All the Bowie children learned to read and write in English, though James and his brother Rezin took the education one step farther by learning to read, write and speak Spanish and French in addition to English. The frontier life led to James Bowie’s proficiency with firearms and knives.

In 1814 James and his brother, Rezin enlisted in the Louisiana militia to fight the British in the War of 1812. However, the war ended before they saw any action. James then settled in Rapides Parish, Louisiana where he worked cutting planks and selling them downstream.

In 1819, James joined the Long Expedition, which was an effort to liberate Texas from the Spanish.

At about 1821, Rezin Bowie, James’ father, died, leaving his sons ten slaves each with horses and cattle. The brothers started developing several large estates in Lafourche Parish and Opelousas. Not having the capital to buy large tracts of land, they reached an agreement with pirate Jean Lafitte in 1818. Since 1808, it had been illegal to import slaves into the US, however, Jean Lafitte was already a pirate and a criminal who dealt frequently in slaving.

Most southern states dealt with slave smugglers by impounding the slaves and selling them to the public. Any informant who came forward with information leading the authorities to a smuggler received half the slaves value at auction. So, James made several trips to Lafitte’s hideout on Galveston Island to take possession of slaves. He would then take the slaves to a customhouse and turn himself in! He would buy them back at auction and whatever he paid for the slaves, he received ½ the price back in his pocket. After that, he received legal paperwork showing the slaves to be his property and he put them up for sale! The Bowie brothers amassed quite a large sum of money through this scheme and land speculation.

Near Alexandria, Louisiana in 1825, James, Rezin and Stephen Bowie bought a plantation called Acadia. It was there that the first steam powered mill in Louisiana was built. They sold it in 1831. With their shares of the profits, James and Rezin bought a plantation in Arkansas.

In the late 1820s, the Bowies were involved in a legal case involving their land dealings. Since the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Louisiana belonged to the US and the government had promised to honor all the land grants of the previous government, France. However, there were over one hundred twenty claims made involving persons that had purchased land from the Bowies and had never received deeds. It was discovered that the Bowies never did own the real estate they were selling!