Episode V: Blood Meridian and the Bowie Knife

I tell the story of the second most famous duel in American history, the Sandbar Fight, how Jim Bowie became famous for killing a man in close combat, and how his knife became our first national totem--and the first weapon ever banned in the United States. I connect Bowie's story--and the story of the blade that bears his name--to Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian, where the Bowie knife is featured prominently.