The Bowie knife is really America’s knife. There are cities named after it, and it’s namesake, it’s Arkansas’ official state knife, it has appeared in iconic motion pictures, and a variation of the basic design, the Ka-Bar, was issued to U.S. troops. Like lots of the greatest American origin tales, the Bowie knife is immersed in legend, rumour, journalistic gildings, and the romance of the early American Western frontier.
To today, there may be little concrete proof, and quite a few conflicting stories about how the Bowie knife got here to be. What we do know is that almost 200 years after the Bowie knife and its proprietor had been made well-known in a lethal brawl, it’s nonetheless one of the crucial standard knife types. The Bowie knife is as a lot part of the lore of the enlargement of America as the person that it’s named after, James “Jim” Bowie.
So, the place did the Bowie knife come from, how did it get to the place it’s right this moment, and what does its future appear to be? All of it started with a battle.
The Notorious Sandbar Brawl
The Bowie knife turned well-known on September 19, 1827, when Jim Bowie was concerned in a deadly battle on a Mississippi River sandbar close to Natchez, Mississippi.
The battle broke out after Samuel Levi Wells III and Dr. Thomas Maddox participated in a proper duel. Bowie was Wells’ second within the duel. Each events had supporters current, and a big group of spectators attended. The 2 males exchanged pictures, however neither was hit. Then one among Maddox’s supporters, Robert Crain, shot one among Wells’ supporters, Samuel Cuny. Bowie returned hearth at Crain.
Then one other member of the Maddox social gathering shot Bowie within the chest. Bowie took out his soon-to-be-famous knife and chased down the person who shot him. Bowie was then shot within the thigh and stabbed a number of occasions whereas utilizing his knife to stab a person within the chest, killing him, and almost severed one other man’s arm.
The battle solely lasted 10 minutes, but it surely left two males useless and two wounded. Accounts differ, however Bowie was shot two to 4 occasions, stabbed 4 to 12 occasions, and pistol whipped for good measure. He miraculously survived this ordeal, and information of his battle and his weapon of alternative made national newspapers. Quickly, individuals throughout had been asking their blacksmith or bladesmith to make them a Bowie knife.
Whereas the Sandbar battle made the Bowie knife well-known, its origins date again to a battle with the identical man Bowie would kill on that Mississippi sandbar. Whereas particulars are unverifiable and sometimes conflicting, Bowie and his brother, Rezin, had been in a severe battle with a banker, Main Norris Wright. That battle spurred Rezin to fee a blacksmith to make a knife for Bowie to make use of for private safety.
Bowie had a brand new blade made after the Sandbar battle with some design adjustments, and would carry his new knife till his well-known dying on the Alamo. By that point, the Bowie knife was already cemented into the tradition of America.
Even the well-known ‘Buffalo Invoice’ Cody used a Bowie knife. In his final interview, published May 1917 in Outdoor Life, creator Chauncey Thomas requested, “What sort of knife did you kill Yellowhand with?”
Yellowhand (extra precisely translated Yellow Hair) was a Cheyenne conflict chief that Cody reportedly killed and is a part of his lore.
“Only a large heavy Bowie blade,” Cody replied. He went on to say that he used the Bowie for chopping meat and skinning too.
The Unique Bowie Maker
Blacksmith Jesse Clifft doubtless made Bowie’s authentic Sandbar Combat knife in Louisiana. It was supposedly commissioned by Bowie’s brother Rezin. There are differing accounts and claims about who made the primary Bowie knife and who made the form we all know right this moment. However, there appears to be a reasonably sturdy consensus that blade smith James Black made Bowie’s knife after the sandbar duel.
It was with this knife that Bowie would battle for the independence of Texas with, the knife he would allegedly kill three assassins with, and later, the knife he would die preventing on the Alamo with. This knife, and others made by Black would contribute closely to what we all know because the Bowie knife right this moment. Black had reportedly developed a proprietary course of to warmth deal with and mood his blades, making them superior to different blades of the time. This warmth deal with recipe was stored secret, and close to the tip of his life, when Black was prepared to move on his secrets and techniques, he couldn’t keep in mind, and it reportedly drove him mad.
A lot of the knowledge we have now about Black and his involvement with the Bowie knife comes from Daniel Jones whose household took Black in when he fell on onerous occasions. Jones went on to be Governor of Arkansas and was adamant in regards to the claims to the Bowie knife that Black made.
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The Bowie Knife’s Decline in Reputation
Bowie knives had been all over the place, and demand was excessive, that’s, till the Civil Battle got here to a detailed. People had sufficient bloodshed, and the Bowie knife was thought-about a preventing knife. A part of the rationale the Bowie knife turned so standard is as a result of pistols of the day had been unreliable, inaccurate, and solely held one shot.
Nonetheless, after the Civil Battle, revolvers turned commonplace and had been an enormous enchancment over the flintlocks from Bowie’s day. What was as soon as the Bowie knife’s largest promoting level had now develop into its Achilles heel. It was a knife born and bred to battle, however now the battle was over. This isn’t to say that Bowie type knives had been useless, however simply as shortly as they exploded into recognition, they fell again out of it. Knife makers continued to make Bowie knives, however they started to make them a bit smaller and adapt them to the brand new market that was rising — knives for outdoorsmen.
Actions like looking, fishing, and ranching had been individuals’s main drive for knife shopping for within the post-Civil Battle period. American’s had been taking a look at knives as general-purpose chopping instruments, and never as defensive weapons. Public life was altering, and hanging a preventing knife with a 12-inch blade off your hip was not in type, nor was it wanted. The Bowie knife survived by shrinking and in lots of instances shedding a few of the options that made it a great fighter. Nonetheless, the preventing spirit of the Bowie would deliver it again to the forefront of American tradition as one other conflict loomed, and a preventing knife was as soon as once more wanted.
The Bowie’s Rebirth
It will make sense {that a} preventing knife would come again to life when it was wanted for an additional battle. The Nice Battle (WWI) noticed a necessity for a preventing knife for the troops, however the actuality was that many troopers introduced knives from residence since manufacturing for the chosen battle knife couldn’t sustain, and it wasn’t sensible to hold. Nonetheless, when WWII got here, the knife commissioned for manufacturing was a Bowie-style blade. It had a clip level and prime and backside guard — traits {that a} Bowie blade was recognized for. Whereas there have been a number of corporations making the USMC Combating Knife, the one which did it greatest was Union Cutlery Firm, which marked their knives “Ka-Bar.” Union Cutlery would go on to formally change the title of the corporate to Ka-Bar as a result of the knives turned so standard and well-known. In that very same period, a person named Hoyt Buck was making his early variations of the mannequin 119 — the Buck 119.
The Buck 119 was not billed as a preventing knife however as a hunter’s knife. And so they had been gaining recognition as Buck marketed his blades as sensible instruments. The 119 helped the Bowie escape of the preventing knife pigeonhole it had been trapped in for therefore lengthy. So, between returning GIs searching for one thing much like what they used abroad and Buck and different up-and-coming knife makers billing Bowies as sensible knives, the Bowie knife was making a comeback.
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The Bowie in Pop-Tradition
The ultimate enhance that Bowie wanted to be again on prime would come shortly after WWII ended, and it got here within the type of the movie “The Iron Mistress,” which was a principally fictional story about Jim Bowie and his well-known blade. Throughout that point America fell again in love with the lore of the Outdated West, and you may’t have tales from the frontier with out tales of the Bowie knife. There was hardly a Western made that didn’t function a Bowie knife sooner or later. There have been additionally TV sequence made about Jim Bowie, he was featured in Westerns, and several other motion pictures had been made in regards to the Alamo.
The Bowie was cool once more, and it had efficiently made the bounce from versatile preventing knife, to an outdoorsman’s knife. A number of standard knife makers would come out of the post-war period and assist give delivery to the golden age of the Bowie. The Bowie maintained recognition within the movie business even after the Westerns fell out of favor.
John Rambo carried his now famous version of the Bowie knife with added backbone serrations and survival package saved within the deal with. Whereas not a basic Bowie, it was a Bowie form, and it helped maintain the Bowie alive and properly because it tailored to new tastes.
Crocodile Dundee was one other movie that prominently featured a Bowie and has triggered untold numbers of individuals to exclaim, “That’s not a knife, THAT’s a knife,” in horrible Australian accents. I can’t inform you what number of occasions I’ve heard that line, or a variation of it after I present somebody one among my Bowie knives. Even right this moment, standard video video games function Bowie-style knives as backup and close-quarter weapons. TV Exhibits like “Cast in Fireplace” have featured dozens of Bowie knives and showcased many customized makers who focus on Bowie-style blades.
The Bowie’s Present Affect
The present knife market is chock filled with Bowie-inspired blades, they usually proceed to be nice sellers. At this level, the time period Bowie has been used for an incredible number of knives that maintain to probably the most basic Bowie design attribute, which is the clip level blade. I’ve knives that bear the Bowie title that vary from 2-inch blades to over 12-inch blades. At this level, a Bowie knife is not a big preventing blade, however a mode of blade that has many specialised variations to sort out all several types of chopping work.
I might argue that there has by no means been a knife type that has so closely influenced the knife world. I’ve met a number of well-known blade smiths and seen the work of many extra, and I can’t consider a single one among them who doesn’t have a Bowie-inspired design of their physique of labor.
Practically each knife producer has at the very least one Bowie of their lineup, and Bowie-style blades dominate some maker’s strains. Even folding knives have taken the Bowie title and magnificence, and maintain the legend alive in a brand new means. The reality is that the Bowie knife has impressed a majority of the fastened blade knives which can be at present being bought in America. I don’t suppose that the affect of the Bowie knife on fashionable knife design will be overstated.
The Way forward for the Bowie
The reality is that nobody individual is liable for giving us the Bowie that we all know right this moment. It’s an amalgamation of many comparable blades that had been produced by a melting pot of blade smiths within the late 1820s and 1830s. The timeline surrounding the guard being added and false edge and clip level are all uncertain, and there simply isn’t documentation in place to completely show anybody’s claims. However that isn’t the vital half. What issues is that all of it occurred. We will’t be certain in regards to the course of, however we will be certain in regards to the product. And the product is a wonderful knife design.
I’m assured that the Bowie knife will proceed to be an vital a part of knife tradition in America, and American tradition at massive. The primary motive that the Bowie has outlasted so many different elements of American tradition is the truth that it’s nonetheless helpful. It’s nonetheless a great design. It’s sensible, and it’s working artwork. It’s a helpful sculpture that’s each good to have a look at, and good within the hand. The Bowie knife has captured one thing in regards to the American pioneering spirit and, in doing so, has put an indelible mark on tradition.
Am I waxing poetic a few chunk of metal and wooden? Sure. Excessive? Possibly. However as a lover of American historical past and knives, the Bowie hits all the marks for me. It’s the nexus of two topics I’m captivated with. In the event you aren’t a knife nerd or a historical past buff, I believe we are able to all recognize an iconic a part of American tradition, that is still a useful gizmo for any outdoorsman needing a great knife.
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