"The Sandbar Fight of 19 September 1827 made James 'Jim' Bowie famous, as well as the Bowie knife - less than 10 years before the Alamo (where he fell alongside the heroes William Barret Travis and David Crockett) - but it was essentially just a brawl on a sandbar between people who could not let go of grudges and felt the need to act upon them."
"It should have been a simple affair. One duelist would kill or wound the other, or both would miss and retire with their honor intact. In any event, the gathering should not have ended with two dead, two wounded, and two seriously injured - none of them the duelists - but that is exactly what happened."
The Sandbar Fight occurred on 19 September 1827 on a Mississippi River sandbar between Natchez, Mississippi and Vidalia, Louisiana to avoid Rapides Parish anti-dueling laws. Samuel L. Wells III and Dr. Thomas H. Maddox stood as duelists with seconds, surgeons, and three supporters per side, totaling twelve men. Both duelists fired twice and missed, then shook hands and began toward a grove to share wine. The supporters and non-participants then engaged in a violent brawl that killed two men, wounded two, and seriously injured two others, none of whom were the duelists. James Bowie was present as a non-participant and gained lasting fame.
Read at World History Encyclopedia
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