| |
| |
|
|
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
|
|
|
WHEREAS, Forever associated with Jim Bowie and the heroic |
|
|
Battle of the Alamo, the Bowie knife has long been a vivid and |
|
|
colorful symbol of the history and heritage of Texas; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, It is thought that the first Bowie knife was made by |
|
|
Rezin Bowie, Jim's brother, during the 1820s, when the two siblings |
|
|
were in business together in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana; after Jim |
|
|
was involved in a gunfight, Rezin gave him the large hunting knife |
|
|
for personal protection, and in September 1827, in the chaotic |
|
|
aftermath of a duel near Natchez, Louisiana, Jim used it to stab an |
|
|
assailant who was trying to kill him; the story of the "Sandbar |
|
|
Fight" ensured Jim's reputation as a deadly knife fighter, and all |
|
|
across the South, men began to ask blacksmiths to make them a knife |
|
|
like Jim Bowie's; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The weapon's fame grew when Jim Bowie took it with |
|
|
him to Texas, and he and other defenders of the Alamo are thought to |
|
|
have used the knives during the battle; the Bowie knife later became |
|
|
popular with the Texas Rangers who served under the legendary Jack |
|
|
Hays and Ben McCulloch, as well as with Confederate soldiers, who |
|
|
were known to engrave "Sunny South" and other mottoes on the blades |
|
|
of their knives; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, During an era when guns often misfired, the Bowie |
|
|
knife was a valuable back-up weapon, and schools were set up to |
|
|
teach the technique of using the blade in a fight; knife makers |
|
|
throughout the country met the increasing demand by creating |
|
|
versions of the blade, and a journalist in Louisiana wrote that "all |
|
|
the steel in the country, it seemed, was immediately converted into |
|
|
Bowie knives"; they became internationally famous as well, and |
|
|
cutlers in the English steel town of Sheffield began crafting |
|
|
models that featured elaborately etched titles and slogans, such as |
|
|
"Arkansas Toothpick," "Rio Grande Camp Knife," and "Americans Never |
|
|
Surrender"; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The blade became less widely used as firearms became |
|
|
more reliable, but it has continued to be popular with hunters and |
|
|
collectors; designs have varied over the years, but today, the |
|
|
Bowie knife typically features a steel blade that is at least an |
|
|
inch and a half wide and eight inches long and between 3/16 and 1/4 |
|
|
inch thick, with a clip point that gives the weapon its distinctive |
|
|
shape; the knife's handle often incorporates an S-shaped guard, |
|
|
with the upper part angled forward so as to catch an opponent's |
|
|
blade during a fight; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, In 1958, one scholar wrote that "in the history of |
|
|
American arms, three weapons stand out above all the rest: the |
|
|
Kentucky rifle, the Colt's revolver, and the Bowie knife"; since |
|
|
the days of the Alamo, the knife has served as an evocative reminder |
|
|
of Texas' storied past, and it is forever linked with the fierce and |
|
|
independent spirit of the Lone Star State; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas |
|
|
hereby designate the Bowie knife as the official State Knife of |
|
|
Texas. |