before there was bowie knives, they were called butcher knives, and in essence were just big knives,  repurposed blades and forged ones.. 
here is something I recently picked up and research turned out to be very interesting,  the maker went on to make bowie knives, and then famous gun knives.  i believe this dates to like 1840,  and that this knife has much in similar with the bowies he went on to make.  this is a meat carving knife,  and I can easily envision at least three ways to convert this into a Bowie.
		 
		
		
		
			
		
		
		
		
		
		
		
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