Caiaphas Ham Bowie knife reproduction

I just completed this knife for a customer and it's ready for knifemaker Luke Swenson to make a sheath for it. This is a reproduction of the Caiaphas Ham knife that hangs on the wall of the Long Barracks at the Alamo, just a couple of miles or so from my shop. Ham was a friend of the Bowie brothers, and was given this knife by the knife nut of the family, Jim's brother Rezin. No one knows for certain what the knife used by Jim Bowie in the Sandbar Fight looked like, but the description given (guardless butcher knife made from an old file, overall length no more than 12 inches) seems to match fairly dead-on with the Ham Bowie, leading me to speculate that there is a slim chance that the Ham Bowie and the Sandbar Fight Bowie may well be one and the same. I don't know if anyone else holds this theory, though.

The customer wanted the knife not only for its historical interest, but because he recognized the value of its shape in processing out game.







There is a good picture of the original on page 79 of the June 2011 issue of Blade magazine, showing both a profile view and a good view of the spine, showing how it is pinched in and how the tang tapers. I had it open while working on the knife in order to get as close to the original's shape as I could. I also had a picture that the customer sent me and some basic dimensions graciously provided by one of the Alamo's upper curators.

This reproduction is forged from 5160 spring steel, filed by hand, differentially hardened in vegetable oil, and given multiple tempering cycles. The handle slabs are mesquite, with brass pins offset like the original. This was actually the first slab handle I have done! The blade shaves hair quite nicely.

Although I tried to get as close to the original as I reasonably could, I'm sure Luke will be making a much better sheath than the original.

Nice job, it looks very authentic.

Looks just like the pictures I've seen.

Kinda takes the romance out of the mythology surrounding the Sand Bar Fight ... but truth is always better than fiction! That's a great looking knife!

Thanks, guys!

Chapnelson - I had someone on another forum give me a description by Rezin Bowie of the Sandbar Fight knife that is a bit different, showing a blade an inch longer and a half inch narrower. In truth, we'll never know for certain what *THE* Bowie knife looked like. It was legend immediately after it happened.

I lived in Tombstone for a time, where there are a few different versions of the OK Corral story in debate. And what exactly Wyatt Earp was toting. There are those that think they know ... and those that know :biggrin: I was born two hundred years too late - I think I would've liked the age of legends. These days you'd have 13 phone videos posted on FB, Twitter and YouTube within a nanosecond, and 100,000 comments before the fight was over. And we'd still debate over exactly what the knife looked like!

I have to say, there's something a little more scary about a butcher's tool than a gentleman's accessory.

Here's the sheath that Luke Swenson made for it. Gorgeous work on his part, as is typical.







With the customer's permission, I am quoting his comments to me about the knife:

"I was absolutely stunned when Luke finally let me have the knife at Ron's house. He tried to get me to beg for it, but I didn't mention the knife until he said he had better let me see it. He also told me that if I wanted a knife with a full sized handle that he could make one. He made a very nice sheath and steel pouch for it also. It is a beautiful package.
I love the knife and showed it to everyone who would stand still at EOTW. You have certainly outdone my expectations.
One day a storm rolled in with rain and lightening and I noticed a hole in the debris hut I was staying in at EOTW. Out came the knife and I cut some hay and patched the roof. Also I was prep cook for Dave Dennis and did a lot of slicing and dicing. It functioned exceptionally."

That's exactly what one likes to hear from a customer! Thanks, Dave, and enjoy!

P.S. - The "full sized handle" crack from Luke is because the handle of the original is very short, only 4" long, and I made this one 4 3/4", still shorter than I typically do, but in pretty close proportion to the original.

Well, I know David Bowie and he said he was never in a fight at any bar called the "Sandbar!"....sorry, just joking. I love your work!

Nice Job, just the sight of a knife like that could end a fight.