turned me loose, and I snapped it sharply in two. Quick as a flash, the soldier drew his gun�which made Wolf growl and bare his teeth! You should have seen the glare Sully laid on that soldier! It made him put his gun away. You can bet that no one argued with Sully about the sign after that.

      When he strolled up to retrieve me, he and Dr. Mike came face to face for the first time. What a front-seat view I had of the looks that passed between them at that moment! They were something to behold! She obviously did not know what to make of the likes of him. And him? Well, if he was impressed by this fancy lady from back East, he wasn�t about to let anyone know.

      Can you imagine if someone had told them at that moment that someday they were going to love each to the very depths of their souls and that they would spend their lives together�married? I�m sure both of them would have thought you were more out of touch with reality than some folks already thought Sully was!

      One time a traveling gambler brought Matthew low at the gambling table and even beat and robbed him. Then he was preparing to slip out of town unnoticed. This fellow had been contemptuous to the Reverend the whole time he was around because apparently the minister used to be like him. So the con man wasn�t about to pay any attention to the Reverend�s demand that he give back Matthew�s money. He even punched him in the gut real hard!

      About then, Robert E, the blacksmith, stepped out of the shadows, saying real stern-like, �The Reverend asked you politely!�

      �Are you threatening me�Boy?� the gambler asked, scorn dripping from his voice as he slowly pulled his coat open and put his hand on his gun.

      �If he ain�t, I am!� came a voice from the darkness. The next second, the gambler was ducking sharply to his left as I whizzed past his ear and landed in the shed wall behind him. No, Sully didn�t miss! He always did with me exactly what he planned to.

      Sully went to the wall and pulled me loose. �And since you�re settlin� things up with the Reverend,� he drawled, resting me ever so pointedly on his shoulder as he strolled back to the gambler, �there�s somethin� I wanna buy from you.�

      You should have seen that gambler eyeing first Sully, then me, then glancing back at Robert E behind him. He decided pretty fast not to give any argument about selling back to Sully the engagement ring Matthew had gambled with and lost.

      Occasionally when Sully used me to make a point, the very fact that he did not let me do all that I could have done�that was what was most impressive. Remember that Rankin fellow? When he found out Sully was still alive, Sully was convinced he had to confront him. Despite being only partially recovered from his injuries, he set out to find Rankin. When he spotted him in the distance, he spurred his horse into a gallop and went charging towards him, waving me in the air like a war banner. It was a glorious ride, but I couldn�t enjoy it because I was full of dread for what was about to happen.

      Just before Sully threw himself from his horse onto Rankin, he thrust me back into the scabbard on his belt. The two of them landed on the ground, hard, then went at each other. I don�t know where Sully ever found the strength, but it must have come from whatever it is that humans call �adrenaline.� He got slammed himself real hard, but finally he had Rankin down and was sitting on top of him.

      I wanted to shout, �Let me at him! Let me at him!� When I felt Sully pulling me out, I thought I was going to get my chance. I did, in a way, but not what I was expecting. I was gloating a bit in the look of horror on Rankin�s ugly face as Sully held me poised to strike. When he brought me down across that scum�s ear, however, it wasn�t to take if off, though we certainly could have. Instead, Sully commissioned me simply to scare the guy to death and draw a lot of blood.

      Well, I certainly did that! I was so soaked in blood that when Sully went to put me back in the scabbard, blood splattered all over his shirt. With gritted teeth, he told Rankin that if he ever saw him around again, he would kill him. Summoning his last ounce of strength, Sully mounted his horse. It�s the only time I remember him not getting me properly back into my place. Instead, my blood-splashed head hung out and bounced along as the horse began to trot away.

      Sully drooped lower and lower in the saddle the farther he went. He was barely hanging on when he finally spotted Dr. Mike coming to look for him. When I felt him beginning to slip off the horse on the side where I was, I knew I had to do something fast so I wouldn�t harm my friend as he landed. I flattened myself against him as tightly as I could and somehow managed not to hurt him. When he ended up exhausted and drained with his head in Dr. Mike�s lap, I had a feeling something exceptional was taking place�but it clearly wasn�t anything a tomahawk could understand.

      There was one other time when I was silently screaming at Sully, �Let me at him! Let me at him!� It happened deep in the woods in the dark of night. A recluse named McBride was holding two hostages, including Dr. Mike�s �adopted� son Matthew. McBride was an intense man who felt things so fiercely that he ended up somehow twisted in his soul. He even killed his wife to �keep her safe� from outsiders. A bunch of Sully�s fellow citizens were along with him trying to get this guy, but Sully knew his best chance was with just him and me, so he snuck away while they were sleeping.

      He ended up bounding through the woods after McBride, hanging on to me by my iron head, night shadows dancing around us. He finally cornered McBride among the trees. �Finish the job!� McBride taunted. �Be a man!� All the while, Sully was waving me like he was going to send me flying�only he didn�t let go! He was plenty emotional, demanding why McBride had done all those things. Me, I couldn�t understand why he wouldn�t let me do my work on the miserable creature!

      When Sully finally turned me lose, it was once again not to do the deed but only to make the point. He sank me into the tree right next to McBride�s head. While the man was still staggering from the shock, out of nowhere he was struck with a bullet from one of Sully�s cohorts. For a moment there, I was jealous, even a little angry, that I hadn�t gotten to do the job. But then I remembered who I belonged to and what kind of man he was. No, I was better off taking my cues from Sully rather than following my own hot-headed instincts. I knew I could trust him to do the right thing, not just the expedient or the most tempting thing.

      One of the most bizarre incidents I remember had to do with some men in strange white garb who were threatening to lynch Sully�s blacksmith friend, Robert E. Most of them were the very men of Colorado Springs. Unfortunately, they had been listening to some rabble rouser from out of town.

      First they showed up outside the homestead where Robert E and Grace were eating supper with Dr. Mike and Sully and the kids. As soon as Sully saw them outside with their burning cross, he went charging out of the homestead waving me and yelling at them to get off his property. I don�t know what they would have done if the ringleader�s sleeve hadn�t caught fire. The next day at the saloon, the guy made some dark threats against Dr. Mike�s children. That really got to Sully, and he told the guy in no uncertain terms what he would do if he ever harmed those children!

      The night they kidnapped Robert E and set up the hanging, Sully and Dr. Mike arrived just in time. It was dark and eerie with no light except from the burning cross. Dr. Mike started telling them all off in no uncertain terms! On the sidelines some were holding back Sully and Robert E�s wife, and I could feel from the tension in his body that Sully was close to losing his cool.

      When Dr. Mike suggested they all go home, the rabble rouser sprang into action and headed for Robert E. You should have seen Sully break away! He drew me out as he charged across to the trouble maker and grabbed him before he could do anything. He held me to the guy�s throat and declared he was thinking of carrying out his threat. This time I couldn�t see the guy�s frightened face�all I had a good view of was his fat, quivering chin!

      When Sully threw me at the rope and released Robert E, the agitator backed off looking confused and defeated. Robert E�s wife rushed to him, crying with relief. Slowly the robed guys pulled off their masks, and the crowd broke up.

      Once again Sully and I together defused a bad situation. I have a feeling it took everyone a while to get to sleep that night! Fortunately, I never have to worry about things like that.

      I remember a couple other times when Sully used me to make a point, though they weren�t anything dramatic like the ones I�ve just told you. Brian was feeling really dejected because he didn�t think he had a chance with the girl he liked because she was a bit older. He was in the barn one morning trying to get the bridle down for his horse, but he couldn�t reach it. Sully came along and dispatched me to release the bridle and drop it at Brian�s feet. Then he made his point in that subtle, gentle way of his: �Just �cuz somethin�s out of reach doesn�t mean you can�t get it.�

      On another occasion, he used me so subtly that some folks might have scarcely noticed. It happened when Dr. Mike ran for mayor of Colorado Springs. Back in my day, the law said women couldn�t vote unless they owned property. So Sully deeded a bit of his land to many of the ladies in the community so they could vote for Dr. Mike if they wanted to. When the ladies showed up at the voting and everyone started challenging what Sully had done, he just spoke nice and calmly about how perfectly legal it was. With me once again resting ever so smugly on his shoulder, folks found themselves quite ready to take his word for the legalities.

Chief Assistant

      Sully used me for many actions other than just saving people�s lives or driving home a point. Often he needed my help simply in carrying out some necessary plan of action. Those too were often tense situations and required great accuracy on his part and mine.

      One of those was when the Cheyenne chief, Black Kettle, was wounded by the Army and Sully took him to Dr. Mike so she could patch him up. The next day the Army showed up looking for him. They stopped at the house first, so Sully, out in the barn with the Indians, had time to fasten the door shut by sliding the bar across and then rigging a rope to it.

      After making sure the others were safely out the back way, Sully waited at the door. I had an idea he was about to thrust me into action, so I waited too, tense and alert. The soldiers went around shaking all the doors, trying to get in. When he was sure the Indians were far enough away, Sully reached for me. I went flying across that barn and landed right on target. I split the rope, and that released the bar on the door.

      So there I was watching while the soldiers came in and searched all around, then left. I understood there was no way Sully could come back and retrieve me just then. But I knew he would, sooner or later. Since this was not long after he met the lady doctor, I wondered if he would be happy for an excuse to drop in on her again (time proved me right, didn�t it?). But mostly that day I hoped that in the meantime he wouldn�t turn up with an urgent need for me!

      Another time, I was brought in for quick action to save a window rather than a human. It was during the terrible epidemic of the grip, again not long after Dr. Mike arrived. Because of the epidemic, the stage wasn�t coming through. Loren Bray decided to close his mercantile part of the day to keep folks from making off with all his supplies.

      My, did the town folks get riled up! They were scolding and shouting at Loren that he couldn�t do that. Hank, the colorful saloon owner, seized a chunk of wood to toss through one of the store windows. He didn�t notice that Sully and I had come up behind him. Just as he had the piece of wood raised high to throw, he hears and feels this �Kerchunk!� of me biting into the piece of wood. He turned around slowly and stared at Sully in surprise and disbelief.

      Sully sauntered up to him, grabbed me by my iron head to pull me out of the wood, and planted the end of my handle firmly against Hank�s chest.

      �You heard the man, Hank!� he said. �He�ll be open tomorrow!�

      Hank stared at Sully, then said scornfully as he tossed the chunk backward into the horse trough, �I�ll be sure to be here bright and early!�

      I worked with Sully on so many things over the years! I helped him build a shelter for Dr. Mike when the rain caught them out in the back country. I think that�s when I became aware that something special was starting to take shape between them. In the months and years that followed, I really enjoyed the insider�s perspective I had on the love that grew ever stronger and more fascinating between them.

      I helped him make a walking stick for the Reverend when he became blind. Even though there was nothing either of us could do to help him regain his sight, the walking stick turned out to be part of his coming to grips with the new reality in his life. And Sully had known it would.

      Sully used me to break the glass pane on Jake�s barber shop when he was passed out drunk. He prodded Jake with my handle to try and arouse him. He also used me to break the pane on Mr. Bray�s mercantile so they could get inside after he had a stroke.

      A couple of times I got used for something besides a tomahawk! Sully used me for a hammer when he was helping Brian make a catapult for Roman day at the school. And remember Kid Cole? He borrowed me from Sully once when Indians had them holed up in a way station, and he actually used me to detonate bullets through a hole in the wall!

      Not all the tasks I helped Sully with turned out with equal success. I helped him break the upper railing of the clinic so he could put out the fire set by the Indians. However, both he and I were helpless to stop the dog soldiers from taking Dr. Mike hostage a couple of days later. I�ll never forget how heart-wrenching it was as he stood there frantically waving me and bellowing, �Michaela! I�ll find you!�

      I broke the chain on Mr. Bray�s shed where he was storing the supplies that had been meant for the Indians, but I couldn�t help Sully guarantee fair treatment for them.

      Sully used me to whack one of the bounty hunters who was trying to capture Cloud Dancing when he was a fugitive, but when he was bringing Cloud Dancing home on a train another time, robbers took me away from Sully and he had to overpower them without my help.

      I opened the homestead window for him so he could get inside when some bank robbers were holding Michaela, Brian, and baby Katie hostage, but I hung uselessly at his side a little later while Brett Courier slammed him around the kitchen.

            One other time I remember, I might have been a big help to Sully if only I had only had a voice! He and I rode all night so he could get home from working several days in Manitou. Dr. Mike was just waking up as we slipped into the bedroom. Anyone could tell they were glad to be back together. Sully slipped out of his jacket and hung me and his belt on the bed post before sitting on the edge of the bed beside her. I felt warm shivers up and down my handle as he told her he didn�t mind working hard�it was just the sleeping apart he couldn�t get used to. I could plainly tell he wanted to spend time with her�perhaps even had something special in mind. Instead of reading his heart, she got all excited about baking and straightening up the house! Excuse me? Seemed like I understood Sully better than his wife did! As she hurried out of the room, there were plenty of things I wanted to holler after her on his behalf!

  CONTINUE