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SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, Forever associated with Jim Bowie and the heroic |
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Battle of the Alamo, the Bowie knife has long been a vivid and |
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colorful symbol of the history and heritage of Texas; and |
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WHEREAS, It is thought that the first Bowie knife was made by |
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Rezin Bowie, Jim's brother, during the 1820s, when the two siblings |
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were in business together in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana; after Jim |
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was involved in a gunfight, Rezin gave him the large hunting knife |
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for personal protection, and in September 1827, in the chaotic |
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aftermath of a duel near Natchez, Mississippi, Jim used it to stab |
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an assailant who was trying to kill him; the story of the "Sandbar |
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Fight" ensured Jim's reputation as a deadly knife fighter, and all |
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across the South, men began to ask blacksmiths to make them a knife |
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like Jim Bowie's; and |
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WHEREAS, The weapon's fame grew when Jim Bowie took it with |
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him to Texas, and he and other defenders of the Alamo are thought to |
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have used the knives during the battle; the Bowie knife later became |
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popular with the Texas Rangers who served under the legendary Jack |
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Hays and Ben McCulloch, as well as with Confederate soldiers, who |
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were known to engrave "Sunny South" and other mottoes on the blades |
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of their knives; and |
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WHEREAS, During an era when guns often misfired, the Bowie |
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knife was a valuable back-up weapon, and schools were set up to |
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teach the technique of using the blade in a fight; knife makers |
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throughout the country met the increasing demand by creating |
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versions of the blade, and a journalist in Louisiana wrote that "all |
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the steel in the country, it seemed, was immediately converted into |
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Bowie knives"; they became internationally famous as well, and |
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cutlers in the English steel town of Sheffield began crafting |
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models that featured elaborately etched titles and slogans, such as |
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"Arkansas Toothpick," "Rio Grande Camp Knife," and "Americans Never |
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Surrender"; and |
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WHEREAS, The blade became less widely used as firearms became |
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more reliable, but it has continued to be popular with hunters and |
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collectors; designs have varied over the years, but today, the |
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Bowie knife typically features a steel blade that is at least an |
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inch and a half wide and eight inches long and between 3/16 and 1/4 |
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inch thick, with a clip point that gives the weapon its distinctive |
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shape; the knife's handle often incorporates an S-shaped guard, |
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with the upper part angled forward so as to catch an opponent's |
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blade during a fight; and |
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WHEREAS, In 1958, one scholar wrote that "in the history of |
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American arms, three weapons stand out above all the rest: the |
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Kentucky rifle, the Colt's revolver, and the Bowie knife"; since |
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the days of the Alamo, the knife has served as an evocative reminder |
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of Texas' storied past, and it is inextricably linked with the |
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fierce and independent spirit of the Lone Star State; now, |
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therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 87th Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby designate the Bowie knife as the official state knife of |
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Texas. |