Welcome!

The Antique Bowie Knife Association of America was formed April 5, 1975 by 19 collectors who enjoyed sharing their passion for antique bowie knives. The name was changed a short time later to “Antique Bowie Knife Association”. Since then, the ABKA has grown into a world-wide organization that is “Dedicated to the collecting, study, and preservation of Antique Bowie Knives”.

Among the benefits of membership are:

• the Antique Bowie Journal – a first-class full-color print publication published three or more times each year,
• the opportunity to attend our annual meetings
• a complete ABKA membership list
• access to the members-only portion of this website, which includes a private forum as well as photographic and informative resources, such as a digital collection of every Antique Bowie Journal ever published.

Through the ABKA you will have the opportunity to meet the most knowledgeable authorities on bowie knives and the owners of the finest bowie knife collections.

Membership is open to persons over 21 years of age. If you are interested in joining our organization, you will find our application here. To learn more, we encourage you to explore the public portion of this website or to visit with one of our members at a knife or antique arms show near you. You can also contact us by clicking here.

New Member?  Need Help?

If you are a new member and not sure if you have access to the members only portion of the website, please reach out to us and let us know.  We do send an email with instructions and login information to each new member, but it’s possible it could get caught in your spam folder.

It was in the sleepy little village of Marksville in central-east Louisiana that an important document in bowie knife history was signed. It was a spring day, April 10, 1827 to be exact. Rezin P. Bowie, brother of Alamo hero James Bowie rode into Marksville, dis-mounted his horse and assisted his wife Margaret from her sidesaddle. Small as it was, Marksville served as the seat of government for the parish (county), and the Bowies had business to conduct in the presence of Herzehian Dunham, the Notary Public in and for the parish of Avoyelles.

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