High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! James "Jim" Bowie (pronounced /ˈbuːiː/ boo-ee) (April 10, 1796 - March 6, 1836), a 19th-century American pioneer, slave trader, land speculator, and soldier, played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution, culminating in his death at the Battle of the Alamo. Stories of him as a fighter and frontiersman, both real and fictitious, have made him a legendary figure in Texas history and a folk hero of American culture.