Who Invented The Bowie Knife?
By J. Marvin Hunter
The name "Bowie knife" naturally
suggests that that famous weapon
was first invented by James Bowie,
one of the heroes who fell in the
Alamo in 1836. But did he invent
this knife? There are many conflicting
reports to the contrary. The article
addresses those conflicting reports
and seeks to answer the dilemma.
See also the follow-up article to
this one in the December, 1941 Frontier
Times for more information.
Mentions: Rezin Bowie * John
Bowie * Natchez * Edward S. Ellis
* Davy Crockett * the plains of
the Opelousas * Capt. Charles Mulholland
* Bayou Boeuf * Dan W. Jones * James
Black * Maj. Norris Wright * John
Sowell *
Some American Early Clocks
By Geo. B. Davis
Mentions: Thomas Nash * Ebenezer
Parmelee * Guilford, Connecticut
* Thomas Iiarland * Eli Terry *
Mr. Harland * Silas Burnap * Mr.
Penrose R. Hooper * Gideon Roberts
* Silas Hoadley *
The Story Of Major Carter Braxton
Account of one of the many ex-Confederates
who in disgust, left the United
States and went to Mexico after
the close of the War Between the
States, hoping to enter the service
of the Emperor Maximilian. Not finding
anything to do in Mexico he drifted
into Central America and on into
South America. For many years he
wandered around in various countries
and never missed a chance to take
part in any war he happened to meet
on the way. Then having grown old
and becoming weary of wars he headed
north and reached the Rio Grande
River, but did not cross it. He
decided to spend the rest of his
life in Mexico, and there he lived
and died. Here is his story. Further
Mentions: Judge Richard F. Burges
of El Paso, Texas * C. P. Bearden
of Rising Star, Texas * John W.
Hunter *
Lieutenant Sam Houston Becomes
A Hero
By Col. M. L. Crimmins
This account is the story of
Sam Houston's start to fame. He
had been a rather wild boy often
preferring the association of the
Cherokee Indians near Marysville,
Tennessee, to his studies in school.
When the war of 1812 was under way
a recruiting party passed through
Marysville. The drums rolled, the
colors paraded, the Sergeant gave
his usual talk and Sam Houston stepped
up and took a silver dollar from
the drum head; that tokened his
entry into the army. He was under
age so he had to get the consent
of his mother, who said "My son,
take this musket and never disgrace
it; for remember, I had rather all
my sons should fill one honorable
grave than that one of then should
turn his back to save his life.
Go and remember, too, that while
the door of my cabin is open to
brave men, it is eternally shut
against cowards." Here is the story.
Mentions: Charles Edward Lester
* Amelia W. Williams and Eugene
C. Barker * called To-ho-pe-ka,
or the Horse-Shoe * Tallapoosa *
General Coffee * Richard Brown *
Colonel Williams, and General Doherty
* Major Montgomery * Fort Jackson,
or the Hickory Ground * Col. Cheatham
* Gen. Dougherty *
Don Walker, A Centenarian
By Bertha Constance Porter
Account of old Don Walker, ex-slave
in Bastrop county who lived to be
more than one hundred years old.
Known and respected throughout Bastrop
county for honesty, fair dealing
and true courtesy, he was expected
to attend all white folks' get-to-gethers
for old settlers. No good citizen
within a radius of twenty-five miles
of the community where he lived—eight
miles from the small town of Paige—would
have thought himself properly buried
without the presence of Don Walker
on the fringe of the congregation.
Mentions: Don Walker came to
Texas alter the Civil War, from
Halifax, North Carolina, where he
was born on August 1, 1841. * Mr.
Mack Smith * Doctor Bryson * Vannie
Jamison * Parson Talley at Churchill
Springs *
"How did you feel when the slaves
were freed, Don?"
"No'm, Chile, I ain't feel no
way. I stayed wid my Marster. Yas'm
I did. My two brothers stayed in
No'th Ca'-lina, but I followed my
Marster, Mr. Harson Walker, to Texas.
I said I was goin' to follow him
long as I lived, and Missy, I followed
him to the cemeter-r-y right dar
in Bastrop."
"Yas'm, I seen de time befo'
de wah, come January 1, when men
like dem two (they were boys eleven
and seventeen years old) would brang
a thousand and fifteen hundred dollars.
No'm, my Marster ain't nevah' sold
none. 'What I think about freein'
de slaves? Yas'm, dey was lots of
dem dat need to be free; lots of
dem dat did. Dem dat behaved needed
a slack rope, but dem dat didn't
behave needed de rope wo' out on
tun. Yas'm, sho' did. T'want all
had in de slave time. Some of dese
niggabs now need slavery days."
"And then abruptly: "We shore
need rain in dis country. De hongry
animals need de grass and de water,
but I don't predicks no weather.
I take what de good Lord sends and
gives thanks for it, for it say
in de hook, 'He doeth all things
well."
Seventeen Years In The Royal
Navy
These Memoirs of Commander George
Keith Gordon were written by him,
and were furnished to Frontier Times
by his widow, Mrs. Louisa Gordon.
Just before he was fourteen years
of age he joined the British Navy,
and upon passing the entrance examination
was appointed to His Majesty's Ship
Britannia at Dartmouth, and after
a year's stay there became a midshipman.
He tells of his experiences on the
sea for the next sixteen years in
a most interesting manner in the
following narrative. In 1881 he
retired from the British Navy and
came to the United States, and established
the OWL ranch in Kimble county,
Texas. (Continued from Last Month)
Mentions: Port Royal * Pitch
Lake * Rodney * Mt. Pelee * Martinique
* H. M. S. Diamond Rock * Lieut.
James Wilkie Maurice * H. M. S.
Centaur * the Island of St. Kitts
* La Guayra * Capt. .T. E. Commerell
* Bantry Bay in Ireland * George
Peabody * Captain Burgoyne * Captain
Cooper C. Coles * Cape Finisterre
* Cape Finisterre * Cape Finisterre
* Lord Mayo, Viceroy of India *
Shere Ali * Rear Admiral Cockburn
* H.M.S. Daphne *
Frank Jackson Became A Good Citizen
By Bob Beverly.
Account seeks to answer the question
that was by the article in the September,
1941 Frontier Times as to what actually
did become of Frank Jackson, longest
surviving member of the Sam Bass
gang, which had operated in Texas
in the late 1870's. It is true that
Jackson lived quietly in Arizona
under an assumed name? This first-hand
account by a man who was thirty
years an officer and investigator
in Texas and New Mexico seeks to
shed light on the life of this notable
outlaw.
Mentions: Denton county, Texas
* Jack Martin * Pony Martin * Bill
Martin * Cleburne, Texas * Oscar
Thompson * Brady creek * Midland,
Texas * Huntsville * Lovington,
New Mexico * Round Rock * Sebe Barnes
* A. W. Grimes * District Attorney
D. B. Wood * Judge Harry A. Dolan
* Mr. S. S. Munger * Hon. C. H.
Gee, *
The Penitentes Of New Mexico
By Purple Sage
Mysterious and bloody rituals
of a paganized Catholic sect in
New Mexico of the 1890’s. Because
the death and blood-shedding of
Christ is seen as insufficient,
these bloody superstitionists were
drawn into a dark bondage of self-flagellations,
torture and even crucifixion. This
account describes the bloody secrets
of this dark cult.
Mentions: Hermit Peak, ("Old
Baldy") * El Porvenir * Sangre de
Christo Mountains * the fanatical
brother-hood of Los Hernanos Penitentes
*
The Fate Of J. L. Shepherd
By Houston Wade
J. L. Shepherd was a private
of Company B., serving in the Mier
Expedition under Captain William
Mosby Eastland. Thomas Jefferson
Green, in his work on this subject,
states that Mr. Shepherd was a native
of Alabama. He is shown to have
been a resident of Bastrop in 1842,
when he joined the army. He is one
of those unfortunate 17 soldiers
who drew a black bean and thus sealed
his fate in death at the hands of
the brutal Mexicans. Yet, his remains
were not with the rest of the bones
of these heroes when they were removed
to Texas. What happened to J. L
Shepherd in Mexico? Was he ever,
in fact, brought before the firing
squad as were the other who likewise
drew the dreaded black bean? The
object of this article is to throw
light on these questions.
Mentions: Lieutenant William
A. Clopton of Company B * George
Washington Trahern * J. Frank Dobie
* Captain Ewen Cameron's Company
A * Saltillo *
In The Land Of Poco Tiempo
By J. Marvin Hunter
Mentions: President Camacho *
Cardenas * President Porfiro Dias
* Cortez * Zocolo, Chapultepec Castle,
the Alameda * the idol temple of
Montezuna * Juan Diego * Tepeyacac
* Pedro Alvarado * William H. Prescott
* Paseo de la Reforma *
Bowie's Battle On The Frio River
By A. J. Sowell
Account deals with what is known
today as the old Spanish Silver
Mine located at Silver Mine Pass,
on Highway 83, about 20 miles north
of Uvalde. Mentions: the divide
between Dry and Main Frio * Robert
Armstrong
