Thursday, April 21, 2022

Wooden Slave Doll on Display at Natchez Museum

 What a precious gift to the museum!


Such a precious gift to the museum!

News clips taken from Concordia Sentinel (page 9A of the Wednesday, April 20, 2022 issue) and The Woodville Republican (page 5 of the Thursday, April 21, 2022 issue).

#VisitNatchez #BlackHistory



Monday, April 11, 2022

Good Grit Magazine: Night of Pain, Days of Honor

The Story of the Rhythm Night Club Memorial Museum

I'm happy to share my article about the Rhythm Night Club Memorial Museum. It will appear in the May 2022 issue of Good Grit Magazine (www.goodgritmag.com). It is titled, “Night of Pain, Days of Honor: The Story of the Rhythm Night Club Memorial Museum.”

This is the tragic story of the Rhythm Night Club fire that killed more than 200 people, including Walter Barnes and his band members, on April 23, 1940, in Natchez, Miss. This article shows what Monroe and Betty Sago are doing to tell the story of the fire and to keep the legacy of the victims – and survivors –alive.

NOTE: If you have any problems viewing or downloading the article, please send me your email address and I will rush you a pdf copy of the article.

#VisitNatchez #RhythmNightClubFire

See article (or download pdf) here or follow this link:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359821965_Night_of_Pain_Days_of_Honor_The_Story_of_the_Rhythm_Night_Club_Memorial_Museum


2022 Natchez Powwow, Natchez, Miss.

 #NatchezPowwow


On Saturday, March 26, 2022, I had the pleasure of attending the 2022 Natchez Powwow on the Bluff in Natchez, Miss., and I loved it! I’m pictured here with Native American family from Oklahoma and with Chief Rainwater of Wilkinson County. #NatchezPowwow #VisitNatchez


Friday, April 1, 2022

The Legend of James Bowie and His Famous Fight near Natchez

By Roscoe Barnes III

#JimBowie
#VisitNatchez

"Bowie's Sandbar Fight" on display at the Natchez Convention Center
Photo by Sarah Sookraj

Natchez, Miss. -- You’ve heard of the Bowie Knife. But did you know that the man for whom it is named, James Bowie, nearly died in a bloody brawl on a sandbar near Natchez, Miss.?

On September 19, 1827, Bowie and a few other men, about 15, had gathered for a duel between Samuel Wells and Dr. Thomas Maddox. Bowie reportedly was a supporter of Maddox.
 
Wells and Maddox saw the duel as a formal, gentlemen’s fight that included the use of pistols. The men fired two shots, but they missed each other. Since neither was injured, they shook hands as friends with the intention of moving on and putting their dispute behind them.
 
However, a fight broke out among the group of men who came to the event, and it resulted in Bowie being savagely assaulted by a man known as Maj. Norris Wright. Wright was a supporter of Wells.
 
The men had brought swords, guns, and other weapons, but “James Bowie didn’t have anything but his hunting knife,” according to Jimmy Riley, manager of Giles Island Hunting Club in Ferriday, La. The hunting club is located near the site of the battle.
 
“Bowie was shot three times and run through with a sword,” Riley said. “He cut some people up, and despite his injuries, he kept fighting.”
 
Wikipedia gives this colorful description: 

Bowie was shot in the hip, and, after regaining his feet, he drew a knife, described as a butcher knife, and charged his attacker. The man hit Bowie over the head with his empty pistol, breaking the pistol and knocking Bowie to the ground. Wright shot at and missed the prone Bowie, who returned fire and possibly hit Wright. Wright drew his sword cane and impaled Bowie. When Wright attempted to retrieve his blade by placing his foot on Bowie's chest and tugging, Bowie pulled him down and disemboweled Wright with his large knife. Wright died instantly. Bowie, with Wright's sword still protruding from his chest, was shot again and stabbed by another member of the group. The doctors who had been present for the duel removed the bullets and patched Bowie's other wounds.

Bowie survived the fight, and he went on to fight in other battles. But it was on this day on the sandbar that the legend was born. By the end of the fight, four men were dead and four were wounded.

Bowie, who was born around 1796 in Kentucky and raised in Louisiana, died in 1836 in the Battle of the Alamo.

Photo by Sarah Sookraj

The news of the sandbar fight made national headlines. Bowie and his knife became famous. Bowie’s brother, Rezin P. Bowie, is credited as the one who made the knife that Jim used to kill Wright.

Today, a life-size sculpture of his fight with Norris Wright is on display at the Natchez Convention Center. It commemorates “the fight that fueled the colorful legend of the Bowie knife,” reported the Clarion Ledger. The sculpture was created by award-winning artist and sculptor Roy W. Butler and was purchased from the Historic Arkansas Museum.

The actual site of the duel occurred on the southeast corner of Giles Island in Ferriday, according to Riley. That section is under water now. In 1827, the island was called Clermont Plantation. At one time the area was also known as Cowpen Point.

Giles Hunting Club hosts groups for corporate events, family reunions and other group gatherings for overnight stay. Riley enjoys telling the story. In fact, the club is described as the place “Where Legends are Born.”

For more information, call Jimmy Riley at (601) 431-2004 or visit https://www.gilesisland.com.

Historian Jeff Mansell of Natchez National Historical Park has featured Jim Bowie in two of the Natchez History Minute videos:

* “Sep 19 The Famous Sandbar Fight,” narrated by Adams County Sheriff Travis Patton, can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moBYVhj1Vzg

* “Mar 6 Jim Bowie Dies at the Alamo,” narrated by John Ashton Hicks, can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_rWkgvxa3A


Photo from Natchez History Minute video on YouTube