Senate committee OKs state Bowie knife

A utensil that was known in the early 1800s as an “Arkansas Toothpick” would be the new state knife under a bill that passed a Senate committee Thursday.

Senate Bill 5 — sponsored by Sen. Trent Garner, R-El Dorado — would designate the Bowie knife as the official state knife.

The bill was recommended unanimously for approval by the Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Arkansas does not have an official state knife.

“We’re not replacing anyone?” asked Sen. Will Bond, D-Little Rock. “I’ve been around long enough to know that can get contentious. That’s my only question. [If we] change from the butter knife to the Bowie knife, you know what I mean, the butter knife people would get upset.”

Laughter erupted from the crowd.

“I haven’t heard from the butter knife contingency yet,” Garner quipped.

According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture website, the Bowie knife got its name from a pioneer family which settled in Arkansas and Louisiana. One of the brothers, Jim Bowie, killed a man and injured another with what became known as the “Bowie knife” in the 1827 Sandbar Duel near Natchez, Miss.

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