The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1904-11-02
LIFE OF TRAGEDY
CAREER OF BOWIE, INVENTOR or
THE FAMOUS KNIFE.
The Original weapon Was Made
From n File. and with II It's owner
Killed sixteen Men-His Final Fight
At the Alamo, where He Died.


Killed sixteen Men-His Final Fight
At the Alamo, where He pied.
There are men who seem especially
created to fill a certain place in the
nffairs OF their time. This has been
particularly true in American history.
The man that In the storm and stress
of the period was most needed has al
ways come to the fore at the supreme
moment II ever this was demonstrate
cd by circumstances IL was in the early
history Of the Texas republic, that
storm born state evoked from the rev.
olutlon of 1896.
In his remarks concerning the early
history Of Texas that President Me
Kinley made ON one of his tours he re-
ferred most felicitously, though brief
ly, to the four men who under Provi-
dence had been most prominent in the
early days, when the greatest state In
the Union In the matter of territory
was a young and struggling republic
He spoke ON classic ground, too, for it
was mt the Alamo, where he then
stood, that three of the four crowned
with their lives their devotion to the
young state, whose foundations they
had laid deep with the seal of their
blood.
or this group of heroes, as worthy of
place in song or story as any who so
gallantly died under shield before Troy,
the least known of them all and yet in
many respects the greatest was James
Bowie, famous only by reason of the
world renowned knife called by his
name. A few words touching his AN
cestry may not be out of place. lie
was not from Maryland, as has been so
often stated, but was born in Burke
county, Ga, in 1890. In 1902 his fa-
ther emigrated to Louisiana.
That country was then still under
French domination. There had been
large tracts of land granted by the
French crown in the territory named
for Louis XIV, and one Of these, in
the parish of Catahoula. was acquired
by the elder Bowie. He was man
of substance, owning nearly 100 slaves.
He soon had his estate well opened out
and was growing superb crops of cot
ton and corn. His son James he sent
first to famous private school at
Natchez, Miss, and afterward to the
Jesuit college then located at New
Orleans.
James Bowie, in 1927, was challeng-
ed to a duel with Norris Wright The
pocket pistols Of that day We're uncer-
tain. 1t was long before the percus-
sion cap had been brought into COM
mon use, and the flintlock arm was the
only firearm known. 1t was liable to
miss fire just when it ought not TO.
Bowie determined to rely upon knife
he had caused to be made for just such
q contingency. He had taken four
teen inch l0g file, such as was then
used to sharpen crosscut saws and
the upright saws used for turning out
planks from logs. He had the file
marks carefully ground off the file and
the smooth piece of steel skillfully re-
duced by the grindstone until il was
about the thickness and weight he de-
sired. Then he took il to a Spaniard
In New Orleans known as Pedro, the
skilled cutler" man who had learned
his art in Toledo, where the finest
sword blades in all Spain were forged
He tempered and finished the knife,
fitted 1t with a crosspiece and haft.
When II was done James Bowie had a
weapon eft to fight for mans life
WITH" as he said to Governor Wells.
1t was beautifully balanced, and the
artist had hollow ground it like a
razor, with a double edge for three or
four inches from the point.
The knife was fitted with a wooden
scabbard, covered with leather, and
was sharp enough to shave the hair
on the back of ones hand. This was
the original Bowie knife, though it
was somewhat modified subsequently
In shape. Bowie, while a student at
New Orleans, had studied other things
besides the humanities, as the dead
languages OF Greece and Rome were
then called. BY accident he found in
bis fencing master a man who could
not only use the sword, but was n
master in the use of the cuchillo, the
Spanish fighting knife, a weapon not
unlike the bowie. Our young stu
dent entered enthusiastically into the
training and science of old Spain in
that nations once national weapon.
And so he was much better equipped
for the deadly fight that was so near
ut hand.
Natchez island, where the fight was
- be-, was midway between the Lou
siana and Mississippi shores of the
great Father of Waters. Therefore it
was favorite meeting place for gen.
tlemen who had to adjust affairs that
might have a fatal ending, as the au-
thorities of neither state could inter-
fere. II stayed all night with james
Bowie" said friend Of his, who died
In his ninetieth year. "On the night
before the fight was to take place /
never saw a man sleep more soundly
than he did nor eat better breakfast