Richard L. Martin

Flying Hawk Richard L. Martin

Life was always uncertain, even in days that far preceded the coming of the white man, and incautious Indians often became dead ones; so Flying Hawk, war chief of the small Sandusky tribe led his seven warriors north with at least usual caution. The group was returning from a long trading session with the Shawnee people whose large towns populated what would become southern Ohio, and it had been successful.

Their carved pipes and pipestone had been received with favor, and now the men had light backpacks filled with useful items hard to find in northern Ohio. It was a sudden stillness of the forest creatures that warned Flying Hawk then a snapping of sinew bowstrings that sent him and all of his men but one inexperienced warrior to the ground. An arrow thumped into the standing Sparrow Flies chest, then the remaining men were on their feet, charging and shouting war cries.

The fight was brief and bloody, ending when the ambushing Erie warriors lost their leader and four men; but the Sanduskies were hurt too, with Sparrow Flies down and dying and Owl Awakes also soon to die. It was just another incident with the aggressive and warlike Erie tribe that lived along the huge lake to the north. Since their arrival four hands of seasons ago, they had almost constantly harassed the smaller tribe, and Flying Hawk knew something would eventually have to be done. But that was for the future.

A big battle would come, and the odds were not in the small tribe's favor, but Flying Hawk had an idea unprecedented in Indian warfare, one that just might turn the tide in the coming battle. What was the new type of warfare that worked so well? Read the book and see.