Yes, the same Bowie who is credited with the invention of the Bowie knife and Alamo heroics in fighting for Texas' independence from Mexico alongside Davy Crockett and William Travis.
Portrait of Jim Bowie (c.1796-1836), by George Peter Alexander Healy, from the Texas Historical Association. The Alamo hero was a major player in the 1827 Sandbar Fight on the Mississippi River between Vidalia and Natchez, Mississippi.
If Wells' name sounds familiar, it was his family who bred the racehorse Lecomte in Smith's Landing, which would be renamed the champion equine in 1854. Â
More men in the fight
"But there were more men in that fight," Whipp said. "Who were they, and what is the real story of how the fight started?"
Central Louisian historian Michael Wynne has spent the last two years searching for this answer. His interest was piqued several years ago after purchasing a pamphlet about the brawl in a Natchez antiques store.
Though the official ¶¶Òõh State Historic marker commemorating the Sandbar Fight is missing stolen, this duplicate marker made of wood hangs outside a Vidalia restaurant.
"I'd read reviews on the back of the pamphlet that said it was the best account of the fight ever written, but it left so much unanswered," the Alexandria resident said.
So, he started his own search, first finding the names of all the men in that Sept. 19, 1827, fight, then hunting down their personal stories from that day.
Stories matched up
Wynne discovered that their stories actually matched up. In fact, he gathered so much information that he was able to piece together the entire story into a book, "'What's Murder Among Friends... ': The True Story of the Great Sand Bar Duel of 1827, And Jim Bowie too!"
The City of Vidalia's marker commemorating the Sandbar Fight is located on Front Street near the U.S. Post Office.
What started it all? Politics. It's as simple as that.Â
"Politics hasn't changed," Wynne said, laughing. "Neither has people's reactions to it."
Seventeen men brawled that day.
"Problems were solved back then by duel, not by arguments, lawsuits or mediation," Wynne said. "The first place named for the duel was Burr's Ferry on the Sabine River in what was long known as the neutral strip. It was changed to the sandbar because of fear of roaming bandits on the Sabine River."
The Sabine River as it appeared before the Toledo Bend Dam was constructed. The Sandbar Fight originally was to be fought in what was known as the 'Neutral Strip' at the river, which was land not regulated by either ¶¶Òõh or Texas.
Dueling was outlawed in both ¶¶Òõh and Mississippi, but the sandbar supposedly belonged to neither state, with its location in the river.
"The river has shifted since then, and the location of the sandbar is no longer there," Wynne said.
What caused the ruckus?
Now comes the big question: What caused the ruckus?
"Newcomers to Central Louisiana in the 1820s vigorously attacked the power base of the old established planters," Wynne said. "Politics, banking, money, land and honor were all hotly contested. These two factions, newcomers versus long-established families, each sided with the prominent political parties of the day."
Thomas Maddox, a medical doctor from Rapides Parish, initially engaged in a pistol duel Samuel Wells III on the sandbar between Vidalia and Natchez, Mississippi. After both missed, the conflict was thought to be over until Jim Bowie and several others began brawling. Â
The newcomers sided with the Jacksonian Democrats led by presidential candidate Gen. Andrew Jackson, hero of the Battle of New Orleans. The old liners were on the side of Whig Party, whose presidential candidate was John Quincy Adams.
"The two factions had grown so bitter toward each other that they would not even frequent the same Alexandria beer taverns," Wynne said. "To make matters worse, the presidential election of 1824 remained in doubt for some time. Congress had to finally resolve the issue."
Adams was ultimately sworn into office. Jackson eventually would beat Adams in 1828, but tempers remained hot until that time.
Michael D. Wynne found this newspaper illustration that demonstrates how the duelers were to stand apart and aim their pistols on the sandbar. Initial duelers Samuel Wells and Thomas Maddox both shot and missed before the brawl ensued.
Add to that local politics, a late Whig Party sheriff was replaced through the sketchy political appointment of Democrat Norris Wright. Wright was also the director of the bank in Alexandria and used this power to refuse loan applications submitted by opposing political party members, including Bowie, who was a friend of the previous sheriff.
It's complicated
"The sandbar free-for-all was not just two political factions squaring off against each other," Wynne said. "The causes of the sandbar duel and the subsequent bloody fight were complicated and highly emotional in nature. Each person that traveled to Natchez from Alexandria had a personal ax to grind or grudge to settle with at least one member of the opposition group."
On the list of brawlers with Bowie were Samuel Levi Wells III, who would be elected Rapides Parish sheriff in 1840, then to the ¶¶Òõh House of Representatives; Concordia Parish District Judge George McWhorter, later ¶¶Òõh State Treasurer and Baton Rouge newspaper publisher; medical doctors Richard Cuny, Thomas Maddox, James Denny, William Cox and William Provan; ¶¶Òõh Militia Adjutant Gen. Samuel Cuny; plantation owner and horse breeder Thomas Wells, who bred Lecomte; plantation owners Robert Crain, William Barnard and Carey Blanchard; Alfred Blanchard, who assisted in running Cary Blanchard's plantation; Mississippi State Rep. John Nevitt; Sheriff Norris Wright; and failed grocery store owner David Wood.
Michael Wynne found this newspaper illustration in his research showing the aftermath of the duel which turned into a brawl on a sandbar between Vidalia and Natchez, Mississippi. The incident became known as the Sandbar Fight and involved 15 prominent men, Alamo hero Jim Bowie among them.
Maddox and Samuel Wells were the initial duelists, each firing four bullets and missing. Just when it seemed differences were settled, Bowie, Cuny and Thomas Wells jumped into the fray to settle their own disagreements. Then the free-for-all began.
Bowie sustains injuries
"Bowie was stabbed and shot a total of five times," Wynne said. "He wasn't expected to survive, but he recuperated in Natchez. Wright and Cuny died from their wounds."
Even though dueling was against the law, no one was prosecuted for these deaths.Â
"The sandbar duel is considered the second most noteworthy duel in the nation," Wynne said. "The best known was Aaron Burr's 1804 duel with Alexander Hamilton, who died."
Unlike Hamilton, there are no musicals dedicated to the sandbar fight.
"But it would make a great movie," Wynne said.
Email Robin Miller at romiller@theadvocate.com.
