Jim Bowie, the descendant of Highland Scots, grew up riding alligators and working the fields on the Texas frontier. Taught three languages and a sense of honor, he went on to live a life filled with brawls and battles, loves and losses. This is his story, as told by those who, whether they loved or hated him, were united by a sense of awe toward this amazing frontiersman.. "From Bowie's childhood exploits, which included hunting wild cattle with only a rope and knife, to his lustful adventures with Annie Christmas, a six-foot-tall frontier madam who loved him during his wild years as a young man, this enigmatic hero comes of age before our eyes. From the harrowing tale of why and how the Bowie knife came to be to the five-day battle Bowie and a few friends fought against several hundred mounted Apache, this story charts the making of a true American legend. Jim Bowie remained a fearless if elusive figure up until his final battle at the Alamo in 1836. Now light is finally cast on the man behind the myth, a man at once dauntless and humble.