I’m working with a young man named Devin Costlow who aspires
to become an Alamo historian and writer (see February 1, 2012, blog post). Devin located an excellent article about the development
and disposition of several weapons that claim to be a “Bowie Knife”.
According to this article some historians claim that Jim
Bowie and his older brother, Rezin P., sponsored the production of many knives
by as many as eight cutlers and blacksmiths.
Others claim there was only one, the “big butcher knife” that Jim
received from Rezin P. and used in the famous “sandbar fight”.
Several of the documented knives exist today in museum
collections, including at least three at the Alamo. All are single edged, and range in length
from six to ten and one quarter inches.
Some have the famous clip point and some do not.
Two owners claim that their knife was taken from the Alamo
after the 1836 battle, one by a Mexican soldier, the other by a woman who
claimed that she nursed Jim Bowie.
If “The Bowie Knife” exists, the former of these two is
probably it. Now called the “Bart Moore
knife” it was made by Arkansas blacksmith, James Black, and is on display in
the Alamo Gift Museum. This knife is
eight and one quarter inches long and has a clip point. The article reports that the blade has
"J. Bowie" scratched on one side and the initials J.B. on the other.