About this season
The Adventures of Jim Bowie is an American Western television series that aired on ABC from 1956 to 1958. Its setting was the 1830s-era Louisiana Territory. The series was an adaptation of the book Tempered Blade, by Monte Barrett. The series stars Scott Forbes as the real-life adventurer Jim Bowie. The series initially portrayed Jim Bowie as something of an outdoors-man, riding his horse through the wilderness near his home in Opelousas, where he would stumble across someone needing his assistance. He was aided by the Bowie Knife, his ever-present weapon. He designed it in the first episode, The Birth of the Blade.
Episodes (38)
1. The Birth of the Blade
Aired 7 September 1956 • 30 min
How Jim Bowie came to invent his famous Bowie knife
2. The Squatter
Aired 14 September 1956 • 30 min
Bowie tries to talk a neighbor out of throwing a couple of penniless German squatters off her land.
3. An Adventure with Audubon
Aired 21 September 1956 • 30 min
Bowie assists legendary painter/naturalist John James Audubon avoid French forces that are hunting for him.
4. Deputy Sheriff
8.0Aired 28 September 1956 • 30 min
Volunteering as a temporary deputy to guard a prisoner, Bowie comes to believe that the young man may be innocent.
5. Trapline
Aired 5 October 1956 • 30 min
A fur company is apparently trying to keep the Cajun fur trappers in line by killing anyone who trades with an independent dealer - like Jim Bowie.
6. Broomstick Wedding
Aired 12 October 1956 • 30 min
A trade of horses leads to an angry father mistaking Bowie for his neighbor, the potential object of a shotgun wedding.
7. Natchez Trace
Aired 19 October 1956 • 30 min
A group of travelers ask Bowie for help against a rumored highwayman on the trail to Natchez.
8. Jim Bowie Comes Home
Aired 26 October 1956 • 30 min
On returning from a trip, Bowie finds that the town near his home has been taken over by a gang of young hoodlums.
9. The Ghost of Jean Battoo
Aired 2 November 1956 • 30 min
Bowie encounters a group of farmers who are being duped into paying protection money to an old woman against the ghost of a famous Louisiana pirate.
10. The Secessionist
Aired 9 November 1956 • 30 min
Bowie finds that a friend of his has been asked by President Andrew Jackson to try to talk a group of French planters out of seceding from the Union.
11. Land Jumpers
Aired 16 November 1956 • 30 min
Just when Jim and his brother try to sell a large tract of land, a Frenchman shows up claiming to have the proper title to the property, which is verified by a local judge.
12. The Select Females
Aired 23 November 1956 • 30 min
Bowie encounters the headmistress of a school for young ladies, and she tells him that one of her students has been kidnapped.
13. Bowie and His Slave
Aired 30 November 1956 • 30 min
Bowie comes to the aid of a former slave who he had freed, but who has been captured and is being sold again at a slave auction.
14. Outlaw Kingdom
Aired 7 December 1956 • 30 min
Bowie goes after a gang of river pirates who have stolen his cargo.
15. The Swordsman
Aired 14 December 1956 • 30 min
Bowie runs into trouble when an attractive woman in New Orleans, where he has gone to purchase an estate, turns his head.
16. The Return of the Alcibiade
Aired 21 December 1956 • 30 min
Bowie goes after the thief who stole an expensive Christmas gift he bought for his mother.
17. Monsieur Francois
Aired 28 December 1956 • 30 min
Bowie comes to the aid of a French boy and his aunt, newly arrived in New Orleans, who are the victims of confidence tricksters.
18. A Horse for Old Hickory
Aired 4 January 1957 • 30 min
Bidding for a racehorse to present as a gift to President Jackson, Bowie finds that he is up against Sam Houston.
19. The Beggar of New Orleans
Aired 11 January 1957 • 30 min
Bowie tries to help a former champion fencer who has become a street beggar.
20. Osceola
Aired 18 January 1957 • 30 min
Bowie comes to the aid of the native Seminoles, whom the army is trying to move from their traditional home to a tract of less desirable land.
21. Master of Arms
Aired 25 January 1957 • 30 min
An expert French swordsman sells Bowie a lottery ticket, but then after Bowie wins he decides that the winings should belong to him and comes after Bowie.
22. Convoy Gold
Aired 1 February 1957 • 30 min
Bowie tries to get a gold shipment safely through to New Orleans.
23. Spanish Intrigue
Aired 8 February 1957 • 30 min
Bowie meets Simon Bolivar, who wants to liberate all of Latin American from the yoke of Spanish rule.
24. Bayou Tontine
Aired 15 February 1957 • 30 min
Naturalist Audubon returns to ask Bowie for help in protecting a young girl whose life is in danger after she inherits a fortune.
25. German George
Aired 22 February 1957 • 30 min
Bowie goes after the gambler who cheated and then killed Bowie's friend and partner.
26. An Eye for an Eye
Aired 1 March 1957 • 30 min
Trying to stop an Indian uprising, Bowie only gets into more trouble after telling a native Cherokee princess the story of John Smith and Pocahontas.
27. The Captain's Chimp
Aired 8 March 1957 • 30 min
Bowie goes after a thief who has trained a chimpanzee to climb up through people's windows.
28. Jackson Assassination
Aired 15 March 1957 • 30 min
Bowie is duped into helping a group that is plotting the President's assassination.
29. Rezin Bowie, Gambler
Aired 22 March 1957 • 30 min
Unaware that it is a setup, Jim's brother wins big and decides to become a professional gambler.
30. Thieves' Market
Aired 29 March 1957 • 30 min
When Bowie escorts his young French friend to the notorious thieves' marketplace in New Orleans, they are set upon by - thieves.
31. The Pearl and the Crown
Aired 5 April 1957 • 30 min
After a newspaper prints a poem about him, Bowie confronts the editor, who is later found murdered.
32. The General's Disgrace
Aired 12 April 1957 • 30 min
Bowie suspects a connection between recent holdups and the heavy gambling losses of a general's son.
33. The Lottery
Aired 19 April 1957 • 30 min
Bowie organizes a lottery to help an orphanage, unaware that the men he has hired plan to fix the drawing so that they will collect the winnings.
34. The Intruder
Aired 26 April 1957 • 30 min
Bowie tries to help a young burglar who was caught robbing his friend Francois.
35. Country Cousin
Aired 3 May 1957 • 30 min
Bowie gets into trouble with his relatives when he cuts his visiting cousin in on a deal that turns out to be a hoax.
36. The Bound Girl
Aired 10 May 1957 • 30 min
Bowie resolves to help an indentured servant girl from Ireland, whose unwilling services have been purchased by a mean widower.
37. Bounty Hunter
Aired 17 May 1957 • 30 min
When Bowie and his newspaper friend unwittingly help a fugitive from justice, a bounty hunter pursues them all.
38. Gone to Texas
Aired 24 May 1957 • 30 min
As if his passport difficulties weren't enough, when Bowie crosses the border into Texas he finds out that someone is trying to kill him.