Bill Text: TX HCR86 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Designating the Bowie knife as the official state knife of Texas.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 4-2)
Status: (Vetoed) 2019-06-15 - Vetoed by the Governor [HCR86 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HCR86-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Designating the Bowie knife as the official state knife of Texas.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 4-2)
Status: (Vetoed) 2019-06-15 - Vetoed by the Governor [HCR86 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HCR86-Introduced.html
86R15033 GM-D | ||
By: Springer | H.C.R. No. 86 |
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WHEREAS, Forever associated with Jim Bowie and the heroic | ||
Battle of the Alamo, the Bowie knife has long been a vivid and | ||
colorful symbol of the history and heritage of Texas; and | ||
WHEREAS, It is thought that the first Bowie knife was made by | ||
Rezin Bowie, Jim's brother, during the 1820s, when the two siblings | ||
were in business together in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana; after Jim | ||
was involved in a gunfight, Rezin gave him the large hunting knife | ||
for personal protection, and in September 1827, in the chaotic | ||
aftermath of a duel near Natchez, Louisiana, Jim used it to stab an | ||
assailant who was trying to kill him; the story of the "Sandbar | ||
Fight" ensured Jim's reputation as a deadly knife fighter, and all | ||
across the South, men began to ask blacksmiths to make them a knife | ||
like Jim Bowie's; and | ||
WHEREAS, The weapon's fame grew when Jim Bowie took it with | ||
him to Texas, and he and other defenders of the Alamo are thought to | ||
have used the knives during the battle; the Bowie knife later became | ||
popular with the Texas Rangers who served under the legendary Jack | ||
Hays and Ben McCulloch, as well as with Confederate soldiers, who | ||
were known to engrave "Sunny South" and other mottoes on the blades | ||
of their knives; and | ||
WHEREAS, During an era when guns often misfired, the Bowie | ||
knife was a valuable back-up weapon, and schools were set up to | ||
teach the technique of using the blade in a fight; knife makers | ||
throughout the country met the increasing demand by creating | ||
versions of the blade, and a journalist in Louisiana wrote that "all | ||
the steel in the country, it seemed, was immediately converted into | ||
Bowie knives"; they became internationally famous as well, and | ||
cutlers in the English steel town of Sheffield began crafting | ||
models that featured elaborately etched titles and slogans, such as | ||
"Arkansas Toothpick," "Rio Grande Camp Knife," and "Americans Never | ||
Surrender"; and | ||
WHEREAS, The blade became less widely used as firearms became | ||
more reliable, but it has continued to be popular with hunters and | ||
collectors; designs have varied over the years, but today, the | ||
Bowie knife typically features a steel blade that is at least an | ||
inch and a half wide and eight inches long and between 3/16 and 1/4 | ||
inch thick, with a clip point that gives the weapon its distinctive | ||
shape; the knife's handle often incorporates an S-shaped guard, | ||
with the upper part angled forward so as to catch an opponent's | ||
blade during a fight; and | ||
WHEREAS, In 1958, one scholar wrote that "in the history of | ||
American arms, three weapons stand out above all the rest: the | ||
Kentucky rifle, the Colt's revolver, and the Bowie knife"; since | ||
the days of the Alamo, the knife has served as an evocative reminder | ||
of Texas' storied past, and it is inextricably linked with the | ||
fierce and independent spirit of the Lone Star State; now, | ||
therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the 86th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
hereby designate the Bowie knife as the official state knife of | ||
Texas. |