Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-02

throwing
And this brings us to our theme theme
concerning which history must stand abashed
before the riot Of legend who made the FIRST
Bowie knife? How did it originate?
A CCORDING to an unpublished letter, writ
N ten In 1890 by John S. Moore, granddaughter
Of James Bowie, and preserved among the his
tOrical archives Of the University of Texas, the
original knife was modelled as a hunting knife
by Rein Bowie, ST., and wrought by his own
blacksmith. Jesse Cliffe Some time later Jim
Bowie had "dificulty" with one Maj. Morris
Wright in which bullet from Wright's pistol
was checked by q silver dollar In Bowies vest
pocket. While Wright was in the act Of shoot
ing, Bowie pulled down" on him. but his pistol
snapped, and the two foes parted, expecting to
meet another day. When Jim told his father
Of this the old gentleman got out his priced
hunting knife and presented it to his son with
these laconic words This will never snap"
In the sand bar duel" that followed the
knife fully met all expectations. This duel
was in reality a free-for-all fight that took
place among IL men who met on a sand bar
in the Mississippi River, near Natchez, Sep
TENDER 10, 1927. In 1t two men were killed
and three badly wounded. Bowie down,
shot IN four places and cut in i've, when his
mortal enemy Maj Wright, rushed upon him,
exclaiming. You have killed me-" Bowie raised
himself up and stabbed Wright to the heart.
At once Bowie's knife became famous and
copies Of it were widely disseminated.
According to notes kept by another scion of
the Bowie family, DR.. J. Moore Soniat du FoSSet
Of New Orleans, now deceased, it was Rein
p. Bowie, the brother Of James, who devised
the knife. The occasion for it arose thus
The Bowie brothers were very fond of riding
wild cattle down. sport popular among plant
eFs Of Louisiana at the time. There were two
ways Of dealing with the maverick animals
One was to shoot them from horseback, as
hsYff he
other was to ride against them and stab them
with Q large conteau de chase. Sometimes
the cattle were laSSoed and then stabbed. The
chase with knife and lasso was wilder and more
exciting than the chase with pistol or rife
Hence the Bowies preferred 1t.
One day while Rein p. was thrusting his
knife into q ferocious bull the animal lunged
in such a way as to draw the blade through
the hunters hand, making a severe wound.
After having his hand dressed, Rein called
the plantation blacksmith, Jesse C1iffe, and
told him that he must make knife that would
not slip from mans grasp. Using a pencil
in his left hand he awkwardly traced on paper
a blade some 10 inches long and inches broad
at It's widest part, the handle to be strong and
well protected from the blade by guards. The
model having been settled upon, Rein gave the
smith q large hle OF the best quality OF steel
and told him to make the knife out Of that.
With fire and hammer the smith wrought the
weapon-just one. 1t proved to be so service
able in hunting and Rein came to prize IL
SO highly. that for long time he kept it, when
he was not wearing it, locked In his desk
THEN day Jim Bowie told his brother
] how his life had been jeopardized by the
swapping Of pistol while 1t was pointed at q
man firing on him. After hearing the story
and learning how the final reckoning between
the enemies was yet to be made Rein I'M
locked the desk, took out his priced personal
possession and handed 1t to his brother with
these words: Here, Jim, take Old Bowie. She
never misses fire."
Another story has it that in preparation for
the sand bar duel" Jinne Bowie himself took
14-inch file to q cutler in New Orleans,
known as Pedro. Pedro had learned his trade
In Toledo, where the finest swords Of all Spain
were forged, and all his skin went into the
making Of blade which was to be- IN Bowie,s
words, mt to fight for a mans life with
When IN doubt 60 to the encyclopedia. This
Is what the Encyclopedia Americana" 1929
sets forth: "Col. James Bowie is said to have
had his sword broken down to within about 20
inches Of the hit in fight with some Mexi-
cans, but he found that he did such good execu-
ton with his broken blade that he equipped all
his followers with similar weapon"-the Bowie
knife.
But let us not be too rash in drawing con-
elusions. Arkansas Is yet to be heard from,
and Arkansas has better right to speak on
the subject than any encyclopedia. The Bowie
knife used to be commonly known as the
Arkansas toothpick," and Arkansas is some
times referred to as "the toothpick State"
Arkansians certainly knew their toothpicks
The very Spring that Bowie died in the Alamo
Arkansas became State and, fttingly enough,
history records that the members of the first
Legislature used, after adjournment IN the
cool Of the evening, to take their knives and
pistols and repair to a grove hard by, there
to practice throwing and shooting at the trees.
Some members Of the Legislature were in
1ine practice. The Speaker Of the House was
John Wilson, sometimes known as "Horse