Visit Bowie, Texas, named for Jim Bowie, defender of the Alamo, and you'll find this quote: “Attitude is everything when it comes to where you are, where you want to be, and how you are going to get there.”
These words are etched into the world’s largest Bowie knife, the Official Knife of Texas — and the community of this pioneering small town lives by this phrase that's carved into it.
Located about 60 miles northwest of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Bowie was first established in the 1880s and holds tight to its rich history.
For example, each year on the first Saturday in October, the community hosts the Chicken and Bread Days Heritage Festival on the original brick streets of downtown. The fest pays tribute to entrepreneurs Amon G. Carter and Mose Johnson, who peddled chicken-and-bread sandwiches to travelers who stopped at the train depot of the Fort Worth and Denver Railway.
Carter later became a community leader, art collector, and a founder of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, plus the Fort Worth art museum that bears his name.
As for Johnson, he didn’t realize he would be creating a legacy for the Bowie community when he and his wife, Mabel, had just $15 and a shoebox full of baby chicks in the early 1900s. The M. Johnson Poultry Ranch went on to become the breeders of the World’s Best Laying Strain of Single Comb White Leghorns.
It's not just the Chicken and Bread Days, though. Bowie has more fun activities throughout the year — from rodeos and parades to art and wine festivals — along with amazing sunset views.
The Chisholm Trail Memorial Park honors historic stagecoach and cattle trails, including Butterfield Overland Route and Chisholm Trail. Bowie was the last stop in Texas before heading to northern markets with herds of longhorns, and in the park, nine life-size steel longhorns and two roving cowboys recall those early cattle drives.
Bowie also boasts Second Monday Trade Days, which is the longest operating Trade Days in North Texas, having begun in 1893. There are endless items to browse each month, from antiques, old and new coins, knives, and collectibles to handcrafted furniture, rugs, shoes, jewelry, and more.
You’ll also find restaurants and food trucks onsite dishing up all favorites like roasted corn, twister potatoes, fried pies, kettle popcorn, and street tacos.
Learn more about Bowie, often called the “little wonder of the West,” here.
