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Admin moved page The Mysterious Illness of Jim Bowie: How Did He Contribute to His Own Decline? to The Mysterious Illness of Jim Bowie: How Did He Contribute to His Own Decline
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[[File:portraitbowie.jpg|thumbnail|left|300px250px|Portrait of Jim Bowie, circa 1820.]]
Directly or indirectly, James Bowie’s (aka Jim) enigmatic illness during the siege of the Alamo resulted from his actions. A hearty man of six feet, Bowie was a walking contradiction; a slave trader who fought for freedom, a generous and congenial man who had his thunderous temper, and a commanding leader who was prone to binges of sloppy drunkenness. He was determined in his actions and proceeded through life with an indestructible will, yet found himself bed-ridden as he took his last breath.
[[File:yellowfevermound.jpg|thumbnail|350px|left|Memorial to Louisiana yellow fever victims buried in a mass grave.]]
African men and women possessed a higher immunity to mosquito-borne illnesses than whites due to exposure over time. Trafficking slaves into the United States exposed Anglo-Americans to infected mosquitoes that were transported along with slaves on filthy, wooden ships. Africans living in the West Indies proved resistant to these types of illnesses, especially yellow fever, as in evident in statistics reported from St. James, Jamaica between 1817 and 1820 showing that the largest number of Africans died of “old age”.<ref>B.W. Higman, ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AEVJQCS/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00AEVJQCS&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=c80097538a181200eaf41eaf4dde018b Slave Population and Economy in Jamaica, 1807-1834]'' (University of the Indies Press, 1995), 112.</ref>Dealing directly with pirated slaves and the surrounding unsanitary conditions put Bowie at a higher risk of coming into contact with an infected mosquito; the only way in which one can contract yellow fever.<ref>CDC, " Yellow Fever” http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/yellowfever/YF_Transmission.html (accessed May 1, 2010).</ref>Consequentially, Jim Bowie participated in and enabled the onset of one potential cause of his illness.
Until October 1833, Bowie's life continued unabated, but tragedy struck. While in Natchez he learned the news that his wife had passed away due to cholera. This occurred just days after he himself recovered from a bout with yellow fever.<ref>Davis, 361-362.</ref> According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), once having recovered from yellow fever one is usually protected against subsequent infection. This, however, is under ideal circumstances wherein the individual is in optimal physical condition. Alcohol and malnutrition impede the immunity process.<ref>Valerie Carter, RN, BSN, MSN, interview by author, Phoenix, Arizona, April 15, 2010. It has been historically documented that Bowie consumed a great deal of alcohol. Also, malnutrition must be distinguished from under-nutrition in that an individual may be consuming substantial calories that lack nutritional value.</ref> Bowie was not only complicit in transporting infected mosquitoes into North America, he also counteracted his own recovery with his lifestyle choices.
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==== Accounts of Death ==How did Bowie Die at the Alamo? ==
Andrea Castanon de Villanueva, more commonly known as Madam Candelaria, gave several different accounts as a witness to the siege at the Alamo. They all conflict as to the manner in which Bowie was killed but concur as to the symptoms of his illness. Descriptions of Bowie's condition by other witnesses concur with Candelaria's account of him having shortness of breath, a continued cough, rapid pulse and fever, and the loss of "considerable flesh."<ref>Maurice Elfer, ''Madam Candelaria: Unsung Heroine of the Alamo'' (Houston: Rein, 1933),9.</ref> It must be noted; however, that the credibility of Candelaria must be closely scrutinized as she had no medical or nursing background and often contradicted herself in interviews. In an 1890 interview she was convinced he was "very ill of typhoid fever," while in an interview from 1899, she stated that Bowie was "afflicted with consumption."<ref>Bill Groneman, ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1556228465/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1556228465&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=f25e7db795530fa1ef53bfc5b9faefc1 Eyewitness to the Alamo],'' (Plano: Taylor Trade Publishing, 1996), 107.</ref>
[[File:bowieinbed.jpg|thumbnail|200px|left|Depiction of Jim Bowie fighting at the Alamo from his death bed. Painting by Charles A. Stephens, 1898.]]
Generally, there are no respiratory symptoms associated with typhoid fever.</ref> <ref>Groneman, 122. Pulmonary consumption was a term used in the 19th century for what is currently known as tuberculosis.</ref> Henderson Yoakum, a prominent lawyer, historian, and congressional representative from Texas made a strong argument refuting Candelaria’s claim to having been Bowie’s nurse. In a letter dated January 8, 1870, to an unknown recipient, Yoakum argues that Juana Alsbury nursed Bowie at the Alamo and that Madam Candelaria was not even present at the time of the siege.<ref>Henderson Yoakum, “The McArdle Notebooks,” (Austin, Texas State Library), 29. </ref> Yoakum deduces deduced that Mrs. Alsbury would have been the choice to nurse Bowie as she was the niece of former governor Veramendi and Bowie’s sister-in-law. The note claims that Alsbury was not aware of another woman nursing Bowie.</ref>
Conflicting evidence is not new to the story of the Alamo as myths and legends have been abundant since March 6, 1836, the day Santa Anna's troops toppled the Alamo and slaughtered its defenders. One that was once believed to be fact, which has since been refuted by historians, is that Bowie fell from a parapet resulting in an injury that caused his physical decline. Medically this was possible if his injury resulted in a pulmonary embolism. Emboli are often the result of a blood clot traveling from the leg to the lungs; however, they can also develop from a fatty deposit dislodging from a broken bone. If Bowie had fallen from such a height, a fracture of one of his ribs, or any bone, was highly probable. Untreated emboli are fatal and the symptoms, which include shortness of breath, chest pain, and a bloody cough, present themselves with sudden onset.<ref>Carter, Interview.</ref> All of these elements fit the description of Bowie’s illness, yet there has not been documentation found to substantiate him having fallen. The only documented and undisputed testimony is that Bowie was bed-ridden at the time of the assault on the Alamo.
All of Bowie's so-called nurses agreed that he was bedridden at the time of the siege, yet a soldier with Santa Anna's army denied seeing Bowie or anyone else in bed when the Mexican army stormed the compound. In his diary, ''With Santa Anna in Texas,'' Jose Enrique de la Pena vividly describes the scene on the morning of March 6, 1836, as one of blood bloody confusion and unfathomable carnage. According to de la Pena, Travis did not withdraw when the Mexican troops scaled the walls of the fortress; rather he died fighting. He described the others as "terrified defenders" who " withdrew" and "bolted and reinforced the doors."<ref>Jose Enrique de la Pena, ''With Santa Anna in Mexico,'' Carmen Perry, ed. and trans. (College Station: Texas A&M Press, 1975), 50-51.</ref>
====The Most Probable Cause ==Why was Jim Bowie sick during the Seige of the Alamo? ==
[[File:Bourbon-bottle_from_Gettysburg.jpeg|left|thumbnail|200px|19th century bourbon bottle.]]
Jim Bowie, due to his excessive drinking and bold actions, essentially harmed himself to the point that death was imminent regardless of the events that transpired that March morning in San Antonio. Alcohol abuse causes many detrimental effects on the human body, not least of which is cardiomyopathy.<ref>An enlargement of the heart causing it to no longer function properly.</ref> Another serious complication that has been overlooked by historians is that of alcoholic pneumonia. This is a condition wherein an individual drinks to the point of unconsciousness and regurgitates the contents of the stomach into the lungs. Once the foreign matter is introduced, the sacs in the lungs inflame due to the excessive amount of white blood cells present trying to rid the body of the invasive substance. Resulting from this physiological phenomenon is the presence of fluid in the lungs known as pneumonia. Untreated, pneumonia can be fatal and produce such symptoms as a bloody cough, debilitating weakness, fever, chills, and shortness of breath.<ref>Carter, Interview.</ref> Given Bowie’s alcoholic tendencies and documented history as a binge drinker, this diagnosis is highly plausible if not probable.
Doctor Pollard described the medical facilities in Bejar as having no medication to treat the sick or wounded. The sanitary conditions in Bejar and inside of the Alamo compound itself have been described as deplorable. Bowie continued to drink, which compromised his immune system. Nourishment was limited to bits of corn and the few heads of cattle that were driven into the fortress. The presence of pneumonia with no available medication, a lack of nutrition, and a chronically compromised immune system is fatal and was very likely the cause of James Bowie's death.
If one wishes to remember Bowie as a tragic hero falling from a parapet and contracting tuberculosis, there is a very slight chance that this occurred. In describing consumption in 1799, Dr. Thomas Beddoes stated, “We have seen how often external injury produces the disease”.<ref>Thomas Beddoes, ''Essay on the causes, early signs, and prevention of pulmonary consumption…'' (Bristol, 1799), 62.</ref>Advancements in science, however, have given us the educational tools to further Dr. Beddoes' research and question whether he was describing pulmonary consumption or a pulmonary embolism.
Death was inevitable for Bowie, whether at the hands of the Mexican army or his own. The abuses he inflicted on his body produce would have a shortened life-span, even in today’s technologically advance advanced society. Frontier medicine of the 19th century was rudimentary and often times unattainable. Had Bowie received care in March of 1836 he would not have recovered to the extent possible due to his alcohol consumption. By participating in the illegal slave-trade of post-1808 North America, he indirectly enabled disease-ridden insects access to the continent.
Slavery was not practiced in Mexico, yet slaves were present at the Alamo compound because of men like Bowie. Stagnant water was on hand due to the well inside the fortress. The preponderance of evidence suggests yellow fever as being the nature of Jim Bowie’s illness but alcoholic pneumonia needs further investigation as Bowie was a prime candidate for such an affliction. Other possibilities exist but due to Santa Anna’s choice to cremate the dead bodies found on the morning of March 6, 1836, no definitive conclusion can be drawn. Death took Jim Bowie in the same manner in which he approached life; fearlessly and without a doubt.
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