There is no genuine first Bowie

[Darto]

But many knife historians consider that one of the Bowie types made by the J. English and Huber company of Philadelphia is the most likely to be where James Bowie took the knife he had used in the famous Sandbar fight and asked the knifesmiths there to spruce it up. Because his knife was now famous and everyone wanted to see what he was carrying. According to the sources Bowie did that somewhere and it is known Bowie was in Philadelphia with his brother Rezin between 1831 and 1836 (the years that English and Huber was in existence). English and Huber also called their establishment Sheffield Works

Old reports from the middle 1800's say that the knifesmiths told Bowie they could make one to his order or they could fancy up the one he already had (which is what he had asked for). The story goes that Bowie loved the one they made from scratch and thereafter carried it more often than any other. And that he paid $50 for it which was way more than they asked out of gratitude for it's appearance.

At 18:22 in this video (in the museum at Washington, Arkansas) a copy of one of the famous English and Huber knives is shown. He (Michael Payne) says that the this brand and type of Bowie was selected to be the symbol of the Antique Bowie Association. In Flayderman's Bowie knife book (the book now sells used for over $200) he agrees that this knife is widely considered by Bowie fans to be the most attractive. And Flayderman tells the story above of Bowie going to English and Huber Philadelphia and says there is no definite proof the story is true.



references:

https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/82/122/english-huber-philadelphia-clip-point-bowie-knife

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjfgvmWv8mDAxX2M0QIHS1bDOQQFnoECBIQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Famericansocietyofarmscollectors.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F06%2F1997-B76-The-Sheffield-Works.pdf&usg=AOvVaw1cOOtZM_0H3BtfSYqArL3H&opi=89978449

[Darto]

Crazy Crow calls their copies of the English and Huber "New Orleans Bowies". That's a general name for "coffin handle" Bowies. But their New Orleans is definitely a copy of the English and Huber, right down to their trademark "fox head" frog stud on the scabbard.
They're on a little sale right now, when the price dropped recently for the sale, I ordered one yesterday.
Original knives from E and H (1831-1836) had ebony or ivory handles, as shown in Flayderman's book. CrazyCrow uses ebony or bone because ivory is illegal.
The two german silver ends on each end the scabbard look exactly shaped like the originals shown in Flayderman's book.

https://www.crazycrow.com/bowie-knives

[Jeepergeo]

Check out tge Bowie style knives by Moore Maker. They look to be quality Bowies at a reasonable price.

[TrappedinCalifornia]

Bowie Knife

In 1838 Rezin P. Bowie, brother of Alamo hero James Bowie claimed that he made the first Bowie knife while the Bowies lived in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana. He designed it as a hunting knife and gave it to James for protection after his brother had been shot in a fight. Herzehian Dunham, Notary Public in Avoyelles Parish certified that blacksmith Jesse Clifft, who lived on Bayou Boeuf and was a close friend and neighbor of the Bowies in the 1820s, forged the knife according to Rezin Bowie's design. The original Bowie knife was like a butcher knife in profile, with a thin blade but no silver mounts...

Early Bowie knives do not fit the popular image of the weapon. One thinks of a blade with a concave arch (clip point) cut into the end of the blade, and a cross-guard to protect the hand. Early examples, however, had a thick, heavy butcher-knife-like blade, with a straight back (top) and no clip point or hand guard. The blade varied in length from 8? to 12? inches and was sharpened on the true edge. Wooden handles were attached with silver pins and washers. The Searles knives of the 1830s were one-piece ebony, checkered, and decorated with small silver nails. Blacksmiths fashioned most of the subsequent Bowie knives and added rudimentary crossguards to keep the hand from sliding onto the blade. Eventually, they lengthened the guards as protection from an opponent's blade, but the owner often found the extended guards clumsy and cut them off. The clip point, a curve on the top of the blade back of the point, became popular. The clip was often sharpened so that a backstroke would inflict a serious wound. Spear-point Bowie blades also were forged, dagger-shaped, with both edges sharpened. Blacksmith-made Bowies were generally plain and unsigned, had iron or brass mountings, and hardwood, bone, or horn handles. The knife was both a hunting knife and a tool. With it, one could clear a path, hack a sapling, dig a hole, or butcher game. In the siege of Bexar in 1835, Texans used Bowie knives to dig through roofs and walls and engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Mexicans. The knife was not designed or balanced for throwing...

Texas Primer: The Bowie Knife

...Though the facts are obscure and contradictory, the first version of the bowie apparently was designed in 1827 for Jim by his brother Rezin. It was a hunting knife with a straight, single-edged blade about nine inches long and one and a half inches wide. Bowie, then around 30, made the knife famous in a brawl called the Vidalia Sandbar Duel, near Natchez, Mississippi. Acting as a second, he is said to have used the knife to disembowel an attacker armed with a sword cane.

The following year Bowie moved to Texas, where in San Felipe de Austin, a blacksmith named Noah Smithwick duplicated the knife for him?or claimed to. Word got around, and the demand for bowies became so great that Smithwick set up a factory and began selling the knives for $5 to $20 apiece. The monstrous new weapon was a perfect multipurpose tool, useful not only for fighting but also for chopping wood, dressing out game, digging postholes, and, if necessary, paddling up a creek...

THE HISTORY OF THE BOWIE KNIFE

...The origins of Bowie's own knives have been the subject of considerable debate ever since he died at The Alamo, on March 6th 1836 while General Santa Anna's Mexican Army attacked. From a knife forged for Jim?s brother Rezin Bowie by Louisiana blacksmith Jesse Clifft, through to a knife made to Jim?s instructions by Arkansas blacksmith James Black, the latter a colourful character who may also have claimed to have rediscovered the ability to make Damascus steel blades. It is highly unlikely that the truth will even be known.

There are two claims made about Wostenholm and their relationship with James Bowie. The first claim is that Bowie ordered knives for himself and his close friends directly from Wostenholm. The second, more famous claim is that, when Bowie died at The Alamo, a knife on his body was one made by Wostenholms...

The History of Bowie Knife: Here?s What You Didn't Know

...More than a dozen different people have claimed to have created the "original" Sandbar Fight Bowie knife, from Rezin Bowie, the older brother of David Bowie, to an unknown knifemaker in New Orleans. Three blacksmiths, Love or Lovell Snowden, Jesse Clifft, and James Black, are among the other possible candidates...

It's not so much that there was "NO" original Bowie knife. The issue is which version is justified in being deemed 'the original' or 'the genuine first?' The problem for historians is that the Bowie knife resulted from an evolution of the design. So, again, which is justified as being "THE" original?

[Tim padilla]

I have been Collecting modern Bowie knives from makers such as Bo Randall ,Bill Bagwell,Rudy Ruana ,Jimmy Lile and others for a while. Scholars and historians have had the debate forever which is the genuine article that started it all .From everything I’ve saw in documentaries,books,news articles and Speaking to a couple passionate old timers all the knives in the history books were in some way or another a compromise until the last iteration which I think is the Moore Bowie.It showed a level of thought into it that only someone who was involved in knife fighting would make. The guard , the back cut , the slight tip near the spine the laddered teeth down the back to trap other blades etc. To me it shows the pinnacle of what a fighter would need on a blade ,if it was or wasn’t the knife he died with at the Alamo.It seems to me it was the most purpose built from most others during that time and it was linked to Jim Bowie even if some have discredited it from coming from the Mexican soldier who was at the Alamo.