Military
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James Bowie embodied the fluid nature of the frontier, born in Kentucky and living in Missouri and Louisiana before settling in Texas, where he gained a reputation as a deadly knife duelist. After several business setbacks, he traveled to Texas in 1830 and soon forged a connection to the powerful San Antonio de Béxar merchant-politician Martín de Veramendi by marrying his daughter Ursula. That alliance ended when Martín and Ursula died of cholera in 1833. A natural leader, Bowie played an important role in the Texas Revolution. Concerned about the defense of Béxar, General Sam Houston sent Bowie and a small band of volunteers to investigate, and there Bowie and the town's commander, James C. Neill, declared that they would rather die in these ditches than give up this post to the enemy. Bowie later served with William B. Travis as co-commander of the Alamo until illness confined him to his sickbed, where he was killed on March 6, 1836.
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San Antonio, Texas · United States
