Texas A&M University has launched a crowdfunding campaign to help conserve a historic guardless coffin bowie knife known as the “Sea of Mud” knife, and build for it special casework to ensure that it can be studied and appreciated for many years to come. Their goal is to raise $5000 for the cause.
Believed by many to have been made by James Black of Washington, Arkansas in the early 1830s, this is one of approximately ten known knives of similar type. Despite being in relic condition, the knife is nonetheless useful to researchers as it allows the inner construction of these unique knives to be studied.
What makes the “Sea of Mud” knife of particular interest is that it was recovered from a campsite believed to have been used by Mexican General Urrea’s army on April 20th, 1836, on their way to gather together the Mexican army. Santa Anna’s army was defeated at San Jacinto on April 21st, effectively ending the Texas revolution. Soon thereafter, the remaining Mexican units met and began retreating to Mexico. At the time the knife was believed lost, Urrea’s army was coming from the Battle of the Alamo and the massacre at Goliad, and had not yet encountered other units — making it very likely that this knife was taken from a Texian either at the Alamo or at Goliad. Many knives have been claimed to have been Bowie’s or Crockett’s… this one certainly could have been.
The Sea of Mud knife was on display at the Alamo for about a decade during the early 2000s, and in 2013-2014 was included in the “A Sure Defense: The Bowie Knife in America” exhibit at Historic Arkansas Museum. It was the subject of a multipart article by Dr. James Batson starting in the March 2018 Blade Magazine, and is also featured in Jim’s book James Black and his Coffin Bowie Knives.
Since 2013 it has resided in the Chapman Texas & Borderlands Collection at Texas A&M’s Cushing Memorial Library & Archives. Unfortunately, the knife has continued to deteriorate and is in need of professional conservation. We support this effort to preserve this fascinating knife and are pleased that Texas A&M is being proactive in preserving it for future generations.
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