![]() The ridged and scaly bark of the trunk provided both a fiber for rope and tannin for making leather. The stout wood was well suited for war clubs and tomahawk handles. Indians had other uses for the Osage orange. These bows must have been traded and traveled over a distance of more than 2,000 miles. So sought after was the Osage orange bow, it was used by Shawnee and Wyandotte in Ohio and by the Blackfeet in Montana. Tribal battles were fought for possession of lands generously supplied with Osage orange trees. Osage orange bows were prime items of barter among the tribes - one early report said that in the early 1800s the price of a good Osage orange bow was a horse and a blanket. It was from the branch wood of the Osage orange that the Native peoples made their highly prized bows. Peter Choteau, who resided the greater portion of his time for many years with the Osage nation.” Louis with the letter, in which he wrote, “I send you herewith inclosed, some slips of the Osages Plums, and Apples…I obtained the cuttings, now sent you, from the garden of Mr. Lewis sent back some slips of the trees from St. ![]() But most people now know the large, lumpy fruit as a “hedge apple.” ![]() The tree and fruit that Meriwether Lewis would call the Osage Plum or Apple when he wrote back to President Jefferson in March 1804, is today known as the Osage orange (Maclura pomifera). Photo: Creative Commons, 2.0, Mahieddine23 ![]()
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