Rezin Bowie

Rezin Pleasant Bowie
Born	8 September 1793 Sumner County, Southwest Territory, USA
Died	17 January 1841 New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Nationality	American
Occupation	Adventurer (treasure hunter, smuggler, slave trader, land speculator), soldier, inventor, cattleman, sugar planter, legislator

Rezin Pleasant Bowie (September 8, 1793 – January 17, 1841) was a planter, inventor, and mercenary. He also served three terms in the Louisiana House of Representatives. Bowie's surname was pronounced to rhyme with the French "Louis" (/ˈbuːiː/ boo-ee). (Although some works refer to the alternate pronunciation /ˈboʊ.i/ bo-ee. (v. James "Jim" Bowie)

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.

Rezin Bowie was born September 8, 1793, near what is now Gallatin, Tennessee, in Sumner County, Southwest Territory. one of ten children born to Rezin Bowie and Elve Ap-Catesby Jones. Bowie was one of twins, with brother Rhesa. His father had been injured while fighting in the American Revolution, and, in 1782, married the young woman who had nursed him back to health. Elve was probably related to Thomas ap Catesby Jones (1790-1858), who was the naval commander at the 1814 Battle of Lake Borgne in Louisiana.

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