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| "The Bear" |
The Bear Bowie was made as a prop for the feature film "Jack London's Son of the Wolf". The character who wields this 12" blade is a Native American named Makwa (translated as Bear), who in keeping with his name is large in stature. At the climax of the film, he engages in a knife fight with the main character, Jack McKenzie (aka the. Malamute Kid). Jack London's short story of the same name describes the Bear's knife as a Russian blade, so I gave the bowie a crescent shaped curve to resemble a Russian shashka saber. Below are the reference photos I used for inspiration to make my knife some historical accuracy.
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Auction house photo, described as a "Crow Indian" knife, with a tacked sheath.
https://www.sherwoodsspirit.com/weapons/ |
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| The bottom blade has a curved handle and no guard, similar to the Bear Bowie. |
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Bowie knife attributed to having belonged to Caiaphas Ham (1820). Ham was friends of the Bowies, and this is the knife on display at the Alamo Museum in Texas, which was allegedly given to Ham by Rezin Bowie (Jim Bowie's brother).
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The "Moore Bowie" is one of the knife supposedly belonging to Jim Bowie. The tale with this one was that it was taken from Bowie's body by a Mexican soldier, and later traded to the Moore family as a form a payment for rent. Note the slight notch at the bade of the false edge. I used this as the inspiration for the notch on the Bear Bowie, to be used as a blade-catcher.
