Rezin Bowie

Rezin Pleasant Bowie
Born(1793-09-09)September 9, 1793
Sumner County, Southwest Territory, US
DiedJanuary 17, 1841(1841-01-17) (aged 47)
New Orleans, Louisiana, US
Occupation(s)Adventurer (treasure hunter, smuggler, slave trader, land speculator), soldier, inventor, cattleman, sugar planter, legislator

Rezin Pleasant Bowie (/ˈbuːi/ BOO-ee[1][2][3])[a] (September 8, 1793 – January 17, 1841) was a planter, inventor, and mercenary. He also served three terms in the Louisiana House of Representatives.[4]

With his brother James "Jim" Bowie, Rezin Bowie smuggled slaves and worked as a land speculator. The brothers set up the first steam-powered sugar mill in Louisiana. Bowie took credit for inventing the Bowie knife, which came to prominence when used by James in the Sandbar Fight of 1827.

After James moved to Mexican Texas, Rezin accompanied him on an expedition to find the Lost San Saba Mine. They did not find the mine, but their adventures in fending off a much larger Indian raiding party became widely known.

In his later years Bowie suffered from poor eyesight. He lived with his wife and daughters on a plantation in Louisiana.

  1. ^ Evans, John (December 1989). "Bowie (Boo-wee) or Bowie (Bo-wee)? What's in a Name?". Alamo Journal. 69: 6.
  2. ^ Davis, William C. (1998). Three Roads to the Alamo: The Lives and Fortunes of David Crockett, James Bowie, and William Barret Travis. New York: HarperCollins. p. 35. ISBN 0-06-017334-3.
  3. ^ Manns, William (May–June 2004), "The Bowie Knife", American Cowboy, 11 (1): 40–43;
  4. ^ Rezin Pleasant Bowie


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