Jim Bowie, co-commander of the ill-fated band of Texans at the Alamo, died during the siege of the Alamo on March 6, 1836. He was 40.

Bowie was born in either 1795 or 1796 in Elliot Springs, Tennessee. His family were pioneers who continued to move westward with each generation. They would build houses, sell them for a profit, and then move farther west to do the same thing again.

Bowie was an adventurous spirit. He even wrestled alligators as a boy and young man, sometimes tying on a rope and riding the gator.

One of Bowie’s claims to fame concerns the legendary knife he carried. Called the Bowie knife, it was a large weapon, about 12 inches long and two inches at its widest. Legend says that Bowie’s older brother, John, made the knife, but other accounts say Bowie had it crafted by a blacksmith in 1830.

Regardless, Bowie used the knife in several fights. He is said to have had his knife with him when he died at the Alamo.

Bowie was restless. He moved to New Orleans as a young man. He was a lumber salesman and farmer, establishing a land office in New Orleans before moving to Texas.

The move to Texas was on the heels on the revolution for independence from Mexico. Bowie saw a chance to make a lot of money in Texas in land speculation. He married a local Spanish girl, and after a while had a huge estate and cotton mill.

After his wife and family died during a cholera epidemic, Bowie got involved in the revolution full-time. He was made a colonel in the Texas army, and in early 1836 was made commander of a band of volunteer Texans at the Alamo, a Spanish mission outside San Antonio.

Eventually he shared the command with U.S. Army Colonel William Travis. The two never got along, but they were committed to preserving the Alamo and Texas from Mexican control.

During the siege of the Alamo from late February to early March of 1836, Bowie was a sick man. Suffering from respiratory problems, Bowie was confined to his cot most of the time.

The story goes that armed with his Bowie knife and a pistol, he knifed and shot nine Mexican soldiers before they finally killed him on the final day of the battle.

Bowie and over 180 Texans and other volunteers, including Tennessee legend Davy Crockett, died on March 6, 1836.