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A Bowie knife ( ) is a pattern of fixed-blade fighting knives created by Rezin Bowie in the early 19th century for his brother James Bowie, who had become famous for his use of a large knife at a duel known as the Sandbar Fight.
Since its first incarnation, the Bowie knife has incorporated several recognizable and characteristic design features. However, in common usage, the term refers to any large sheath knife with a crossguard and a clip point,Todd, Frederick P., American Military Equipage, 1851–1872, Scribners (1980), pp. 180–181: "The American fighting knife of the mid-19th century was par excellence the 'bowie knife'. The term itself defied definition in those days as it does today. Still, a rough description would be a large sheath knife, usually with a small crossguard and a clipped point, whose story began in the American Southwest about 1830." although there are exceptions and special cases. The knife pattern is still popular with collectors; in addition to various knife manufacturing companies, hundreds of custom knifemakers produce Bowie knives with different types of steel and variations in style.
The Bowie knife derives part of its name and reputation from James Bowie, a notorious , who died at the Battle of the Alamo. James Bowie left a very thin paper trail; without verifiable facts, his history was buried in unverifiable knife-fighting legend. Historians seriously entertain the possibility that Bowie fought only one personal knife fight "More nonsense has been written over the last century and a half about James Bowie and the Bowie knife than any other episode in his heavily mythologized life." "However, there is no verifiable account of him ever using any knife in a fight except once, in the Sandbar brawl, and there is no reason at all to doubt the statement of Rezin Bowie..." (and, if Rezin Bowie's account is accurate, that fight was not fought with a blade meeting the modern definition). That Sandbar Fight received national publicity (accounts in Philadelphia, New York, and the Niles' Register of Washington, D.C.) within months of the event. James Bowie prominently wore a large knife after the Sandbar fight.
The Bowie family provided a variety of conflicting knife histories. James Bowie left nothing. His brother Rezin Bowie provided a terse history two years after James' death. Sixteen years after James' death, someone (assumed to be James' brother John) slightly amended Rezin's explanation to include a blacksmith. Rezin's grandchildren named a different blacksmith. A later Bowie claimed that the information attributed to John was a lie and that John probably never saw the document, etc. "If James Bowie ever wrote a single word about the original Bowie knife, that document has not surfaced. Unfortunately, even those who saw the knife could not agree about its dimensions." (Descriptions) "Curiously, Rezin's grandchildren contradicted their grandfather by asserting that Rezin's blacksmith, Jesse Clifft, actually forged the knife under Rezin's supervision. John Bowie and Caiaphas Ham credited the knife to a blacksmith from Kentucky named Lovell Snowden." Rezin Bowie's account is given in full and termed the "most important letter in Bowiedom". Quotes of the later Bowie on John's presumed work: "...every statement I find untrue." "It is probable that John J. Bowie never knew of the article."
In the mid-20th century, a Bowie knife book author took liberties with the historical facts. Some documents were misquoted, some reported facts cannot be confirmed, etc. Others incorporated the errors into their accounts of both Bowie and his knives. "Raymond Thorp's Bowie Knife, privately published in 1948, is a dreadful work..." "Its citations are confused or erroneous, genuine quotations have been altered, and some material apparently simply invented." "There is little doubt but that Thorp's is responsible, more than any other source, for perpetuating misinformation about the subject." "Among the most annoying faults with Bowie Knife was the author's marked tendency to alter direct, cited quotes from nineteenth-century sources." "Perhaps Thorp's most mischievous perversion of a directly quoted passage pertains to Bowie knife schools in Saint Louis..." That perversion has corrupted knife history (example: Peterson, American Knives, 1958) and Bowie biography (example: Hopewell, James Bowie: Texas Fighting Man, 1994).
With no solid definition and conflicting accounts of knife history, many were credited with the invention or improvement of the blade. "More than a dozen men have been credited with its invention; accordingly there exist a broad diversity of descriptions and dimensions; and at least as many men claimed to have acquired the knife."
Bernard Levine has reported that the first known Bowie knife showed a strong Mediterranean influence insofar as general lines were concerned, particularly the shape of the traditional Spanish folding knife (navaja), then often carried by immigrants to Mexico and other territories of the Old Southwest.Levine, Bernard. (2002). Knives and their Values, p. 64 In an 1828 account of the capture of a pirate schooner carrying a mixed group of Spaniards and South American , the carrying of knives similar to the early Bowie knife is mentioned:
After the Vidalia Sandbar fight, Bowie was a famous man, and the Bowie brothers received many requests for knives of the same design. Bowie and his brothers later commissioned more ornate custom blades from various knife makers including Daniel Searles and John Constable. George William Featherstonhaugh described them as, "These formidable instruments ... are the pride of an Arkansas blood, and got their name of Bowie knives from a conspicuous person of this fiery climate."
According to an 1847 article, the Bowie knife was initially designed to fill the need for a wearable, convenient, close-combat weapon – a short sword much shorter than the saber or other swords of the day, yet still possessing a heavy blade. This cleaver-like blade had enough weight to give the blade sufficient force in a slashing attack while permitting cut-and-thrust sword fighting tactics. By this time the 'Bowie knife' was already being made in a variety of sizes, with the optimum blade length similar to "that of a carving knife".Robertson, J. C., (ed.), The Bowie Knife and its Inventor, The Mechanics' Magazine, Museum, Register, and Gazette, Vol. 46, No. 1231 London: Robertson & Co. (13 March 1847), p. 262Corbin, Annalies, The Material Culture of Steamboat Passengers: Archaeological Evidence from the Missouri River, New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, (2000), p. 92: By 1847, the most common carving knife made by large volume manufacturers such as John Russell of Green River featured an eight-inch blade, but other carving knives of the day could have blades of up to eighteen inches in length. The blade design was described as:
Most later versions of the Bowie knife had a blade of at least in length, some reaching or more, with a relatively broad blade that was wide and made of steel usually between thick. The back of the blade sometimes had a strip of soft metal (normally brass or copper) inlaid, which some believe was intended to catch an opponent's blade. In contrast, others hold that it was intended to provide support and absorb shock to help prevent the breaking of poor quality steel or poorly heat-treated blades. (A brass back is an indication of modern construction. "No authenticated brass back Bowie has yet to be accepted in all quarters as genuine...".) Bowie knives often had an upper guard that bent forward at an angle (an S-guard) intended to catch an opponent's blade or provide protection to the owner's hand during parries and corps-a-corps.
Some Bowie knives had a notch on the bottom of the blade near the hilt known as a "Spanish Notch". The Spanish Notch is often cited as a mechanism for catching an opponent's blade; however, some Bowie researchers hold that the Spanish Notch is ill-suited to this function and frequently fails to achieve the desired results. These researchers, instead, hold that the Spanish Notch has the much more mundane function as a tool for stripping sinew and repairing rope and nets, as a guide to assist in sharpening the blade (assuring that the sharpening process starts at a specific point and not further up the edge), or as a point to relieve stress on the blade during use.
One characteristic of Bowie knives is the clip point at the top of the blade, which brings the blade tip lower than the spine and in line with the handle for better control during thrusting attacks. As the goal is to produce a sharp, stabbing point, most Bowie knives have a bevel ground along the clip, typically 1/4 of the way, but sometimes much further, running the entire top-edge. This is referred to as a false edge, as from a distance it looks sharpened, although it may or may not be. Regardless of whether or not the false edge is sharp, it takes metal away from the point, streamlining the tip and thus enhancing the penetration capability of the blade during a stab. The version attributed to blacksmith James Black had this false edge fully sharpened to allow someone trained in European techniques of saber fencing to execute the maneuver called the "back cut" or "back slash". A brass quillon, usually cast in a mold, was attached to protect the hand.
The Bowie knife's design also lends itself to use as a hunting knife for skinning or butchering game. When suitably sharpened, the curved top clip bevel of the blade may be used to remove the skin from a Cadaver, while the straight portion of the blade edge, toward the guard, can be used for cutting meat. Arkansas culturalist and researcher Russell T. Johnson describes the James Black knife in the following manner and at the same time captures the quintessence of the Bowie Knife: "It must be long enough to use as a sword, sharp enough to use as a razor, wide enough to use as a paddle, and heavy enough to use as a hatchet." Most such knives intended for hunting are only sharpened on one edge, to reduce the danger of cutting oneself while butchering and skinning the carcass.
This knife became famous as the knife used by Bowie at the Sandbar Fight, a famous 1827 duel between Bowie and several men including a Major Norris Wright of Alexandria, Louisiana. The fight took place on a sandbar in the Mississippi River across from Natchez, Mississippi, and is the only documented fight in which Bowie was known to have employed his Bowie knife design. In this battle, Bowie was stabbed, shot, and beaten half to death, but managed to win the fight using the large knife.
Jim Bowie's older brother John later claimed that the knife at the Sandbar Fight was not Clifft's knife, but a knife specifically made for Bowie by a blacksmith named Snowden.
In 1831, Bowie returned with his James Black Bowie knife to Texas and was involved in a knife fight with three men armed with firearms, who had been hired to kill him by the man he had spared in his 1829 fight. According to reports of the time, Bowie used his knife to kill all three men: one assassin was nearly decapitated, the second was disemboweled, and the skull of the third man was split open. Bowie died at the Battle of the Alamo five years later, and in death, both he and his knife became an American legend. The fate of the original Bowie knife is unknown; however, a knife bearing the engraving "Bowie No. 1" has been acquired by the Historic Arkansas Museum from a Texas collector and has been attributed to Black through scientific analysis.
Black soon had a booming business making and selling these knives from his shop in Washington, Arkansas. Black continued to refine his technique and improve the quality of the knife as he went. In 1839, shortly after his wife's death, Black was nearly blinded when, while he was in bed with illness, his father-in-law and former partner broke into his home and attacked him with a club, having objected to his daughter having married Black years earlier. Black was no longer able to continue in his trade.
Black's knives were known to be exceedingly tough, yet flexible, and his technique has not been duplicated. Black kept his technique secret and did all of his work behind a leather curtain. Many claim that Black rediscovered the secret of producing true Damascus steel.
In 1870, at the age of 70, Black attempted to pass on his secret to the son of the family that had cared for him in his old age, Daniel Webster Jones. However, Black had retired for many years and had forgotten the secret. Jones would later become the governor of Arkansas.
Historians and knife experts have challenged the claims regarding James Black and his knives. Little can be either proven or disproven; Black was found mentally incompetent before his claims were published.
The birthplace of the Bowie knife is now part of the Old Washington Historic State Park which has over 40 restored historical buildings and other facilities including Black's shop. The park is known as "The Colonial Williamsburg of Arkansas". The University of Arkansas Hope - Texarkana opened its James Black School of Bladesmithing and Historic Trades in historic Washington in January 2020.
The Bowie knife was most popular in the Old Southwest of the mid-19th century. However, accounts of Bowie knife fighting schools are based on fiction; newspapers of the era in the region contained advertisements for classes in fencing and self-defense. Chapter 11: "Bowie Knife Duels, Rules, Manuals ... and Schools - Dueling in American Folkways and Folklore" "... the evidence for "knife schools in all the major cities" fails to support or corroborate their presence." Charles Dickens' fictional Great Expectations was quoted as proof of the existence of knife fighting schools.
Bowie knives had a role in the American conflicts of the nineteenth century. They are historically mentioned in the independence of Texas, in the Mexican War, the California gold rush, the Bleeding Kansas, the American Civil War, and later conflicts with the American Indians. John Brown (abolitionist) carried a Bowie (which was taken by J. E. B. Stuart). (p 117) John Wilkes Booth (assassin of Abraham Lincoln) dropped a large Bowie knife as he escaped. (p 158) "Buffalo Bill" Cody reportedly scalped a sub-chief in 1876 in revenge for Custer (the Battle of Warbonnet Creek). An illustration of the reputed event showed a Bowie knife. (p 171) Brigham Young, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), used to carry a Bowie knife with him, and dreamed about killing ex-Mormon Apostacy with it; () for this reason, it has a significance to the DezNat (alt-right LDS) community online, who link it to the concept of blood atonement in Mormonism.
Historically, in the US, the heyday of the large Bowie knife was when cap and ball black powder arms were not exceptionally reliable and the single-shot ones slow to load, hence the need for a large knife such as what we call a Bowie as a weapon and for use as a camp knife. When reliable cartridge repeating firearms came along, the size of the blade length and width was reduced because there was less of a need for them as a weapon. With the advent of affordably priced, reliable in the US (including surplus ex-American Civil War handguns), the popularity of the Bowie knife declined sharply after 1865. While still quite popular, newer Bowie designs began to incorporate much shorter blades of seven or eight inches, a length more suited to butchering and skinning game animals. By the turn of the century, the most mass-produced Bowies were being sold as all-purpose outdoor hunting/camping knives. Despite this, the Bowie still retained its ability to serve as a close-in fighting knife. The USMC Ka-Bar of World War II fame is based on a Bowie design dating back to the classic Marbles Ideal camping/hunting knife first introduced in 1899.
Since the 1960s, Bowie knives with sawteeth machined into the back side of the blade appeared inspired by the United States Air Force survival knife, which is used by several branches of the US Armed Forces. Each knife is manufactured following US Government specifications. It features a 5" 1095 carbon steel clip point sawback blade with a swedge, false top edge, and fullers. The handle is made from natural leather with a stainless steel butt cap. The natural leather sheath included comes with a whetstone and leg tie. The sawteeth were intended to cut through a downed aircraft's plexiglass canopy. Shortly after, similar knives with a metal hollow handle appeared, allowing small survival items to be stored inside the handle. Bowies are still popular today, evidenced by the plethora of factory-made and custom-made bowie-style knives available to collectors.
Custom knife maker Ernest Emerson originally used a Bowie knife in his logo and manufactures a folding Bowie known in his line-up as the CQC13.
A Bowie knife appears on the shoulder sleeve insignia of the 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Over the years, many knives have been called Bowie knives, and the term has almost become a generic term for any large sheath knife. During the early days of the American Civil War, Confederate soldiers carried immense knives called D-Guard Bowie knives. Many of these knives could have qualified as short and were often made from old saw or scythe blades.
The Bowie knife is sometimes confused with the "Arkansas toothpick", possibly due to the interchangeable use of the names "Arkansas toothpick", "Bowie knife", and "Arkansas knife" in the antebellum period. The Arkansas toothpick is essentially a heavy dagger with a straight blade. While balanced and weighted for throwing, the toothpick can be used for thrusting and slashing. Although James Black is popularly credited with inventing the "Arkansas toothpick", no firm evidence exists for this claim.
Knives made in Sheffield, England, were quick to enter the market with "Bowie knives" of a distinctive pattern that most modern users identify with the proper form of a Bowie knife. The Sheffield pattern blade is thinner than the Black/Musso knives, while the false edge is often longer, with a more oblique and less pronounced clip edge. While the Bowie is frequently considered a uniquely American knife, most blades were produced in Sheffield England. "... it has been estimated that more than seventy-five percent of all Bowies carried on the American frontier were manufactured in Sheffield factories." Sheffield Bowies were sold with a wide range of etched or stamped slogans designed to appeal to Americans: "Death to Abolition", "Death to Traitors", "Americans Never Surrender", "Alabama Hunting Knife", "Arkansas Toothpick", "Gold Seeker's Protection"... American victories and generals were commemorated. "Bowie Knife" is etched in many different designs (including folding knives) from that era. Chapter 14 The British disguised the origin of their products, operating the "Washington", "Philadelphia", "Boston", "Manhattan", "America", and "Columbia Works" in Sheffield. They stamped "US", "NY", etc. on their blades. The Sheffield "factories" were warehouses that collected the work of area craftsmen. The smelters, forgers, grinders, silversmiths, carvers, etchers ... were individuals or small businesses. Chapter 13
The Bowie remains popular with Knife collecting. In addition to various knife manufacturing companies, hundreds of custom knife makers and Bladesmithing produce Bowies and variations. The Bowie knife dominates the work produced by members of the American Bladesmith Society. Collecting antique Bowie knives is one of the higher-end forms of knife collecting with rare models selling as high as $200,000. Even mass-produced Sheffield Bowies from the 19th century can sell in the range of $5,000US to $15,000US.
The Bowie knife was a staple in The Alamo movies of 1960 and 2004; the first three Rambo movies, First Blood (1982), (1985), and Rambo III (1988); the film Crocodile Dundee (1986) and its sequel Crocodile Dundee II (1988); and Friday the 13th (1980). The Bowie knife is also Ghostface's signature weapon in the Scream franchise (1996).
The famous singer and musician David Bowie (born David Robert Jones) took the name Bowie after the Bowie knife because, in his words, "it cuts both ways".Kenny Bell obituary, The Times, August 14, 2023, page 42: mentions David's choice of name 'Bowie' and Bell's opinion of the name change. 'Music promoter who booked some of rock's biggest acts and helped David Bowie to fund and record his first demos'
In the first-person shooter video game Team Fortress 2, the Sniper character has an unlockable weapon named the Bushwacka, which is styled after a Bowie knife.
That if any person carrying any knife or weapon known as a Bowie knife ... or any knife or weapon that shall in form, shape, or size resemble a Bowie knife, on a sudden encounter, shall cut or stab another person with such knife or weapon, whether death ensues or not, such person so stabbing or cutting shall be guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof shall be confined in the jail and penitentiary house of this State, for a period of time not less than three years, nor more than fifteen years.Cramer, pp. 111–112: So great was public pressure to clamp down on use of the Bowie knife that the Tennessee Supreme Court upheld the law two years later ( Aymette v. State, 2 Hump. (21 Tenn.) 154 (1840)), even though it had to pointedly ignore its own prior 1833 decision on the state constitutional right to bear arms to do so ( Simpson v. State, 5 Yerg. 356, Tenn. 1833: "By this clause of the constitution, an express power is given and secured to all the free citizens of the state to keep and bear arms for their defence, without any qualification whatever as to their kind or nature."Even Texas passed legislation in 1871 prohibiting the carrying of a Bowie knife "on or about one's person" in public places. This law remained in place until 2017.
Although many jurisdictions worldwide have knife legislation regulating the length of a blade one may own or carry, certain locales in the United States have legislation restricting or prohibiting the carrying of a "Bowie knife".Cassidy, William L., The Complete Book Of Knife Fighting, , (1997), pp. 9–18, 27–36See Ala. Code 1975, §13-6-120, Sec. 13A-11-50: "Carrying concealed weapons. Except as otherwise provided in this Code, a person who carries concealed about his person a bowie knife or knife or instrument of like kind or description or a pistol or firearm of any other kind or an air gun shall, on conviction, be fined not less than $50.00 nor more than $500.00, and may also be imprisoned in the county jail or sentenced to hard labor for the county for not more than six months."Mississippi Code, Crimes § 97-37-1: Deadly weapons; carrying while concealed; use or attempt to use; penalties: "(1) Except as otherwise provided in Section 45-9-101, any person who carries, concealed in whole or in part, any bowie knife, dirk knife, butcher knife, switchblade knife ... shall upon conviction be punished" by a fine and/or imprisonment.New Mexico, Criminal Offenses – 30-1-12 (B), Definitions ... "deadly weapon" means any ... weapon which is capable of producing death or great bodily harm, including but not restricted to any types of daggers, ... bowie knives..."Wong, David, Knife Laws of the Fifty States: A Guide for the Law-Abiding Traveler, AuthorHouse, , (2006)Virginia Code § 18.2-308(A): The Virginia statute prohibited only the concealed carrying of a Bowie knife upon one's person, while Texas prohibited the carrying of such a knife whether concealed or not. Most of these laws were characterized at the time as 'anti-dueling' laws. However, in this context, the term dueling had degenerated from its original 18th century definition (a rarely used social custom among the wealthy classes) into a generalized description for any knife or gun fight between two contestants.Cassidy, p. 10: In some states the popularity of certain knives such as the Bowie and Arkansas Toothpick was such that schools were established to teach their use in knife fighting, further popularizing such knives and compelling authorities to pass legislation severely restricting such schools. In some states, many of these laws are still in force today, whereas in others, these laws were repealed or amended.Texas Penal Code sec. 46.01(6) and sec. 46.02.
In 2017, the old Texas law prohibiting the carrying of a Bowie knife in public was finally updated to allow such carry in most circumstances, with exceptions for knives of a certain blade length which cannot be carried in schools, polling places, places of worship, amusement parks, courthouses, racetracks, correctional facilities, hospitals and nursing facilities, sporting events, and certain establishments selling alcohol. The Texas Legislature designated the Bowie knife as the official state knife of Texas in 2021. (2025). 9781625110664, Texas State Historical Association. ISBN 9781625110664
It is argued that "Bowie Knife" and "Arkansas Toothpick" are too subjective to form the basis of sound legislation. "In the intervening 170 or so years since the Natchez Sandbar duel, the label 'Bowie Knife' has been applied to a wide variety of styles. No agreement exists among historians as to exactly what constitutes a Bowie Knife. Given this uncertainty and a lack of agreement among people who have exhaustively studied and researched the topic, AKTI suggests that 'Bowie Knife,' and for that matter 'Arkansas Toothpick,' are terms which are simply too generalized and vague, and about which there would be too much potential for inconsistent application as to be enforceable..."
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