Bowie

     Jim Bowie and the Bowie knife have almost become synonymous.   In the early 1800's it was common place for men to carry a knife as a sidearm but it wasn't until 1830 that the famous Bowie knife was made that forever carved a niche in history for Jim Bowie 

     The actual making of the Bowie knife was a progression of knife designs.   The first knife was claimed to be designed by his brother Rezin in Avoyelles Parish in Louisiana and made by a blacksmith Jesse Clift in order to protect his younger brother from some of the company he was keeping

     This knife was referred to by many as Bowie's butcher knife that was used at the Sandbar Fight.   Another rendition of the story according to Jim's older brother John was that a blacksmith named Snowden, made a hunting knife for Jim which was used during the duel.   Either way the prototype and the legend had begun

     In 1827 the famous duel occurred across from Natchez, Mississippi on a Mississippi River sandbar.   As a second in the duel, Bowie found himself in the middle of the ruckus armed with a butcher knife.   In the events that followed Bowie found himself badly beaten, shot and stabbed but before him laid one man cut to ribbons and another one disemboweled

     In 1830 in Texas, Jim Bowie armed with the famous Bowie knife made by James Black, was attacked by three men hired to kill him.   The stories flourished as Bowie wielded the heavy knife against his attackers.   In the end, one man was almost beheaded, another was disemboweled and the third had his skull split open 

     The original Bowie knife was two inches wide and a quarter inch thick with the blade being about 12 inches long.   The back of the blade had a soft metal inlaid to catch the opponent's blade during a scrape.   Razor sharp was the top edge of the clip point.   In order to protect the hand a brass quillon was in place 

     At the Alamo>, Jim Bowie had his trusted Bowie knife.   As the Alamo was overrun by the Mexican army, Jim Bowie laid on a cot in the Low Barracks with his Bowie knife and pistol at hand.    Tales exist that before he was killed that he took out nine of the oncoming soldiers

     In the end, the bowie knife lost the capital B but its' fame has continued to grow.   The original Bowie knife was never found