IRONIC FACT
It is a historical, ironic fact that the knife that made Jim Bowie famous was NOT the fabled Bowie knife but a butcher's knife.
The real Jim Bowie was having trouble with someone so his brother, Rezin Bowie, gave him a butcher's knife for self defense.
A while later Jim Bowie was part of a free-for-all that took place after the famous Sandbar duel.
Despite being shot and stabbed, he killed someone and wounded someone else.
Once word spread, Bowie became a folk hero and the legend of the Bowie knife was born.