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MAGNIFICENT SILVER MOUNTED BOWIE KNIFE – AN EXACTING RECREATION OF THE FAMOUS SEARLES-BOWIE-FOWLER KNIFE NOW ON DISPLAY AT THE ALAMO MUSEUM:  This is an exacting recreation of the famous Searles – Fowler knife which was made by Daniel Searles and presented by Rezin Pleasant Bowie to Captain Henry Waller Fowler, 2ND Regiment of Dragoons, US Army. 

Rendered by the well known master miniature-firearms maker, Dan Osterman of Junction City, Oregon, this faithful recreation of one of the most famous extant Bowie knives transcends the scope of a historic edged weapon and presents as a fine example of the classic knife maker’s art.    

The original “Searles-Fowler” knife – as it is known within the Bowie knife collecting community – is considered to be one of the finest examples of an early Bowie in existence and it is currently held in the collection of the Alamo Museum, San Antonio, Texas.  The silver throat of the scabbard bears the engraved inscription: "R. P. Bowie to H. W. Fowler, U. S. D." 

Born in Maryland in 1782, Daniel Searles served in the militia under Andrew Jackson at New Orleans, attaining the rank of captain.  Remaining in Louisiana after the end of hostilities, by the 1820’s he had settled his family in Baton Rouge.  In March of 1826 he purchased a lot on St. Louis Street for his home and gunsmith shop, and in 1836 having purchased two additional lots on St. Phillips Street which backed on to the first property, he built a new home and gunsmith shop.   

It is believed that the new shop was where Searles made the knives commissioned by Rezin Bowie – perhaps as many as four that are known - which were presented by Rezin to:  Louisiana Governor E. D. White (still in possession of the family), Edwin Forrest, a prominent nineteenth-century American Shakespearean actor (the veracity of this claim has been questioned), a Mr. Stafford of Alexandria, La. (still owned by his descendants), and the Henry Fowler knife.  

It has been suggested that in the absence of any knife that can be documented as having personally belonged to James Bowie, the Searles knives made for Rezin may be the most historically relevant Bowies in existence.   

While not exact replicas of the original “Sandbar Knife”, the Searles knives do conform very closely to Rezin's description when he wrote, "The length of the knife was nine and one-quarter inches, its width one and a half inches, single edge and blade not curved. . . ."

The blade on the Fowler knife is nine and one quarter inches long, and the blade on the Stafford Bowie is only slightly longer. Both knives feature single-edged straight-back blades rather than the curved clip-points that were later associated with the Bowie knife design.    

There are other distinctive similarities shared by at least two of the Searles knives made for Rezin: a silver escutcheon plate inlaid into the right side of the handle, the half-moon cut out of the lower rear of the blade immediately in front of the guard, and elegant scabbards of black leather mounted with coin silver throats and tips connected by silver ribs extending along the edges of the sheaths. 

In the age of the Bowie knife, the Searles knives were expensive status symbols which only the wealthy could afford.   The excellent condition of all the Searles knives in existence today suggests they were worn as a deadly adornment by their socially prominent owners as they strolled the town bedecked in top hats, frock coats and ruffled silk shirts, rather than subjected to utilitarian chores on the frontier.  To paraphrase Noah Smithwick (an early Texas blacksmith and friend of James Bowie) - these knives were not to be degraded by ordinary use.

While no record of the reasons for the presentations of these knives is known to survive, the quality of the gift and the social standing of the recipients indicate these were men who were either in a position to assist Rezin in some way, or they were held in high regard by Resin – or perhaps both.   

Born in 1800 in New York, Henry Waller Fowler was a professional soldier with a long and distinguished military career.   In his early twenties, he joined the marines, serving  as a lieutenant for twelve years.  In 1836, at the onset of the Seminole Wars, Fowler resigned his commission in the Marines and that very day enlisted in the US Army 2ND Regiment of Dragoons where he was appointed to the rank of Captain.  Serving in the hostile environment of the Florida swamps, Fowler became a casualty as his health deteriorated to the point that he was forced to return to his home in Louisiana and reluctantly he resigned his commission in 1841.   

Given the inscription on the Fowler knife, the presentation must have occurred during the Captain’s five years of service with the 2ND Dragoons – certainly no earlier, and no later as Rezin Bowie passed away on January 17, 1841, shortly after Fowler’s return from Florida.  

In spite of his infirmities, Fowler did not shrink from public service, being elected Sheriff of Baton Rouge Parish in March of 1841 and holding the office until February of 1845.  With the outbreak of the Mexican War in 1846, Fowler raised a company of volunteers and led them to the Rio Grande where they were incorporated into the 3RD Louisiana Volunteers and Fowler was promoted to the rank of major.  Never fully recovered from the Florida campaign, his declining health again caused him to return home to Baton Rouge for the last time where he died on June 26, 1848.   

Not all of Searles knives were made for Rezin, and at least two knives believed to have been made by Searles after Rezin’s passing incorporate the same style of ebony grip, square in the cross section with each side having the oval checkered panel highlighted with silver pins, and the half-moon cut out from the ricasso of the blade.  

In March of 1860, Daniel Searles was alone – his wife and son had passed away some seven years before – and according to some accounts, he had soured on life.  As reported in the Baton Rouge Weekly Advocate, “About four o'clock . . . Captain Searles requested to be left alone, and when by himself he washed, shaved and dressed, lay down on his bed, crossed his left hand over his breast, took a pistol in his right and placing it below the ear, pulled the trigger, and launched his sole into eternity.”  In a twist of irony, yet at the same time not particularly surprising, the pistol was one made by his own hand. 

Dan Osterman was arguably one of the very finest craftsmen of the 20th Century, well known for his exquisite miniature historic firearms as well as a very limited number of full-size historic Bowie knives.    

Born on August 27, 1950 in San Jose, California, Dan later moved to the Willamette Valley and from his shop in Junction City, Oregon, he created a series of jewel-like miniature firearms and high art knives that have been featured in the book, THE ART OF MINIATURE FIREARMS - CENTURIES OF CRAFTSMANSHIP by The Miniature Arms Society (1999).  Eleven separate pages feature Osterman's masterpieces - cased and uncased, engraved and plain, plated in gold or silver, and gripped in ivory, mother of pearl and exotic woods.   

Sometime around the year 2000, Dan began to intersperse his miniature work with perfect recreations of known historic Bowie knives and in the years 2000-2002 he rendered this recreation of the Searles-Fowler knife.   Dan also crafted a miniature of the Searles-Fowler knife which is featured on pages 294-295 in THE ART OF MINIATURE FIREARMS.   

This Osterman recreation includes all of the features that are known to have been incorporated in the Searles knives commissioned by Rezin Bowie.  The knife measures 14 ¼” in overall length, and the blade is 9 ¼” long and 1 5/8” wide at the guard.  The decorative half-moon cut out of the blade immediately forward of the guard is a distinctive feature found on two of the Searles knives commissioned by Rezin Bowie.  Adhering to the fashion of the original Searles knives, there is a gold panel inlet into the top flat of the blade bearing the maker’s cartouche, “D.E. O.” punctuated with a small cross.  There is a hint of case color remaining from the hardening process on the top flat of the blade between the gold cartouche panel and the guard, a special feature I find attractive as evidence of amount of labor the maker committed to this knife.  The balance of the blade has a bright polish with no sharpening marks or other faults.   

All of the fittings on the knife are made of coin silver, including the guard, grip ferrule and cap, and the decorations on the grip.  As with all of the known Searles knives of that early period, the grip is made of ebony, approximately square in the cross section with rounded corners.  An elongated silver oval is let into each of the side panels.  Each of the four sides of the grip are embellished with an oval of high relief hand cut checkering which is highlighted with the placement of a fine silver pin in the center of each of the raised diamonds.   

The scabbard features a coin silver throat and tip connected by silver ribs on both of the edges, framing a panel of finely grained, gently aged black leather on each side of the scabbard.  The silver work is superbly executed with no visible seams or joints to detract from the appearance.  The throat incorporates a hanging ring and belt hanger stud – both features found on the original Searles-Fowler scabbard.  The finish of the silver mountings on the scabbard is excellent and without any flaws. 

Included with the knife is an adjustable display stand consisting of two nicely grained walnut supports and two polished brass rods, which when assembled allow the supports to be positioned so as to present the knife and scabbard individually.    

Years ago, I was fortunate to meet Dan, visit his shop – a wonderful, “old world” setting that was as interesting as the pieces he made – and view some of the miniature arms that were in various stages of completion at the time.  Subsequently, Dan and I happened into one another at a Houston Gun Collector’s show which was hosting the Miniature Arms Society meeting in conjunction with the show.  During that weekend as we visited back and forth, I had the opportunity to see firsthand the level of respect and admiration collectors had for Dan’s work, and the value they willingly afforded his miniature arms.  The limited number of full size Bowie knives Dan produced is a relatively small part of his legacy, but they are well recognized and highly prized by collectors today.  Dan suffered an unforeseen medical event in 2005 and his untimely passing resulted in not only the loss of a master craftsman, but a true gentle man without whom the world is a poorer place.   

This recreation of the Searles-Fowler knife is a masterpiece – a one of a kind piece of high art which will never be duplicated.  It combines the evocative historical association of the original knife, with the opportunity to own such an impressive Bowie - a singular offering that will not be seen again.  SOLD

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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