The fiercest Indians of the whole hemisphere roamed the Texas plains in 1830. Comanches, Wacos, Caddos and the cannibalistic Karankahaus—the very names struck terror to men's hearts. One strong man rode among them on a mission aimed at healing the growing quarrel between Mexico and the United States.

James Bowie was that fearless man—a hero who looked like a hero. Six foot two, waves of reddish hair, a broad grin and steel blue eyes, Jim caught men's eyes wherever he strode. As a boy in the Louisiana swamp country, he explored the bayous practicing his skill at lariat throwing. Jim was so expert with the rope he could loop even a turtle, and one of his greatest adventures was roping and riding a ferocious bull alligator. In that snake-infested country he learned to throw a knife with deadly accuracy. While still young, he invented the famous Bowie knife, the blade that later was to save his life in many a tight squeeze.

With the help of Jean Lafitte, the dread New Orleans privateer, Jim made a fortune before he was thirty. New adventures in half-wild young Texas called him, and he settled in San Antonio de Bexar after his marriage to the daughter of the Mexican Vice-governor. Bowie alone was in a position to know the American and Mexican sides in the coming argument over Texas and he made wise use of his knowledge.

The lost silver mines of San Saba appealed to Jim Bowie's imagination. He befriended Zolic, chief of the Lipan Indians, discovered the cache and out-maneuvered a war party of Caddos in the fiercest single Indian battle of the entire West.

In 1835, his old friend Sam Houston brought news that a showdown with Mexican General Santa Anna was inevitable. Jim Bowie decided to fortify the chapel known as the Alamo. The battle was world famous. Davy Crockett, William Travis, James Bowie and all but one man died during the bloody siege defending their nation.

James Bowie and his famous knife carved an empire in the exciting West. This is the adventure-filled story of those heroic days.

From the book