According to history, the "original" original knife was made by a smithy on a plantation in Louisiana at the request of Rezin Bowie, who gave it to Jim after a run-in Jim had with somebody. Without checking on it, memory does not tell me for sure if it was one of the opponents at the later Sandbar fight, but I think it was.

Rezin wrote that first knife resembled a large kitchen knife.

According to legend, Jim later had a smithy in Arkansas make another knife to his specification...which historians and collectors speculate as to design details.

Rezin went on to have professional cutlers make a few known knives which were improvements on the Sandbar knife, and one of these can be seen at the Alamo.

Larry