On February 8 Colonel David Crockett of Tennessee arrived with another dozen men. Galveston was primarily a smuggling base for Lafitte, but it became a gathering place for supporters of the Mexican Revolutionaries, many of them Americans. Bowie migrated with his parents to Missouri (1800) and then to Louisiana (1802). Bowie raced to join them. Bowie grabbed his assailant and used his knife to effectively gut him as he tried to pull the sword cane free. [109] After first ordering that Bowie be buried, as he was too brave a man to be burned like a dog,[110] Santa Anna later had Bowie's body placed with those of the other Texians on the funeral pyre. The stalemate ended shortly after Bowie led a charge to seize one of the Mexican cannons, at that time only 80yards (73m) away. Bowie also lied about his age, claiming to be 30 rather than 35. Travis was disgusted, but twodays later the men agreed to a joint command: Bowie would command the volunteers, and Travis would command the regular army and the volunteer cavalry. The site was a presidio and mission established by the Spanish and destroyed by hostile Indians in 1758. A former American slave named Ben, who worked as a cook for Santa Anna, supported Dickinsons claim. With each retelling the size of the fight and Bowies heroics grew. He died at the Battle of the Alamo. The rush to the territory which followed the War of 1812 led to falsified claims, predated before the purchase. This is how the situation stood on February 23, 1836, when General Antonio Lpez de Santa Annas army arrived in San Antonio. [35] According to legend, the mine had been operated by local Native Americans before being seized by the Spanish. On February 20, Bowie swore an oath of allegiance to Mexico and proceeded to San Antonio de Bexar. Bowie then turned his attentions to his partners daughter, Ursula de Veramendi. Bowie was unaware of their deaths in October, and was so ill himself that he dictated his will that month, leaving his estate to his brother Rezin and his sister. Online, Los Almagres Mine: A Fortune in Silver or Just Another Tall Texas Tale? John Spiars, Under the Lone Star. There was some tension between the two leaders, however, whenfamous frontiersman Davy Crockett arrived, he defused the tension. When the raiding party finally retreated, Bowie reportedly had lost only one man, while more than 40Indians had been killed and 30 were wounded. He was raised in a slave-holding family which moved to Missouri in 1800, thence to Spanish Louisiana two years later. [12][20] In June 1819, he joined the Long Expedition, an effort to liberate Texas from Spanish rule. General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna opposed the Centralist regime in power in Mexico City, announcing his position in early 1832. He stopped at Nacogdoches, at Jared E. Groce's farm on the Brazos River, and in San Felipe, where he presented a letter of introduction from Thomas F. McKinney, one of the Old Three Hundred colonists, to Stephen F. Austin. The Battle of Concepcion was a skirmish near San Antonio in 1835. With their profits, James and Rezin bought a plantation in Arkansas.[20]. Wee Willie Harris - Photo: Derek Berwin/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images. Maria Ursula Veramendi Bowie Daughter of Juan de Veramendi and Josefa Candida Gertrudis Navarro de Veramendi Wife of Col. James Jim Bowie (commander of Alamo Volunteers) Married April 25, 1831, in San Fernando de Bexar, Tx. James Bowie speculated in both. The citizens of San Antonio believed the members of the Bowie expedition must have perished, and Ursula Bowie began wearing widow's weeds. Like much of the history of James Bowie, the story was altered over the years, and the facts of its invention are lost. [29], Scholars disagree as to whether the knife Bowie used in this fight was the same design as the blade, now known as a Bowie knife, fabricated by a knifemaker in Arkansas who created another renowned large blade known as the Arkansas toothpick. His appointment ended in May 1835 when President Antonio Lpez de Santa Anna abolished the Texas government. James was born in Logan County,Kentucky, on April 10, 1796, to Rezin Bowie, Sr., and Elve Catesby Jones Bowie. He was then to withdraw. Texas rushed to create an Army to repel Santa Annas invasion in 1836. [50] Bowie was baptized into the Roman Catholic faith in San Antonio on April 28, 1828, sponsored by the alcalde (chief administrator) of the town, Juan Martn de Veramendi, and his wife, Josefa Navarro. [122], Rock star David Bowie, who was born David Robert Jones, adopted the folk legend's surname. The mill did not function well, destroying too much of the cane in the process of grinding it, and it was soon abandoned. The doctors who had been present for the duel removed the bullets and patched Bowie's other wounds. Before the death of Ursula and their children, Bowie was known for being meticulous in appearance and dress while in the towns where he conducted his business. Many early Americans were drawn to the western frontier of the new republic among them the Bowies. Alamo.com. After Bowie's death in 1836, Black did a brisk business selling his knives to pioneers bound for Texas. Stephen F. Austin neither liked nor trusted Bowie, and was irritated with his land speculation tactics. "[89], On February 3, Davy Crockett appeared with thirtyTennesseans. Among the men he approached to join the expedition were Jean Lafitte and his slave-trading partner, James Bowie. Iman looked as youthful as ever on Saturday night as she attended the Gucci launch event in New York City.. To acquire land, Bowie approached more than a dozen Mexicans, urging them to apply for land grants. The Long Expedition managed to seize some territory in Texas including Nacogdoches before Spanish troops from Mexico drove them out. Unfortunately, his wife and both children died of cholera. Thus, Bowie had allied himself to one of the most powerful families in Texas and with the Tejano community. In the meantime, the Bowie brothers sold the Arcadia sugar plantation, other landholdings, and 82 slaves for $90,000 in March 1831. [29] On August 2, 1832, he joined a group of other Texans and marched into Nacogdoches to "present their demands" to Piedras. Athena Hessong, Texas Hill Country. Wikimedia. subsequently entered into the Alamo under the protection of their brother-in-law, Jim Bowie. [115], Despite his continual claims of wealth, Bowie's estate was found to be very small. Later, Bowie came up with a scheme for acquiring free land. Library of Congress. November 1, 2017, Jim Bowie. "[77], An hour after the battle ended, Austin arrived with the rest of the Texian army to begin a siege of San Antonio de Bxar, where General Martn Perfecto de Cs, the overall commander of Mexican forces in Texas, and his troops were garrisoned. James Bowies wife, Maria, began wearing widows weeds. JAMES BOWIE OBITUARY. Andrew Jackson called for volunteers to defend Louisiana from the British. Many residents of San Antonio joined the rebels, bringing valuable intelligence with them. Bowies award of Mexican citizenship was contingent upon him building textile mills to process wool and cotton in Texas, and the partners established a mill in Saltillo. The silver was to be used to purchase supplies. Bowie and 18companions ambushed the fleeing army and, after Piedras fled, marched the soldiers back to Nacogdoches. He was well traveled, convivial, loved music, and was generous. The Battle of Concepcin and the Capture of San Antonio. He was among the Americans who died at the Battle of the Alamo. He left Saltillo with about 15 of these grants. Within two years, they had established there the first steam mill in Louisiana for grinding sugar cane. In 1832, Bowie was elected a commander of a citizen militia, with the rank of colonel, to keep the peace and protect the colonists from attacks by hostile Indians. By then, the United States had outlawed the importation of slaves from Africa. On February 13, 1836, James Bowie and William Travis agreed to a joint command, with the regulars at the post under control of Travis. His rise to fame began in 1827 on reports of the Sandbar Fight near present-day Vidalia, Louisiana. Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated November 2022. Bowie, on business in Natchez, did not hear of his family's deaths until November. A portrait believed to be of Ursula de Veramendi Bowie. James Bowie Texas Fighting Man: A Biography. On October 28, the Battle of Concepcin, which occurred on the grounds of Mission Concepcin, two miles south of San Antonio, was fought. [20] Louisiana's population was growing rapidly, and the brothers hoped to take advantage of its rising land prices through speculation. 9, 2021, thoughtco.com/biography-of-jim-bowie-2136241. [55], Bowie renounced his American citizenship and became a Mexican citizen on September 30, 1830, after promising to establish textile mills in the state of Coahuila y Tejas. [45], After the Sandbar Fight and subsequent battles in which Bowie used his knife in self-defense, the Bowie knife became very popular. When the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory in 1803, it promised to honor all former land grant claims made to French and Spanish colonists. [62], Maria Ursula, her parents, and both children died in September 1833 during a cholera epidemic that swept through the South and along major waterways. So did Bowies benefactor, Juan Martin de Veramendi, and his wife. His appointment ended in May 1835, when President Antonio Lpez de Santa Anna abolished the Coahuila y Tejas government and ordered the arrest of all Texans (including Bowie) doing business in Monclova. In 1826 Bowie, as a result of an ongoing feud with the local sheriff, began carrying a knife which had a blade over nine inches in length, and an inch and a half wide at the base. His estate at his death was less than $100. [112] Other witnesses maintained that they saw several Mexican soldiers enter Bowie's room, bayonet him, and carry him, alive, from the room. For his land speculation and other business activities, Bowie partnered with Juan Martin de Veramendi. On November 19 they camped about six miles east of the San Saba River, where war parties attacked them. In late October 1835, an army of men led by Stephen F. Austin and James Fannin, which included Bowie, marched on San Antonio, where Bowies contacts among the population proved extremely helpful. Colonel Neill and myself have come to the solemn resolution that we will rather die in these ditches than give up this post to the enemy, Bowie informed the provisional government. On March 6th, the Mexican army stormed the fortress, and during the battle, 189 Texans, including Travis, Bowie, and Davy Crockett, were killed, but not without a valiant fight. Bowie became very ill sometime in late February 1836. The knife carried by James Bowie probably more closely resembled a butchers knife than this modern Bowie knife. The Statue of James Bowie in Texarkana, Texas, erected in 1936. Contrary to popular belief, he did not invent the knife which bears his name. Witness accounts agreed that Bowie did not attack first, and the other combatants had focused their attack on Bowie because "they considered him the most dangerous man among their opposition. General Sam Houston ordered Bowie to abandon the Alamo and destroy the fortifications. [30][31] When the disgruntled purchasers considered suing the Bowies, they discovered that the documents in the case had been removed from the court. The United States purchased Louisiana in 1803, promising to honor all land claims in place at the time. Crocketts death is more mysterious. Teich told board colleagues that Austin and Bowie, key figures in the founding of Anglo Texas, each promoted slavery. His death on March 6, 1836, however, ensured his place in history as one of Texas' most interesting figures. The ashes were interred at the Cathedral of San Fernando. The couple would have two children. [29], The Texas Revolution began on October2, 1835, with the Battle of Gonzales. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Much of Bowies business in Natchez was in the illegal slave trade. "Biography of James 'Jim' Bowie." Afterward,Bowie settled in Rapides Parish, where he supported himself by sawing planks and lumber and floating them down the bayou for sale. The article focused primarily on the exploits of Jim Bowie. [89] Travis became the sole commander of the forces when Bowie was confined to bed. Library of Congress. During the war, Pierre was arrested, tried, convicted, and jailed in New Orleans for various illegal activities. According to one biographer, he also learned to speak Cherokee, or at least some fashion of the language. They erected a steam-powered mill on the plantation to grind sugar cane, the first such structure in Louisiana. Genealogy for Maria Ursala Bowie (de Veramendi) (1811 - 1833) family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. In 1830, Mexico passed a law which effectively ended legal American immigration. Tragically, his young wife and her parents died in Monclova in 1833 when a cholera epidemic swept across northern Mexico. According to the reporter's version of Rose's account, when Travis realized that the Mexican army would likely prevail, he drew a line in the sand and asked those willing to die for the cause to cross the line. [48], In 1828, after recovering from the wounds he received in the Sandbar Fight, Bowie decided to move to Coahuila y Texas, at that time a state in the Mexican federation. He also learned to rope alligators which teemed along the bayous and waterways in Louisiana. [26][27] Using this scheme, the brothers collected $65,000 to use for their land speculation. Wikimedia. The Bowie Knife, as it came to be called, gained its reputation the following year in the hands of James near Natchez in an incident known as the Sand Bar Fight. Some claim that Bowie designed it, while others attribute the design to noted knife makers of the time. Bowie, who was there at the time, fled to the American settlements to the north. Bowie refused, and the Texas troops in San Antonio withdrew into the Alamo mission. Surveys of many tracts were inaccurate. Bowie left the army and therefore missed the Battle of Bxar (December 510, 1835) in which the Texans defeated General Martn Perfecto de Cos and forced the Mexican garrison to withdraw below the Rio Grande. [109], When Bowie's mother was informed of his death, she calmly stated, "I'll wager no wounds were found in his back. James' parents had lived in Tennessee before moving to Kentucky, where James was born 1796. Bowie made three trips to Lafitte's compound on Galveston Island. Cos and his men were allowed to leave Texas, the General having given his parole that none of them would fight against Texan factions who supported the Constitution of 1824. Indians in Texas were often at war with both Mexican and American settlers. His wife and kids died from cholera in 1833. advertisement In the early 1830s Texans belived the views of Santa Anna were aligned with theirs. [68] Before the group reached the building housing the town officials, they were attacked by a force of 100Mexican cavalry. These spoons are believed to have belonged to Bowie and his wife Maria. The Mexicans encouraged American settlement in part to help quell the raids of the Indians in the vast territory. Biography of James 'Jim' Bowie. [93][94] Bowie hurried to gather provisions and herd cattle into the Alamo compound. General Sam Houston ordered him to demolish the Alamo, a fortress-like old mission in San Antonio, and a retreat from the city. So did his fearsomeness as a knife-fighter. Neill officially ceded his command to Travis on February 11, but most of the men distrusted him. He marched his army along a road known as the Camino Real, which approached San Antonio from the west. His wife and two young children died in an 1832 cholera epidemic. Edward Burleson was elected by the troops outside San Antonio to command them. At the outbreak of the Texas Revolution, Bowie joined the Texas militia, leading forces at the Battle of Concepcin and the Grass Fight. Bowie and Lafitte worked out a profitable scam regarding the importation of slaves at New Orleans. According to his older brother, John, James Bowie was born in Logan County, Kentucky, on March 10, 1796 (Historical marker: 36 46' 25"N 86 42' 10"W).