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[[File:portraitbowie.jpg|thumbnail|left|300px|Portrait of Jim Bowie, circa 1820.]]
Directly or indirectly, Jim Bowie’s enigmatic illness during the siege of the Alamo resulted from his own actions. A hearty man of six feet in height, Bowie was a walking contradiction; a slave trader who fought for freedom, a generous and congenial man who called out his thunderous temper on a whim, 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. Many suppositions have been made as to the cause of his infirm, including typhoid fever, pulmonary consumption, and traumatic injury. Other possibilities will be proposed in this text and will all lead to the conclusion that by indirect association or direct action, Jim Bowie contributed to his own demise.
== Exposure to Yellow Fever ==
== Bowie and Booze ==
Jim Bowie had a penchant for alcohol to the extent of what we now call, "alcohol abuse." Anson Jones, a physician who would later become the fourth and final President of the Republic of Texas, had the experience of meeting Bowie and Sam Houston while the two were in consultation at San Felipe. Jones found Houston to be the rowdy leader while he found Bowie “dead drunk”.<ref>Anson Jones, ''Memorandum and Official Correspondence Relating to the Republic of Texas, Its History and Annexation'' (New York: 1859), 12-13.</ref> The reasons for Bowie’s alcohol abuses have yet to be determined. He undoubtedly suffered from physical pain resulting from him skirmishes and battles that included gunshot wounds. Depression is another possible explanation for his over-indulgences due to the loss of his wife and child to cholera in 1833. Regardless of why he drank, he continued to do so at an accelerated rate.
[[File:William_b_travis.JPG|thumbnail|300px|left|Colonel William Travis. Painting by Henry McArdle.]]
Neither Colonel William Travis nor confinement at the Alamo complex quelled Bowie’s drinking. Travis, commanding the regular army, was soon pitted against Bowie in a dispute as to which man would lead the forces in Bejar. The volunteer army, untrusting of Travis’ official authority, instinctively followed Bowie’s directives. Trying to placate all those concerned, Travis ordered an election to choose either Travis or Bowie to lead the troops. The result put Bowie in command of the volunteers and Travis maintained control of the formal troops. In a letter from Travis to Texas governor Henry Smith, he complained that “since his election” Bowie has been “roaring drunk all the time”.<ref>Travis to Henry Smith, Bejar, February 13, 1836, in ''Official Correspondence of the Texan Revolution, 1835-1836'', ed. William C. Binkley (New York: D. Appleton-Century, 1936), 1:419-420. Travis continues in the letter with descriptions of Bowie acting in a disorderly fashion, destroying property, and releasing incarcerated prisoners.</ref>Travis was a traditional army officer with formal training while Bowie continued his irregular behaviors. Colonel Travis came to the conclusion that his larger-than-life counterpart was not to be restrained and thus, resolved to let Bowie continue but shunned responsibility "for the drunken irregularities of any man”.<ref>Travis to Smith, 420.</ref>
Acting irrationally from the time of the informal election until the siege began, Bowie remained in a drunken or confused state. Rowdiness ensued when he began releasing Mexican prisoners and stopping “carts laden with the good of private families”.<ref>J.J. Baugh to Henry Smith, Bejar, February 13, 1836, in ''Official Correspondence of the Texan Revolution 1835-1836'', ed. William C. Binkley (New York: D. Appleton-Century, 1936), 1:421-422. J.J. Baugh was Adjunct to the Post of Bejar.</ref> To harass ordinary citizens was uncharacteristic of Bowie. These actions strongly suggest that Bowie was not only drunk but was acting irrationally and out of character. Although he remained literate, his decision making abilities were compromised and Bowie had been described as confused or disoriented, which are symptoms that present in end-stage yellow fever.<ref>CDC, ''Yellow Fever.''</ref>Conversely, Bowie remained physically active and there are no records of him showing overt signs of physical illness at this time. By most accounts, Bowie arrived inside the Alamo compound without illness. Signs and symptoms; however, may not present until the disease is well advanced.
== Conditions In and Around the Alamo ==
== Accounts of Death ==
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. Yoakum deduces 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>
== The Most Probable Cause ==
[[File:Bourbon-bottle_from_Gettysburg.jpeg|left|thumbnail|200px|19th century bourbon bottle.]]
Jim Bowie, due to his excessive drinking and fearless 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 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.
== Conclusion ==
Death was inevitable for Bowie, whether at the hands of the Mexican army or his own. The abuses he inflicted on his body produce a shortened life-span, even in today’s technologically advance 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 doubt.
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