Bowie knife - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Bowie knife is a large hunting knife. It is named after Colonel Jim Bowie. The knife was probably designed by his brother, Rezin P. Bowie.^[1] Rezin (pronounced "reason") gave his younger brother (Jim) the knife so he would always have a backup weapon.^[2] It became history after the "sandbar fight" on the banks of the Mississippi River in September 1827.^[2] This started as a duel but quickly became a fight between the two seconds, Judge Crane and Jim Bowie.^[3] Crane pulled out a pistol and shot at Bowie twice.^[3] One bullet hit Bowie in the leg the other killed an onlooker. Friends on both sides began shooting and slashing with knives. Bowie was wounded several times but managed to kill one assailant and wound another with what witnesses called a "big butcher knife".^[3] This made both Bowie, the knife-fighter, and his knife famous. More than a dozen knifemakers of the time claim to have made the first Bowie knife.^[4] But no one knows who made the first one or exactly what it looked like.^[4]

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