The bowie knife's origins date back to the early 1800s, smack dab in the middle of Texas with Colonel James "Jim" Bowie, the designer of the well known blade style.
After a renowned winning fight with the notorious Norris Wright, every townsman wanted a blade just like Bowie's. Bowie took his design to local smith James Black, who designed the blade with the standard false edge on the top, after popular European trends of the day.
So with all that said, looks as if the styling and functionality of the original Bowie blade made its way onto this particular Wrangler knife.
It should prove useful in many different activities for you, as well as being a great showpiece with a fascinating history behind it.
The handle is crafted from attractive, sturdy maple wood. Comes with a hand-embroidered leather sheath, each one uniquely handmade in North America.
October 24th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Let’s get it straight shall we, The first Bowie knife was designed by Rezin Bowie for his Brother James, after a serious duel with Major Norris Write, resulting in Jim Bowie being injured in 1827 The Sand bar fight. The first so called Bowie Knife was smithed from an old file by Jesse Cleft. At the request of Rezin Bowie
for his Broter. This knife was not used in the 1827 Sandbar duel knife was made after Jim Bowies injury in the 1827 Duel. mnay refinements were made by Jim and his brother Rezin over many years.
January 8th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
LOL! Well…ya both got parts right and parts wrong. Yes Jim’s brother did help design “the knife” but there were over 27 different designs drawn up before JB took the idea of the big knife to Black, down in Arkansas.Know is the really GREAT part about the knife.
Black was not only a blacksmith but also a dentist, doctor of sorts, scientist and …he fooled around in alchemy, the blending of metals, of course always in the pursuit of making gold.
One late evening about a fortnight before he met Col. Bowie a meteor had landed in the woods out behind his shop. Black saw it and retrieved it. It of course was still hot so he just put it in an old metal box and threw it in the back of the shop. To make a long story short, Black wound up using the meteor to make JB’s origonal Bowie knife. He said he did it because, “That was the damn strongest metal he had ever seen!” Thats right …….
the original Bowie knife was made of “Star Stuff” and some say even a little magic ….in many of the diaries of the Federalies surrounding the Alamo they say that Bowie, Travis, Crockett and a few others were marched down into Mexico to be executed, which was the custom of the day.In 1913 the daughter of Sgt. Dickerson said on her deathbed that she and her motther only saw Crockett’s well known coonskin hat on the ground …..they never did identify his body.
There are old Mexican ledgens that say Bowie escaped into the Michmacan hills, wheather it is true or not is unknown but ……
to this day there are a group of Indians called “White-Mexicans” that still live in those mountains. They tell of an old white man who came and lived with and helped their tribe over a hundred years ago. He had many children and always carried an enormous knife.