James Bowie

James Bowie was a 19th-century American pioneer, slave trader and soldier. He played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution, culminating in his death at the Battle of the Alamo. Stories of him as a fighter and frontiersman, both real and fictitious, have made him a legendary figure in Texas history.

About James Bowie in brief

James Bowie was a 19th-century American pioneer, slave trader and soldier. He played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution, culminating in his death at the Battle of the Alamo. Stories of him as a fighter and frontiersman, both real and fictitious, have made him a legendary figure in Texas history and a folk hero of American culture. Bowie was born in Kentucky. He spent most of his life in Louisiana, where he was raised and where he later worked as a land speculator. After moving to Texas in 1830, Bowie became a Mexican citizen and married Ursula Veramendi, the daughter of the Mexican vice governor of the province. His fame in Texas grew following his failed expedition to find the lost San Saba mine, during which his small party repelled an attack by a large Native American raiding party. He died with the other Alamo defenders on March 6, 1836. Despite conflicting accounts of the manner of his death, the \”most popular, and probably the most accurate\” accounts maintain that he died in his bed while defending himself against Mexican soldiers. He was the ninth of ten children born to Reason and Elve Ap-Catesby Jones Bowie. His father was of Scottish descent and his mother was of Welsh ancestry. The Bowies first settled in Georgia and then moved to Kentucky. They sold that property in 1800 and relocated to what is now Missouri, before moving to Spanish Louisiana in 1802, where they settled on Bushley Bayou in what soon became Rapides Parish. The family moved again in 1809, settling on Bayou Teche in Louisiana before finding a permanent home in Opelousas in 1812.

All the children learned to read and write in English, but James and his elder brother Rezin could also read, write, and speak Spanish and French fluently. James Bowie became proficient with pistol, rifle, and knife, and had a reputation for fearlessness. In 1818, he entered into a partnership with pirate Jean Lafitte to buy large tracts of land in Lafourche Parish. Without the capital required to buy the land, he gave it to his brothers to take advantage of its rising land prices. In June 1819, he joined the Long Expedition, an effort to liberate Texas from Spanish rule. The group captured Spanish troops and, after capturing Spanish Nacogdoches, declared Texas an independent republic. Shortly before he died, he returned to Louisiana before the invasion was repelled by Spanish troops before the senior Bowie died circa 1820, he died. For the next seven years, both James and Rezin worked together to develop several large estates in Laforche Parish and Opelosas. The brothers hoped to take the advantage of Louisiana’s growing land prices through speculation. The next year, they sold the estates and entered a partnership to buy ten slaves as well as horses and cattle to both James, Rezin, andJean Lafitte in 1820. The two brothers worked together for seven years to develop the estates. In late 1814, they enlisted in the Louisiana militia in response to Andrew Jackson’s plea for volunteers to fight the British.

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