The Press., 1904-02-18
BOWIE KNIFE.
ORY OF THE ORIGIN OF THIS
4 FAMOUS WEAPON.

Tory OF THE ORIGIN OF THIS
FAMOUS WEAPON.
IA - Made by James Black,
| rwa.hfmntOn Blacksmith, Who Had
| #reax Reputation as a Knife
| Frere iii the true story of the bowie
knife and it's inventor, James Black.
The narrative was written by Dan w.
| zs5nes. Former governor of Arkansas
I add 4 scion Of one of the oldest and
/ MOST respected families of Arkansas.
Ill was written originally as a chapter
4 for tie novel of southwestern pioneer
i life. ~Aaron Clark" written by the late
Il Colonel j. N. Smithee, veteran jour-
Il nalist of Little Rock, who, weary Of
Il life and it's ills, sent bullet crashing
Il through his brain while his fellow
IfoWnsmen were celebrating the nations
natal day, 1902. Here is Ex-Governor
1 JonesS story Of the origin Of the bowie
Ikuifes
Jaraes Black was born in a village
In the state Of New Jersey May 1, 1900.
Tfis mother having died when he was
quite young, his father married wOm-
an with whom James could not agree.
lat the early age of eight years he ran
4 away from home and went to Philadel-
phia, where he was apprenticed to
manufacturer of silver plated ware
Snamed Henderson, an act subsequently
approved by James father. At the
time of being apprenticed James did
not know his age, and judging from his
size he was placed in the indenture at
eleven years. Some years afterward,
upon a visit to his old home after his
fathers death, he discovered his true
age in the family Bible, but did not
disclose the fact to his master. Conse-
quently his apprenticeship expired in
1910, when he was only eighteen in
stead of twentys0ne years old. ="
On returning to Washington he open
ed blacksRith shop and soon had all
the work<he could do. At that time
Washington was a frontier settlement,
and hearty all the men went armed,
the weapon most relied upon being the
life. All kinds of characters went
here, the most desperate of despera-
aoes as well as men of gentle mold,
lat all understood that each man must
look out for himself. Finding the de-
mand for the knives being SO great.
Black applied himself largely to manu-
featuring them, and especially to tenn
pering the steel of which they were
made. 1t soon became known that his
knives were the best that could be OBJ
tanned, and his reputatidn spread far
and wide The shape of the knife was
according to the taste of tho person
ordering it, it being the cust5m for
each man to furnish the pattern, made
of wood or pasteboard, OF the exact
size and shape Of the knife wanted
Blacks experience as a silver platter
during his apprenticeship enabled him
to plate his knives, either with silver
or gold, when required by the pur-
Schaser which gave them an additional
crWrTn Rnd a higher price. 1t was his
r1saea after tempering and shaping a
4 knife and before polishing it, to cut
livery hard wood with it, generally an
4 old hickory ak handle which had been
II used for long time and had become
II ea4te tough and hard. This he would
do for a half hour, and then il the
knife would not easily shave the hair
from his arm he would throw it away.
His knives ranged in price from So to
$50 each, the price varying according
to the quantity of gold or silver used
FIN plating, the five dollar kAife having
no plating at all; but the temper Of
each was the same, each being sub
mitted to the severe test above men
toned.
i About 1888 or 1884, perhaps little
earlier, James Bowie went to Washing
ton and gave Black an order for a
knife, furnishing a pattern and desir-
ling it to be made within the following
sixty or ninety days, when he would
call for it. Black made the knife &C
cording to Bowie's pattern. He knew
Bowie we'll and had high estimation
of him as a man of good taste as well
rs unf1inching courage. He had never
made a knife which suited his own
taste in point of shape and concluded
this to be a good opportunity to do SO.
Consequently after completing the
knife ordered by Bowie he made anoth-
er and when Bowie returned showed
them both to him and explained the
difference between them, at the same
time giving him his choice at the same
price. Bowie promptly selected Blacks
pattern. Shortly after this Bowie be-
came involved in difficulty with three
desperadoes, who assaulted him with
knives. He killed them all with the
knife Black had made. After this
when any one ordered a knife from
Black, instead of furnishing a pattern
as formerly, he would order it to be
made like Bowie's, which was finally
shortened into make me a bowie
knife" Thus this famous weapon &C.
Quired it's name. Bowie himself was
not a mechanic of any kind. He was
killed in the Alamo with Davy Crock
EFT. surrounded by dead Mexicans,
whom he had killed with that same
knife.
| Other men made knives in those days,
and they are still being made, but no
one has made the bowie knife except
James Black. It's chiefest value was in
it's temper. Black undoubtedly pos
sessed the Damascus secret. 1t came
to him mysteriously, and it died in the
| same way.
| He often told me that no one taught
him the secret and that it was impossi-
BILE for him to tell how he acquired it.
His apprenticeship only gave him ex-
perience in plating iron and steel, not in
working in them. Large offers were
made to him for the secret, but he re-
| fused them all. He was stealthily
watched in order that his processes
might be discovered, but his reputa-
ton for courage was such that no one
approached him too closely after being
| once. warned to desist.-Indianapol
| Sentinel.
No Milli0naires. No Progress.
country without millinnaires will